🌐 YOURLS Alternative Index

July 4, 2026 · View on GitHub

Transform the unused YOURLS root page into a Linktree-style profile page with social links, featured content, and custom branding.
Instead of showing a 403 error, visitors to your YOURLS root URL will see a beautiful, customizable link-in-bio page.

🚀 Features

Linktree-style profile page served at your YOURLS root URL (/)
Profile section: display name, tagline/bio, avatar image
Social icons row: X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, GitHub, YouTube, TikTok, Mastodon, Bluesky, Threads, Pinterest, Twitch, Discord, Telegram, WhatsApp, and more
Featured link buttons: full-width cards with optional emoji, title, and URL
Custom colors: background, accent (buttons & icon hover), and text colors
Custom CSS: inject your own styles for full control
Enable/disable toggle: turn the page on or off without deactivating the plugin
Update notifications: checks GitHub for new releases and shows a badge in the admin panel
Simple single-file plugin — no composer, no npm, no build step

🛠️ Installation

Download the plugin from the latest release.
Unzip the contents into the user/plugins/alternative-index/ directory.
Activate the plugin in the YOURLS admin panel under Plugins.
Go to Plugins → Alternative Index and configure your page.

Requires YOURLS 1.9+ and PHP 7.4+

⚙️ Usage

Basic Configuration

Open the Alternative Index settings page from the Plugins menu.
Enable the plugin using the toggle at the top.
Fill in your Profile: name, tagline, and avatar URL.
Choose your Appearance: background color, accent color, and text color.
Add Social Links: select the platform and paste your profile URL.
Add Featured Links: enter an optional emoji, a title, and a URL.
Click Save Settings and visit your YOURLS root URL to see the result.

How it works

Visitor request	Result
YOURLS root URL (`/`) — plugin enabled	Shows the Alternative Index profile page
YOURLS root URL (`/`) — plugin disabled	Default YOURLS behavior (403 / blank)
Valid short URL (e.g. `/abc`)	YOURLS handles it normally
Admin panel	Unaffected
API / AJAX requests	Unaffected

Platform	Key
Website / Blog	`website`
Email	`email`
GitHub	`github`
X (Twitter)	`twitter` or `x`
Instagram	`instagram`
Facebook	`facebook`
LinkedIn	`linkedin`
YouTube	`youtube`
TikTok	`tiktok`
Mastodon	`mastodon`
Bluesky	`bluesky`
Threads	`threads`
Pinterest	`pinterest`
Twitch	`twitch`
Discord	`discord`
Telegram	`telegram`
WhatsApp	`whatsapp`

Any other value will display a generic icon with the platform's initial letter.

Custom CSS examples

Target the main card container:

.yai-card { backdrop-filter: blur(8px); }

Make link buttons square instead of pill-shaped:

.yai-link { border-radius: 8px; }

Use a gradient background:

body { background: linear-gradient(135deg, #1a1a2e, #16213e, #0f3460); }

🔧 Stored Options

Option key	Type	Notes
`yai_enabled`	int	`1` = active, `0` = disabled
`yai_profile_name`	string	Display name
`yai_tagline`	string	Short bio shown below the name
`yai_avatar_url`	string	Full URL to profile image
`yai_page_title`	string	Browser tab title; defaults to profile name
`yai_bg_color`	string	Hex color for background
`yai_accent_color`	string	Hex color for hover states and button fills
`yai_text_color`	string	Hex color for all text
`yai_card_transparency`	int	Card transparency percentage when a background image is active; `100` removes the glass effect; default `55`
`yai_social_links`	JSON	Array of `{platform, url}` objects
`yai_featured_links`	JSON	Array of `{emoji, title, url}` objects
`yai_custom_css`	string	Raw CSS injected into the public page
`yai_show_powered_by`	int	`1` = show footer attribution

⚠️ Compatibility note

This plugin and YOURLS URL Fallback both intercept the YOURLS root URL. If you have both active, Alternative Index takes precedence (it runs at priority 99 and serves a page directly — URL Fallback's redirect never fires for the root URL). Use one or the other for root URL handling.