Hi David,
> There were references to both Bit.ly and also Bitly.com. ESRI is using both services for this purpose?
FYI, Bitly.com is the name of the company, and "Bit.ly" is the short URL to shorten URLs.
Bitly - Wikipedia
> And why on earth does your hard-coded software url need a url shortener?
We provide this functionality to enable users to reference their web maps, apps, etc. on Twitter for example.
> The installation instructions for web appbuilder in this arrangement do not include instructions on how to adapt the software components that use these web addresses.
Portal for ArcGIS includes an embedded version of Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS and there are no additional configuration steps needed to make it work. Once you install Portal, it should work out of the box. There is also Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS Developer Edition - which does require configuration with Portal.
FYI: This URL shortening capability is available in both Portal for ArcGIS (e.g., when you create web maps and apps). You can disable it in Portal by setting the advanced configuration options,
Set advanced portal options—Portal for ArcGIS (10.5) | ArcGIS Enterprise.
In Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS, the functionality is accessed via its Share widget.
Hope this helps,