Slimming down the URLs

If you regularly copy/paste web URLs, this may be helpful.

When you copy a URL from the address bar of your web browser, you not only get the actual address, but a lot of junk comes along for the ride. Here is an example copied from a Goodreads search for a certain book:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31304213-the-sound-of-rain?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mxBI3ZNmpD&rank=1

Now the extra junk is colored red:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31304213-the-sound-of-rain?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=mxBI3ZNmpD&rank=1

When you see a "?" in the URL, that is the clue that it, and everything that follows, is optional. If contains the history of how you got to that URL, so that when someone clicks the link you are providing, the BACK button on their browser will step them back to the previous page. Each "question and answer" is preceded by a "&". For example, &from_search=true indicates the URL was found through the site's search box. &rank=1 indicates it was the first item in the search results list. You don't need any of that stuff. When you copy your URL, just drag from left to right across the address, stopping just before the "?"

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31304213-the-sound-of-rain

That works just as well and is only about half as long.