# Webaddress for WWW or without WWW
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 24, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759 "2006-03-24T18:56:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ZeroZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroZero)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/1 "2006-03-24T18:56:05Z")
I noticed today in a search engine forum on another site, one poster was saying he had sites under both
[http://www.exampple.com](http://www.exampple.com) and [http://example.com](http://example.com)
and was wondering if he’d get penalized for having a mirror site.
What eactly is the difference? I just assumed leaving off the www was a shortcut.
Also is there anyother thing besided www that coud go there?
---
### Author:  [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/2 "2006-03-24T19:09:49Z")
“www” has no special meaning in the [Domain Name System](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System). If you have registered a domain name, say [frobozz.com](http://frobozz.com), you can put web sites, or any type of site, at [frobozz.com](http://frobozz.com), [www.frobozz.com](http://www.frobozz.com), [snoopy.montana.frobozz.com](http://snoopy.montana.frobozz.com), [not.a.web.site.frobozz.com](http://not.a.web.site.frobozz.com), etc.
---
### Author:  [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/3 "2006-03-24T19:10:59Z")
“[example.com](http://example.com)” would be the root domain and “[www.example.com](http://www.example.com)” would be a subdomain of it, which can either be a separate site, page, or the same as the root domain’s site.
When you purchase “[example.com](http://example.com)”, you essentially control all _subdomains_ underneath it. Domain names work backwards, which means you can add to the front of your domain if you want. You could have [www.example.com](http://www.example.com), and [forums.example.com](http://forums.example.com), or even multiple levels such as [welcome.to.my.website.example.com](http://welcome.to.my.website.example.com).
Generally, how many subdomains you can add depends on who runs your _nameservers_. Most hosts have a limit on how many you can have based on how much you pay.
I don’t know at all about how search engines penalize subdomains.
---
### Author:  [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/4 "2006-03-24T19:22:38Z")
> [@ZeroZero](#):
>
> Also is there anyother thing besided www that coud go there?
“boards” (Look up at your address bar!)
---
### Author:  [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/5 "2006-03-24T19:24:19Z")
> [@ZeroZero](#):
>
> I noticed today in a search engine forum on another site, one poster was saying he had sites under both
>
> [http://www.exampple.com](http://www.exampple.com) and [http://example.com](http://example.com)
>
> and was wondering if he’d get penalized for having a mirror site.
>
> What eactly is the difference? I just assumed leaving off the www was a shortcut.
>
> Also is there anyother thing besided www that coud go there?
Well, [exampple.com](http://exampple.com) and [example.com](http://example.com) would be two different domains, but assuming the first was a typo, the www part is just part of the webserver configuration.
---
### Author:  [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/6 "2006-03-24T19:30:25Z")
> [@sweeteviljesus](#):
>
> Well, [exampple.com](http://exampple.com) and [example.com](http://example.com) would be two different domains, but assuming the first was a typo, the www part is just part of the webserver configuration.
Not _completely_ true, subdomains can have their own DNS records that point to completely different IP addresses. However you are correct, if they happen to point to the same machine then the webserver can differentiate them based on what is specified in the Host: header of the incoming HTTP requests.
---
### Author:  [@ZeroZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroZero)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/7 "2006-03-25T01:25:18Z")
FYI that was a typo
It should be
[http://www.exapmle.com](http://www.exapmle.com)
[http://example.com](http://example.com)
---
### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/8 "2006-03-25T02:30:59Z")
A couple of other actual commercial examples of non-www prefixes - [support.sas.com](http://support.sas.com) (which is different from [www.sas.com](http://www.sas.com), and [www.support.sas.com](http://www.support.sas.com) doesn’t work), and webmail.shaw.ca (which is different from www.shaw.ca, although www.webmail.shaw.ca does resolve but just turns back into www.shaw.ca). Those are just two that I use very frequently; I’ve run into other non-www prefixes before.
---
### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/9 "2006-03-25T02:33:01Z")
Interesting how insistent the board software is about making anything in the www.whatever pattern into a link (even if you delete the [u r l] codes in the preview)!
---
### Author:  [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/10 "2006-03-25T02:35:09Z")
Argh! :smack: Sorry for three messages in a row - in my first message it should have said www.webmail.shaw.ca turns into webmail.shaw.ca.
---
### Author:  [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/11 "2006-03-25T03:52:19Z")
> [@Canadjun](#):
>
> Interesting how insistent the board software is about making anything in the www.whatever pattern into a link (even if you delete the [u r l] codes in the preview)!
If you want to suppress it, uncheck the little box below your reply text that says “Automatically parse links in text”.
Then you can write [whatever.you.want.com](http://whatever.you.want.com).
> [@ed](#):
>
> “[example.com](http://example.com)” would be the root domain and “[www.example.com](http://www.example.com)” would be a subdomain of it, which can either be a separate site, page, or the same as the root domain’s site.
There is no such term as “root domain.”
Root is the implied dot at the end of the URL. The “com” (or org, or net, or fr, or what have you) is the “top-level domain” or TLD. What you buy from registrars is the second-level domain, usually just called the domain name (even though that’s not precise, everybody understands what it means).
---
### Author:  [@ed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ed)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/12 "2006-03-25T04:41:49Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#):
>
> There is no such term as “root domain.”
My mistake. Sometimes when dealing with registrars (admittedly some time ago) this term comes up in this fashion but it’s not correct.
---
### Author:  [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/13 "2006-03-25T05:26:42Z")
As to why the ‘www’ appeared there in the first place — in the early days of the Web, it was commonly used to differentiate an institution’s web server from a server that used another protocol. The protocol (on a browser) is indicated in the URL at the very front. E.g. for Hypertext (the one used by the Web) it’s **http**. Early browsers could often handle other protocols, but the ability to integrate graphics made Hypertext the favorite. Since the Web & http by far dominates modern information servers, the ‘www’ is no longer necessary.
Actually, I’m not sure it was ever strictly necessary; theoretically [http://ftp.confusion.gov](http://ftp.confusion.gov) could resolve to a website, but I don’t think it would actually be done . ( It might be a problem for an ftp program that assumes ‘ftp’, but I’m not sure about that.)
Other protocols used on the internet besides http -
ftp - File Transfer Protocol
gopher - a simple text-based database, based on nested lists. The main competition when the Web was new.
WAIS - Wide Area Information (Search?/Server?) a database to which searches could be submitted.
nntp - news (i.e. Usenet)
smtp - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol; used for e-mail
Note : It’s been a while since I knew this better, so I may have some details wrong; hopefully someone can correct me if need be.
---
### Author:  [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)
#### Post date: [March 25, 2006, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/14 "2006-03-25T18:02:06Z")
> [@ZeroZero](#):
>
> FYI that was a typo
>
> It should be
>
> [http://www.exapmle.com](http://www.exapmle.com)
>
> [http://example.com](http://example.com)
You did this on purpose, right? :dubious:
---
### Author:  [@ZeroZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZeroZero)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2006, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/15 "2006-03-26T18:06:48Z")
Obviously I had severe problems with trying to type
It should be
[http://www.example.com](http://www.example.com)
[http://example.com](http://example.com)
---
### Author:  [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2006, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/16 "2006-03-26T18:13:11Z")
> [@panamajack](#):
>
> As to why the ‘www’ appeared there in the first place — in the early days of the Web, it was commonly used to differentiate an institution’s web server from a server that used another protocol. …
>
> Actually, I’m not sure it was ever strictly necessary; theoretically [http://ftp.confusion.gov](http://ftp.confusion.gov) could resolve to a website, but I don’t think it would actually be done . ( It might be a problem for an ftp program that assumes ‘ftp’, but I’m not sure about that.)
The convention to use ‘www’ arose out of various different ways of indicating such a server with a prefix. MIT has kept the ‘web’ prefix as an alternative all this time, and the following all lead to the same page:
> **[The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)](https://web.mit.edu/)**
>
> The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
> **[The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)](https://www.mit.edu/)**
>
> The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
> **[The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)](https://web.mit.edu)**
>
> The mission of MIT is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.
---
### Author:  [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)
#### Post date: [March 26, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/webaddress-for-www-or-without-www/349759/17 "2006-03-26T19:30:50Z")
> [@panamajack](#):
>
> Early browsers could often handle other protocols, but the ability to integrate graphics made Hypertext the favorite.
Actually, all major browser can still use other protocols. SSL (accessed via a web address that begins with “https”) is the one most people are familiar with, but ftp and others are still supported.
> [@](#):
>
> Actually, I’m not sure it was ever strictly necessary; theoretically [http://ftp.confusion.gov](http://ftp.confusion.gov) could resolve to a website, but I don’t think it would actually be done . ( It might be a problem for an ftp program that assumes ‘ftp’, but I’m not sure about that.)
The first qualifier in an URL has no meaning to the application, be it “ftp” or “boards” or anything else. Only the protocol, specified before the colon, is interpreted.
And, it should be noted while we’re being pedantic about naming conventions, the left-most qualifier in an URL is generally referred to as the _host_. The host name for web servers is by convention “www” (and “ftp” for FTP servers, etc.), but it doesn’t have to be.