Back in 2007 we first launched mtgurl.com as a link shortening service aimed at Magic the Gathering players. Then in 2008 we relaunched it as a rss aggregater for Magic websites, but then again it never took off and we returned it back to a link shortener. Then this past week we relaunched it quietly as a deck sharing site, and per some requests, we want to introduce you to it and some of its features.

I've seen several people share decks over twitter in various forms. Some would compress and abbreviate the card names to try and fit it into one or two tweets, then others would utilize third party sites not aimed at Magic players such as shorttext.com. With the explosion of Magic players and the Magic community on twitter we wanted to build an application which took people's decks and easily (and shortly) shared them online.

So now we are proud to bring you a beta version of this system. Let's look it over.

In its simplest form you just copy and paste the deck into the text area. It parses lines that begin with a number as a card entry, so even if there is only 1 of a card in the deck, you must preface the line with a "1." We will be fixing this in the future as we finish our database of Magic cards. Also currently, the system does not validate card names. So if you typo it, or use a nickname, the link provided will only bring up an error page.

Half way through our first official launch day, we rolled out a number of more features. We added specific fields for title, author, and password.

1. Title - This is an optional field, and in it you can define the title of the deck.
2. Author - If there is an author to be credited, then you may enter it in this field. Again, it is optional.
3. Password - This allows a user to set their password and use it to come back and edit the deck later.

But once the deck is entered and saved, you will be directed to a page to view the deck such that it will look like as follows.

On this deck you're viewing the deck list as our system parses it. Providing an easy to use checkbox view. At the bottom are two buttons, the left one will take you to our sponsor CoolStuffInc.com and allow you to purchase the entire deck from them. Or you can check specific cards and click the right button to get only those from CoolStuffInc.com.

Also on this view you'll see the big easy to find short link (shorter than most bit.ly links) for this page. Also above it you'll see the Tweetmeme button which shows you how much it has been tweeted. And then next to it is a button to allow you to send this deck via email to yourself or a friend.

And that wraps up most of the current features, we've got a number more in the works:

• API - We're working on an api so that other developers can build and expand on our system.
• Card validation - Once Wizards publishes the updated Oracle changes we'll go through and set up the card database to use for validation.
• Public / Private decks - Allow users to define whether the deck is "public" or "private." In this case it means whether we can advertise the deck elsewhere or on mtgurl.com, if someone types in the url it will still be visible. This feature could also include a password for accessing, though this might be confusing with the editing password.
• Deck Formats - Along with the card validation we'll be able to define the deck format legality.
• Deck Analysis - Also tied with the card validation we'll be sharing some deck stats including mana curve and other stats.
• Export Decks - Allow you to export the decks in various formats for programs such as Magic Online, Magic Workstation and other formats.
• Embeddable Widgets - For easy embedding in your own personal blogs.
• Deeper Twitter integration - Have embedded twitter search to see who is tweeting about the deck.
• Facebook integration - For allowing the sharing of decks over Facebook.
• Comments - Allow people to leave comments or notes about decks.

As you can see, lots to do. So stay tuned!