What is the best way to notify for a website, writing it down as "www.mysite.com" or "http://mysite.gr"? What is the difference between the two and in which case we prefer the http:// method?
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optimum way to notify people for a site
- Thread starter zoran
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In certain older (windows) email clients, you need to add http:// to make it clickable. Sometimes only if the sitename does not begin with www.
Newer email clients such as Apple Mail will automatically make it a link, even from mysite.com
!! You do need to check that you set up your website to be also accessible without the www - this should be standard in most setups, but it is always better to check. I've personally come across an email signature that did not work and needed to add the www to get it to work.
Newer email clients such as Apple Mail will automatically make it a link, even from mysite.com
!! You do need to check that you set up your website to be also accessible without the www - this should be standard in most setups, but it is always better to check. I've personally come across an email signature that did not work and needed to add the www to get it to work.
Or maybe I misunderstood 
It's not clear what 'notify' means, I assumed he wanted to sent a mail...
It's not clear what 'notify' means, I assumed he wanted to sent a mail...
I added a small website symbol ( globe icon ) before it when designing my leaflet to visually indicate my website. It could also be important for whom you are making this leaflet. Elder people might generally be more used to www sites.
The case for using www would be if you want to make certain that people recognise it as a website. The case for not using www is that it is shorter to type in. I believe in making the customer journey as short and easy as possible, but I don't think it's bad form either way.
Definitely don't put the http:// in the leaflet though - that's overkill, in my opinion.
FYI - I participated as a viewer in some customer experience tests on how they reached a website - most people (these were not computer savvy) just went to Google and typed in the websitename in the search box and went from there
The case for using www would be if you want to make certain that people recognise it as a website. The case for not using www is that it is shorter to type in. I believe in making the customer journey as short and easy as possible, but I don't think it's bad form either way.
Definitely don't put the http:// in the leaflet though - that's overkill, in my opinion.
FYI - I participated as a viewer in some customer experience tests on how they reached a website - most people (these were not computer savvy) just went to Google and typed in the websitename in the search box and went from there
No, perhaps a little explanation will help.
Your site name ( domain name ) is mysite.gr This is the address used to find your server / index page. It is the human friendly version of the actual computer server phone number. Which looks something like 192.168.0.1 We have trouble remembering all these numbers so we use a Domain Name Server ( a computerized operator ) that translates the human readable mysite.gr to its computer readable 192.168.0.1 phone number. It is this computer phone number that is actually 'dialed.'
The www is a subdomain of your server phone number. It is a special subdomain typically assigned to all websites to assist in self reporting its use and purpose. So the mysite.gr calls the operator ( DNS ) he forwards it to the actual address ( 192.168.0.1 ) which calls your server. If there is no subdomain it defaults to your base folder index file and if that is missing ( actually, it checks several local backup locations for an index file as directed by your server configuration ) just displays a directory listing of the files on your server.
If you have a subdomain it checks for an index file in that folder location. If the subdomain is www, then that would just point right back to your base file location.
And for completeness, the http:// is a protocol that is inserted by default. There are many protocols that can be added ( or rather MUST be added ) otherwise your browser will automatically insert the http:// protocol. Some examples are: ftp:// https:// ftps:// afp:// WebDAV:// and many more...
So it is BEST to just list the domain name: mysite.gr
Thanx for the extended explanation, let me just tell you one thought of mine... what if someone that doesn't know much of the web wants to enter my site, and he doesn't have the latest browsers that can work without entering the "www". How far back were there browsers that needed the www in order to enter a site?
No worries, www has nothing to do with the browser. It has to do with the server. If your server is setup properly www will direct users to the base directory index file ( main site ). If it is setup incorrectly, www subdomain will not have a proper redirect and 404 the user. So the BEST thing to do is NOT add the www. This will work if your server is setup properly or not.
I've seen sites where this is NOT properly set up for the main site but only for the www.site - so best always check before.
I guess that is possible with some horrific .htaccess rewriting. Can your provide an example? I'd really like to ensure I stay away from their services.
Sorry no, too long ago. But you can screw these things up yourself by configuring your server incorrectly. That's actually what I wanted to pass on as message. Always test what you offer before you show it in any communication.
If you're going to list your website in a leaflet, flier, business card or other marketing materials, make it simple: mysite.com. In fact, if the website is your company name, consider capitalizing each word like: MySite.com. In today's world, people get it. Just like people understand that michael@mysite.com is an email address. If you're really concerned someone won't understand, and you have room, add the phrase: Visit our website at MySite.com.