Go Links

What is go.osu.edu?

Go.osu.edu is a link shortening tool available to all Ohio State students, staff and faculty.

When should I use go.osu.edu?

How can I find who manages a specific go.osu.edu link?

To learn who created or manages a go link, add a plus sign (+) to the end of a go link.

When should I not create a go link?

In all of these cases, this kind of tracking can be accounted for using Google Analytics and can potentially lead to a bad user experience.

How to Access Go.osu.edu

1. To begin working in go.osu.edu, you will first need to login. In your preferred browser, type: https://go.osu.edu
2. When your page loads, you will be prompted to login. Click the Login Now button
3. When you have clicked the Login Now button, you will be directed to an Ohio State Login page
4. Enter your Ohio State name.# and password
5. Two-factor authentication is required to use this tool, so you will want to authenticate using your preferred method.
6. Now that you have logged in, you are ready to begin working with links.

Creating Links

To create your link, you will first need to copy and paste the link you want to shorten into the Link to shorten field. If you want to choose the alias for your go link, you will type it into the Alias(es) field. Click Save link button.

If the alias is available, you’ll get a confirmation that your link has been created.

If the alias is not available, you’ll get a warning to choose another alias.

Once your go link has been created, you will have the option to edit it.

Editing Links

Once you have created links, you will notice that they appear under the Manage heading. Clicking edit will open the Advanced Options for your link.

If you click on the link to “QR code”, the QR code will be generated and displayed for you in a separate tab.

By closing the QR code tab, you can return to further edit your link.

• You’ll notice that you are already set as a user.
• By clicking on Add users, you can add additional users who can edit and access this link’s information.
• When you click Add users, a blank text box will appear. To add a user, begin typing their Ohio State name.# into the box and then select the correct one from the drop-down list that will appear. (If this potential user has never logged into go.osu.edu, there name will not appear. To add a user, they must have logged into this application at least once.)
• To remove a user, or to remove your own access, click the X located to the right of the text box with the Ohio State email.
• You can also make the link manageable by groups rather than individuals by clicking the “Add groups” link under Groups. 

Creating and Editing Groups

Creating a Group

• In addition to creating links, you can also create or manage groups by clicking on Groups in the top navigation.
• If you are already in a group or groups, they will be listed under “Your groups” and will also show other members of your group as well as give you the ability to edit.
• To create a new group, you will click the “Create a group now” button.
• You will then be prompted to enter a Group name and you will automatically appear as a Group Member.

• To add additional members to your group, you will click Add users and a blank user box will appear. You will start typing in the new member’s Ohio State name.# and then select the correct user from the choices that pop up.
• You can add as many users as you want/need to complete your group.
• By clicking Add groups, you can also add already created groups to your group.
• When you click Add groups, a blank text box will appear.
• To find a group to add, begin typing within the text box, and a drop-down list will appear from which you can select the appropriate group.
• To save your new group, simply click the “Save group” button.
• When your group is created, you will receive a confirmation resembling the one received for creating a link.

Editing a Group

To edit a group you are already a part of, you click the Edit link in the Manage column. On the editing page, you can:

• Change the group name
• Add users
• Delete users
• Add groups, or
• Delete the group
• Once you have made your changes, you will click the Save group button.
• You will be returned to the your group page.

Metrics and Link Information

One of the benefits of using go.osu.edu to create a shortened link is that you can see some of the basic information associated with the link.

By typing in to.osu.edu/golink+,  you can view basic information about any link. 

Here you can see the go link, the original url used to create the go link, the alias, who created the link, who manages the link and the QR code for the link.

If you are logged in and own the link you are looking at, you can get additional metric information.

Here you will also see a hit counter (how many times your go link has been used), and a chart that shows you usage.

For more robust analytics, you will need to ensure that you are using google analytics and have employed the correct tagging system.

Logging Out

Once you have created/edited all links or groups, you can simply click Logout in the main navigation and exit go.osu.edu.