Copy ShortURL is a Firefox extension that adds a new item in the right click menu called “Copy Short URL. If a page exposes a short URL in its header, the add-on fetches it and copies it to the clipboard. If not, it creates a shorturl (default: is.gd) and copies it to the clipboard just as well.

Currently, a number of major websites expose their own short URLs for any entry on their webpages, among these: youtube (“youtu.be/…”), flickr (“flic.kr/…”), Wordpress.com, Arstechnica, Techcrunch, and many more.

When you click it, the add-on looks for a canonical short URL exposed in the page header. If, however, the site does not name its own short URL, the add-on automatically falls back to making a short URL using is.gd (or a user-defined shortening service). Either way, after a fraction of a second, you end up with a short URL in your clipboard, ready to be used in tweets, emails, forum posts, or wherever else you please.