diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 496ee2c..2020c40 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,3 @@
-.DS_Store
\ No newline at end of file
+.DS_Store
+.idea
+config.php
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index bc0d95b..cd49760 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@ Requires PHP ≥ 5.4.0 or higher.
 
 1. Download the source code as located within this repository, and upload it to your web server.
 2. Use `database.sql` to create the `redirect` table in a database of choice. (Do *not* delete the `INSERT` statement on [line 10](https://github.com/mathiasbynens/php-url-shortener/blob/f64ee342246fa5bf0340641372680a2d398afc79/database.sql#L10) as it is needed to initialize the database.)
-3. Edit `config.php` and enter your database credentials.
-4. For additional *security through obscurity™*, consider renaming `shorten.php` to a secret file name of your choosing and tweaking the `.htaccess` file ([line 3](https://github.com/mathiasbynens/php-url-shortener/blob/f64ee342246fa5bf0340641372680a2d398afc79/.htaccess#L3)) accordingly.
+3. Rename `config-example.php` to `config.php`.
+4. Edit `config.php` and enter your database credentials.
+5. For additional *security through obscurity™*, consider renaming `shorten.php` to a secret file name of your choosing and tweaking the `.htaccess` file ([line 3](https://github.com/mathiasbynens/php-url-shortener/blob/f64ee342246fa5bf0340641372680a2d398afc79/.htaccess#L3)) accordingly.
 
 ## Features
 
@@ -49,4 +50,5 @@ This script is available under the MIT license.
 
 * [Peter Beverloo](http://peter.sh/)
 * [Tomislav Biscan](https://github.com/B-Scan)
+* [Medard Mandane](https://github.com/medardm/)
 
diff --git a/config.php b/config-example.php
similarity index 62%
rename from config.php
rename to config-example.php
index 997257e..9e6168c 100644
--- a/config.php
+++ b/config-example.php
@@ -1,12 +1,11 @@
 <?php
 
 define('MYSQL_HOST', 'localhost');
-define('MYSQL_USER', 'user');
-define('MYSQL_PASSWORD', 'password');
-define('MYSQL_DATABASE', 'database');
-define('TWITTER_USERNAME', 'mathias');
+define('MYSQL_USER', 'test');
+define('MYSQL_DATABASE', 'url_redirect');
+define('MYSQL_PASSWORD', 'test');
+define('TWITTER_USERNAME', 'sparkpointio');
 define('GOOGLE_PLUS_ID', '106697091536876736486');
 define('SHORT_URL', 'https://mths.be/'); // include the trailing slash!
 define('DEFAULT_URL', 'https://mathiasbynens.be'); // omit the trailing slash!
-
 ?>
diff --git a/index.php b/index.php
index f26979a..a678857 100644
--- a/index.php
+++ b/index.php
@@ -1,46 +1,53 @@
 <?php
 
-require 'config.php';
+if (file_exists('config.php')) {
+    require 'config.php';
+} else {
+    require 'config-example.php';
+}
 
 $url = DEFAULT_URL . '/';
 
 if (isset($_GET['slug'])) {
-
-	$slug = $_GET['slug'];
-
-	if ('@' == $slug) {
-		$url = 'https://twitter.com/' . TWITTER_USERNAME;
-	} else if (' ' == $slug) { // +
-		$url = 'https://plus.google.com/u/0/' . GOOGLE_PLUS_ID . '/posts';
-	} else {
-
-		$slug = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/si', '', $slug);
-
-		if (is_numeric($slug) && strlen($slug) > 8) {
-			$url = 'https://twitter.com/' . TWITTER_USERNAME . '/status/' . $slug;
-		} else {
-
-			$db = new MySQLi(MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_PASSWORD, MYSQL_DATABASE);
-			$db->set_charset('utf8mb4');
-
-			$escapedSlug = $db->real_escape_string($slug);
-			$redirectResult = $db->query('SELECT url FROM redirect WHERE slug = "' . $escapedSlug . '"');
-
-			if ($redirectResult && $redirectResult->num_rows > 0) {
-				$db->query('UPDATE redirect SET hits = hits + 1 WHERE slug = "' . $escapedSlug . '"');
-				$url = $redirectResult->fetch_object()->url;
-			} else {
-				$url = DEFAULT_URL . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
-			}
-
-			$db->close();
-
-		}
-	}
+    $slug = $_GET['slug'];
+
+    if ('@' == $slug) {
+        $url = 'https://twitter.com/' . TWITTER_USERNAME;
+    } else {
+        if (' ' == $slug) {
+            // +
+            $url = 'https://plus.google.com/u/0/' . GOOGLE_PLUS_ID . '/posts';
+        } else {
+            $slug = preg_replace('/[^a-z0-9]/si', '', $slug);
+
+            if (is_numeric($slug) && strlen($slug) > 8) {
+                $url = 'https://twitter.com/' . TWITTER_USERNAME . '/status/' . $slug;
+            } else {
+                $db = new MySQLi(MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_PASSWORD, MYSQL_DATABASE, MYSQL_PORT);
+                $db->set_charset('utf8mb4');
+
+                $escapedSlug = $db->real_escape_string($slug);
+                $redirectResult = $db->query('SELECT url FROM redirect WHERE slug = "' . $escapedSlug . '"');
+
+                if ($redirectResult && $redirectResult->num_rows > 0) {
+                    $db->query('UPDATE redirect SET hits = hits + 1 WHERE slug = "' . $escapedSlug . '"');
+                    $url = $redirectResult->fetch_object()->url;
+                } else {
+                    $url = DEFAULT_URL . $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
+                }
+
+                $db->close();
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 header('Location: ' . $url, null, 301);
 
 $attributeValue = htmlspecialchars($url);
 ?>
-<meta http-equiv=refresh content="0;URL=<?php echo $attributeValue; ?>"><a href="<?php echo $attributeValue; ?>">Continue</a><script>location.href=<?php echo json_encode($url, JSON_HEX_TAG | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES); ?></script>
+<meta
+        http-equiv=refresh
+        content="0;URL=<?php echo $attributeValue; ?>"
+><a href="<?php echo $attributeValue; ?>">Continue</a>
+<script>location.href =<?php echo json_encode($url, JSON_HEX_TAG | JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES); ?></script>
diff --git a/shorten.php b/shorten.php
index 1944845..634b7a7 100644
--- a/shorten.php
+++ b/shorten.php
@@ -1,55 +1,70 @@
 <?php
 
-require 'config.php';
+if (file_exists('config.php')) {
+    require 'config.php';
+} else {
+    require 'config-example.php';
+}
 
 header('Content-Type: text/plain;charset=UTF-8');
 
 $url = isset($_GET['url']) ? urldecode(trim($_GET['url'])) : '';
+$customSlug = isset($_GET['slug']) ? trim($_GET['slug']) : '';
 
-if (in_array($url, array('', 'about:blank', 'undefined', 'http://localhost/'))) {
-	die('Enter a URL.');
+if (in_array($url, ['', 'about:blank', 'undefined', 'http://localhost/'])) {
+    die('Enter a URL.');
 }
 
 // If the URL is already a short URL on this domain, don’t re-shorten it
 if (strpos($url, SHORT_URL) === 0) {
-	die($url);
+    die($url);
 }
 
-function nextLetter(&$str) {
-	$str = ('z' == $str ? 'a' : ++$str);
+function nextLetter(&$str)
+{
+    $str = ('z' == $str ? 'a' : ++$str);
 }
 
-function getNextShortURL($s) {
-	$a = str_split($s);
-	$c = count($a);
-	if (preg_match('/^z*$/', $s)) { // string consists entirely of `z`
-		return str_repeat('a', $c + 1);
-	}
-	while ('z' == $a[--$c]) {
-		nextLetter($a[$c]);
-	}
-	nextLetter($a[$c]);
-	return implode($a);
+function getNextShortURL($s)
+{
+    $a = str_split($s);
+    $c = count($a);
+    if (preg_match('/^z*$/', $s)) { // string consists entirely of `z`
+        return str_repeat('a', $c + 1);
+    }
+    while ('z' == $a[--$c]) {
+        nextLetter($a[$c]);
+    }
+    nextLetter($a[$c]);
+    return implode($a);
 }
 
-$db = new mysqli(MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_PASSWORD, MYSQL_DATABASE);
+$db = new mysqli(MYSQL_HOST, MYSQL_USER, MYSQL_PASSWORD, MYSQL_DATABASE, MYSQL_PORT);
 $db->set_charset('utf8mb4');
 
 $url = $db->real_escape_string($url);
 
 $result = $db->query('SELECT slug FROM redirect WHERE url = "' . $url . '" LIMIT 1');
+if (!empty($customSlug)) {
+    $resultSlug = $db->query('SELECT slug FROM redirect WHERE slug = "' . $customSlug . '" LIMIT 1');
+
+    if ($resultSlug && $resultSlug->num_rows > 0) { // If there’s already a short URL for this URL
+        die(SHORT_URL . $result->fetch_object()->slug);
+    }
+}
 if ($result && $result->num_rows > 0) { // If there’s already a short URL for this URL
-	die(SHORT_URL . $result->fetch_object()->slug);
+    die(SHORT_URL . $result->fetch_object()->slug);
 } else {
-	$result = $db->query('SELECT slug, url FROM redirect ORDER BY date DESC, slug DESC LIMIT 1');
-	if ($result && $result->num_rows > 0) {
-		$slug = getNextShortURL($result->fetch_object()->slug);
-		if ($db->query('INSERT INTO redirect (slug, url, date, hits) VALUES ("' . $slug . '", "' . $url . '", NOW(), 0)')) {
-			header('HTTP/1.1 201 Created');
-			echo SHORT_URL . $slug;
-			$db->query('OPTIMIZE TABLE `redirect`');
-		}
-	}
+    $result = $db->query('SELECT slug, url FROM redirect ORDER BY date DESC, slug DESC LIMIT 1');
+    if ($result && $result->num_rows > 0) {
+        $slug = !empty($customSlug) ? $customSlug : getNextShortURL($result->fetch_object()->slug);
+
+        if ($db->query('INSERT INTO redirect (slug, url, date, hits) VALUES ("' . $slug . '", "' . $url . '", NOW(), 0)')) {
+            header('HTTP/1.1 201 Created');
+            echo SHORT_URL . $slug;
+            $db->query('OPTIMIZE TABLE `redirect`');
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 ?>
\ No newline at end of file