- http:/ vs. www.
- Posted by Cynanthis on October 31st, 2005
This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make a
website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
- Posted by Mike M. on October 31st, 2005
HTTP stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol". It is one of several
protocols used to transfer information from computer to computer on the web.
WWW stands for World Wide Web. Typically your Internet Service Provider
(ISP) or web hosting provider assigns you a URL where your web page resides.
Something like www.earthlink.net/yourname~ so don't sweat it. You probably
already have web space available from your ISP so you could put up a web
page now. Many ISPs provide a lead through menu to help you set up a simple
web page. Look around the ISP support page to see what's available.
Read more here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http
"Cynanthis" <Cynanthis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1088F550-42D4-44A0-9891-1823C2B43813@microsoft.com...
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make
a
> website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
- Posted by RobertVA on October 31st, 2005
Cynanthis wrote:
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make a
> website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
The "http:" is an acronym for HyperText Transfer Protocol. It tells the
browser to expect the Unuversal Resource Locator (URL) to point to a web
page. Many browsers will accept an address without the "http:". The
double slash tells the browser to start with the root folder listed for
the site on the Domain Name Server (DNS). Subsequient slashes delimit
folders within that folder in a manner VERY similar to a Windows file
path. The domain name will be the text before the LAST period betwen the
double slash and the first single slash. There may be one or more
sub-domains listed betwen the "http://" and the domain name, each
seperated (delimited) with a period.
thus:
in "http://www.news.invalid.com/today.htp"
"http:" expect a web page.
"//" go to top level folder regestered for this site.
"com" a registration for a comercial site.
"www~invalid" the regestered domain name. the "~" is a wildcard.
"news" a sub-domain that is part of the "invalid" domain.
"today.htp" file name and extension for the actual web page.
Some sites are registered on the DNS to work without the "WWW.". More a
matter of the regesrating agency's policies and wouldn't necesarilly be
a reflection of the fees involved.
- Posted by Sharon F on October 31st, 2005
On Mon, 31 Oct 2005 11:59:54 -0800, Cynanthis wrote:
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make a
> website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
http is a protocol for the internet - a method to call up web addresses.
www is a prefix to a web address.
There is no way to tell from "http" and "www" whether a website is hosted
for free or not.
While many web addresses use the www prefix, it is only one of many.
Whether that will be part of your website's address or not, depends on what
your webhost has to offer or requires.
--
Sharon F
MS-MVP ~ Windows Shell/User
- Posted by Tony on October 31st, 2005
"Cynanthis" <Cynanthis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1088F550-42D4-44A0-9891-1823C2B43813@microsoft.com...
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make
> a
> website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
It doesn't mean anything. It depends how the host has their server
configured. I have one domain www.ittiger.co.uk that can be reached by
either typing in www.ittiger.co.uk or just ittiger.co.uk . The shorter
version is just easier for someone to type into the browser window. The
longer version makes it a clickable link in an email.
- Posted by Phillips on October 31st, 2005
http and www have different meanings and usage.
http= a type of networking protocol (how computers communicate) for
transfering "hyper" text (aka web page); another common protocol is "ftp" -
file transfer
www (world wide web)= a sort of prefix like those used in telephony
(1-800...); www does not mean that the site is hosted for free.
www is not necessary for a well formed URL - depends how you register your
URL with a DNS (Domain Name Server - an electronic phone book that
translates the words in a URL in numbers).
Michael
"Cynanthis" <Cynanthis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1088F550-42D4-44A0-9891-1823C2B43813@microsoft.com...
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to make
> a
> website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why? thanks
- Posted by Wesley Vogel on November 1st, 2005
Open Internet Explorer | Click Help on the top Toolbar | Click the Index tab
| Type in url
Understanding Internet addresses
[[An Internet or Web address (sometimes called a URL, or Uniform Resource
Locator) typically is composed of four parts:
• A protocol name (a protocol is a set of rules and standards that enable
computers to exchange information)
• The location of the site
• The name of the organization that maintains the site
• A suffix that identifies the kind of organization it is (such as .com for
a commercial organization)
For example, the address
http://www.microsoft.com/ provides the following information:
http: This Web server uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
www This site is on the World Wide Web.
microsoft The Web server is at Microsoft Corporation.
com This is a commercial institution.
When you are viewing a Web page, the page's address appears in the Address
bar in Internet Explorer.]]
Understanding Internet Addressing
http://library.thinkquest.org/22447/addr.htm
Understanding Internet addresses (URLs)
http://adannihilator.com/help/Unders...taddresses.php
Understanding Internet Addresses
http://www.phoenix.k12.ny.us/ejd/inf...al/address.htm
--
Hope this helps. Let us know.
Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User
In news:1088F550-42D4-44A0-9891-1823C2B43813@microsoft.com,
Cynanthis <Cynanthis@discussions.microsoft.com> hunted and pecked:
> This is a perhaps dumb question but I am kind new to internet stuff.
> Question: If a web site has the http:/ instead of WWW. at the begining,
> what does that mean? Is it one that was hosted for free. If I were to
> make a website someday, should I insist on the www. one instead & why?
> thanks
