From what I understand, the URL is a uniform resource locator, which means there is uniformity in the format of the website addresses. Am I right on this? I am confused with the prefix of the website address because they don’t appear to be uniform. There are sites with www as prefix but mostly there is the http. And lately I have noticed the https which, according to the error in my browser, is a secured connection. What exactly is the meaning of this secured connection, that it cannot be hacked? And what about sites with no prefix at all, how do they function?
What exactly is a URL?
- Thread starter Corzhens
- Start date
Yeah the URL = Uniform Resource Locator. It's just a jargonized technical way of saying "The Link". 🙂
Since the whole web is made of links. Your website URL, whether something.com or some.thing.com or some.com/thing whatever is a link. And other URLs (links) can link to it or you can link to them (with the URL (link)).
Actually, when Tim Berners-Lee created the http protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), he never realized that he would go on to wish that he would have made it something much better. Something like web://yourwebsite.com instead of http://yourwebsite.com. Now wouldn't that look much better? 😀
However, the web is built on top of https now so it's like changing the engine in a 3 Series BMW while you're traveling down the freeway at 80 MPH.
There is some change coming though, why change engines when you can switch cars? 😉
Since the whole web is made of links. Your website URL, whether something.com or some.thing.com or some.com/thing whatever is a link. And other URLs (links) can link to it or you can link to them (with the URL (link)).
Actually, when Tim Berners-Lee created the http protocol (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol), he never realized that he would go on to wish that he would have made it something much better. Something like web://yourwebsite.com instead of http://yourwebsite.com. Now wouldn't that look much better? 😀
However, the web is built on top of https now so it's like changing the engine in a 3 Series BMW while you're traveling down the freeway at 80 MPH.
There is some change coming though, why change engines when you can switch cars? 😉
TradingCardMakers
Resident
This is very well said, couldn't put it any better than a 3 series BMW.
Thanks very much for your replies. However, my question remains in the air. Why do some websites have a prefix of www and some have http and some other have https? And there was a website I encountered with no prefix at all. Can anyone explain why so? This internet protocol is confusing to me.
Well, as you know, the Internet is made up of different parts (protocols). There is the email protocol "@" and there is the Internet protocol "http" (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). The http exists because as said above, that's how Tim Berners-Lee created it when he was designing the infrastructure for the Internet (something he would later come to regret).
Now then, why do some websites use www and some not. Why are some http and some https? And why do some websites have no prefix at all?
Well, that is more of an optional thing for the webmaster to set in their .htaccess file as a rule. You can set it so that your website either shows http://yourdomain.com or http://www.yourdomain.com.
In your browser, that might just either show as either yourdomain.com or www.yourdomain.com until you copy it in which case it will show the http:// part but that's just how web browsers work.
For more information on to be www or not to be www! Well, just Google that and you'll learn more.
As for http and https. That s means that it's using an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) which is just a jargonized way of saying the site is using a 256bit encryption. That doesn't 100% guarantee privacy (everything can be hacked). But so if you install an SSL certificate to your site (which every site will have in the future), then you do give people some extra peace of mind when using it and it does actually count as a ranking factor too (Google said this but only by about 1%).
To be honest love, why are you concerning yourself and inquiring about this rather most technological of things about the Internet? Are you just curious and asking to know or there is some other reason you want to know these things?
Because tbh, you could go mad looking into all this kind of stuff! It's good to learn and know and after all, all knowledge is power. Unless you're looking into becoming a web developer or something? 🙂
Mike.
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