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Case study

Leanks

YOURLS, for 2026. A careful, modern interface for an open-source link shortener.

Leanks case study cover: YOURLS, for 2026. Good design, for open source. Leanks snapshot: role, team and timeline. The problem: the YOURLS admin interface, which looks like it is from another era. Key decision: build on YOURLS, never patch it. Dashboard and plugin sit on top of an untouched core. The solution: the Leanks dashboard in light mode with a one-line create form and a list of short links. Design details: the settings dialog with a theme switch and ten accent colours. Statistics design: the analytics page with a clicks chart and colour-coded breakdowns. Giving back: standing on the shoulders of giants, with YOURLS, MIT licence and CSV import and export. Results: what got better. Faster to start, easier to read, yours to shape, safe to keep current. Book a call: want to learn more? Book a call with me.

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Snapshot

The project at a glance.

Role: Designer and maker

Team: Solo, built with Claude Code

Timeline: September to October 2026

Platform: Web app on PHP and MySQL shared hosting

The Problem

Why it needed to exist.

YOURLS has shortened links since 2009 and runs on any cheap host. Its admin interface belongs to that era. Open source rarely gets design attention, and I wanted to see what a careful, modern interface could do for it.

The Key Decision

Build on YOURLS

Leanks is a plugin plus a custom front end, so the YOURLS core stays stock and upgrades in place. No build step, no Docker, no Node on the server, which keeps it on cheap shared hosting. One real Apache host needed a single rewrite rule. When it worked, my verdict was “Boom! It works now.”

The Solution

Design and usability on hosting you already pay for.

Create a link from one line, with password, expiry, UTM tags and QR codes one click away. One hue drives the whole interface, with its own shade for light and dark mode. Analytics are colour-coded, with flags, favicons and a chart that shows every day.

Giving Back

Standing on the shoulders of giants and growing.

YOURLS already does the hard part: redirects, the database and click tracking. Leanks leaves it alone and adds the interface that was missing. It is MIT licensed on GitHub, and CSV import and export in dub.co format lets links move in and out freely.

Results

What got better.

Faster to startCreate a link from one line. The extras wait one click away.

Easier to readColour-coded breakdowns, flags and favicons.

Yours to shapeLight, dark or system theme, and an accent colour of your choice.

Safe to keep currentOne-click updates with a checksum, a backup and a rollback.

Free, open source and MIT licensed. Screenshots use demo data.

Let's Talk

30 minutes on video. No prep, no sales pitch.

Is your product story getting lost too? Let's look at it together.

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