When an URL is submitted using Contact Form 7, shorten the URL using Bitly

When a visitor sends a link through your Contact Form 7 form, this workflow passes that URL to Bitly and creates a short link for it in your Bitly account.

Contact Form 7

Bitly

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2 steps Setup ~5 min Used on 1.7k sites Free to import

The When an URL is submitted using Contact Form 7, shorten the URL using Bitly workflow on the FlowMattic canvas, with 2 steps across Contact Form 7, Bitly — The workflow as it appears in the builder after import. Each step opens for editing.

What this workflow does

Some forms exist to collect links: a portfolio address, a product page a customer wants reviewed, a resource someone suggests for your newsletter. Long URLs are awkward to share, and creating a short version for each one by hand is a chore. This workflow sends each submitted URL to Bitly for you.

The Contact Form 7 trigger runs whenever the form is sent on your WordPress site, and every field in the submission becomes data you can map. The Bitly step takes the field that holds the URL and creates a short link from it in the Bitly account you connect.

As imported, the workflow stops there. The new link is stored in Bitly, and the step's response, including the short link, shows in Task History. If you want the visitor or your team to receive it, add another action after Bitly that uses that response, such as an email or a chat message.

Link submissions for a newsletter

Readers suggest articles through a Contact Form 7 form. Each suggested URL gets a Bitly short link you can paste into the next issue.

Portfolio links from applicants

Applicants enter a link to their work. The short version sits in your Bitly account, ready to drop into a shortlist or a message to a colleague.

Partner or affiliate landing pages

Partners submit the page they want to promote, and Bitly creates a short link for it that you can hand back to them.

How this workflow runs

What happens at each step once the workflow is on, and what you need before you import it.

Step 1Trigger
Contact Form 7 New Form Submission
Runs each time someone submits a Contact Form 7 form on your site. The submitted fields, including the one where the visitor typed the URL, are passed to the Bitly step.
Step 2Action
Bitly Create a Short Link
Creates a short link in your connected Bitly account from the URL you map in. Map the form field that holds the link, then check a test run to see the short link Bitly returns.

What you need

FlowMatticCore
Contact Form 7 PluginPlugin
Bitly AccountAccount

After importing, map your own data. To keep the template universal, not every step is pre-filled. Open each step in the builder and connect your accounts and fields (channels, lists, sheets, recipients) before you switch the workflow on.

Make it yours

Changes worth making after you import it.

Use the url* form tag in Contact Form 7 for the link field. It makes the field required and asks for a URL, so the Bitly step gets an address instead of free text.
Add an email or Slack step after Bitly and map the short link from its response, so the person who needs the link actually receives it.
If the form is also used for other messages, add a Filter after the trigger that continues only when the URL field is not empty.

Questions about this workflow

Where does the Bitly short link end up?

In the Bitly account you connect, and in the step's output in Task History. The template has no step that sends it anywhere else, so add one if you want it emailed or posted.

Does my Contact Form 7 form need a special field for the URL?

It needs a field where people type the link. A url field type is the cleanest choice, but any text field works as long as it holds a full address you can map into the Bitly step.

What if a visitor types something that is not a valid URL into the form?

Bitly may reject it, and Task History shows the error on the Bitly step. Using a url field in Contact Form 7, or a Filter before Bitly, keeps bad input out.

Do I need a Bitly account to use this Contact Form 7 workflow?

Yes. The short link is created through your own Bitly account, which you connect to the Bitly step when you import the workflow.