Splash Page Redirects

A splash page holds visitors on a short interstitial screen before sending them to the destination. Instead of redirecting instantly, the visitor sees a preview of where they're going, a countdown, and a disclaimer — then continues automatically, or clicks to go immediately.

Why use one

• Set expectations before leaving your site. Visitors see the destination's title and preview image before they arrive.
• Distance yourself from third-party content. The built-in disclaimer states that you aren't responsible for the destination — useful for affiliate links, user-submitted links and sponsored placements.
• Give people a way out. A Take Me Back link returns them to where they came from.

Turn it on for a link

1. Go to URL Shortify → Links and add or edit a link.
2. Set Redirection to Splash Page.
3. Click Save Link.

That's the whole setup. The splash screen is generated for you — there's no page to build.

Set the countdown

The countdown is a global setting that applies to every splash link.

Go to URL Shortify → Settings → Links → Splash Page Settings and set Countdown (seconds).

The default is 10 seconds. Values are clamped to between 1 and 60 — anything outside that range is pulled back into it.

What the splash page shows

URL Shortify fetches that preview information from the destination page itself, so you don't have to enter anything by hand.

If the destination has no Open Graph tags at all, the splash page still works — it simply falls back to your link's own Title and Description, and hides the image area.

How the redirect behaves

• The splash page is served with a 200 OK, not a redirect status.
• It carries noindex, nofollow, so search engines won't index it.
• After the countdown reaches zero, the browser navigates to the destination via JavaScript. Clicking the countdown button does the same thing immediately.
• The click is recorded when the splash page is served, so your statistics stay accurate whether or not the visitor waits for the countdown.

Styling the splash page

The splash page is self-contained — it doesn't load your theme — and is styled by its own stylesheet. You can override any of it with CSS.

The available class hooks are:

For example, to give the splash page a dark background and a branded button:

.kc-splash-wrap {
    background: #0f172a;
}

.kc-splash-card {
    background: #1e293b;
    border-radius: 16px;
}

.kc-splash-heading,
.kc-splash-disclaimer {
    color: #e2e8f0;
}

.kc-splash-btn-primary {
    background-color: #f97316;
}

Because the splash page doesn't load your theme, adding this in Appearance → Customise → Additional CSS won't reach it. Enqueue it from a small plugin or your theme's functions.php instead:

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function () {
    wp_enqueue_style(
        'my-splash-overrides',
        get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/css/splash-overrides.css'
    );
} );

Splash Page vs the other redirect types

Use Splash Page when you want visitors to know they're leaving. Use Cloak when you want the opposite — see Link Cloaking.

Troubleshooting

No preview image appears. The destination has no og:image tag, or the image couldn't be loaded. The splash page hides the image area automatically and shows the text on its own.

The preview shows outdated information. Preview data is cached for 24 hours. Wait for the cache to expire, or change the link's destination URL to force a fresh fetch.

The countdown doesn't move. JavaScript is blocked or has errored in the visitor's browser. The countdown button still works when clicked.

The splash page is showing my old design. The stylesheet is versioned against the plugin version, so a browser refresh normally picks up changes. If you use a CDN, purge it after updating the plugin.

FAQ

What is a splash page redirect?

A splash page is a short interstitial screen shown before a visitor reaches the destination. It previews where they are going, counts down, and then forwards them automatically.

How do I change the splash page countdown?

Go to Settings → Links → Splash Page Settings and set Countdown (seconds). It applies to every splash link and accepts values between 1 and 60.

Where does the splash page preview image come from?

From the destination page's Open Graph tags. URL Shortify fetches them and caches the result for 24 hours, falling back to the link's own title and description if the destination has none.

Does a splash page hurt SEO?

The splash page is marked noindex, nofollow, so search engines do not index it.

What is the difference between a splash page and link cloaking?

A splash page tells visitors they are leaving your site and then sends them on. Cloaking does the opposite: it loads the destination inside your own page so your short URL stays in the address bar.