Ewerl is a new URL rewritting site with cool features.

Here’s a simple function to return the Ewerl url. It’s only being used for the main url, but could easily be adjusted to return an array. I just didn’t have a need for it in my case at this time.

/**
 * Returns an Ewerl url if available.
 * Otherwise the original that was passed in.
 * Returns false if..
 * 1. JSON extension isn't installed.
 * 2. No url was entered.
 * 3. No response from server.
 *
 * @todo Add URL validation.
 *
 * @param string $url
 * @return string URL, or false.
 * @author Casey Wilson 
 */
function getEwerl($url) {
	/**
	 * Verify JSON extension is loaded.
	 */
	if (!extension_loaded('JSON')) return false;

	/**
	 * Url wasn't passed
	 */
	if (!$url) return false;

	/**
	 * Assign / Prep vars.
	 */
	$postUrl = 'http://ewerl.com/api/v1/make/url=';
	$urlEncoded = base64_encode($url);

	$response = file_get_contents($postUrl . $urlEncoded);

	if (!$response) {
		return $url;
	}

	/**
	 * Should have returned a JSON object.
	 */
	$jsonObj = json_decode($response);

	/**
	 * If either Status not set, or status is false, return original url.
	 */
	if (!isset($jsonObj->status) || $jsonObj->status == 'FALSE') {
		return $url;
	}

	return $jsonObj->url_main;
}