Do you type in "www." before a web address?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

No of course not. This is not only incredibly pointless with modern browsers and how almost all URLs work (like seriously, why would anyone bother to take the time to type out www.uselectionatlas.org to reach this site?), it's actually a really awful habit since non-tech people will often type in "www." before every URL they're given even if not stated, and if it has a subdomain before the main domain (such as accounts.google.com) it won't work if the www. is added before. And as anyone who's worked a tech support job that involves directing people to subdomained websites can tell you, this is not just a small minority of really technically incompetent people who do this, but actually most people who are over the age of 40 and not tech geeks.

I heard about this once for a company that did a test before job interviews. The applicant was given a sheet with a list of instructions to follow on the company's web site. The first step listed was "Type in companyname.com on the browser's URL bar". If the applicant typed in "www.companyname.com" instead of "companyname.com" the interview ended there and they were not hired.

I actually think it's probably been a decade since I've typed in "www." before a website name...(the exception being one of my credit card's sites that's the rare website that requires the www, and thus it throws me off and I enter it incorrectly at first half the time.)

[Joe Biden 2020]

Yes, I do.

[WalterMitty]

absolutely.  (normal)

[free my dawg]

No (lazy).

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

It's not lazy, it's efficient. It's also the only way to view Tumblr pages.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Not usually, no.

I heard about this once for a company that did a test before job interviews. The applicant was given a sheet with a list of instructions to follow on the company's web site. The first step listed was "Type in companyname.com on the browser's URL bar". If the applicant typed in "www.companyname.com" instead of "companyname.com" the interview ended there and they were not hired.

That is absurdly draconian.

[dead0man]

Of course not.  Typing the name of the site and hitting Ctrl-Enter puts in all the extra stuff and has for years.

kfc
ctrl-enter
bam it goes to http://www.kfc.com

[rejectamenta]

Please help me find AOL. Aitch tee tee pee colon slash slash dubyadubyadubya dot...?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Not usually, no.

I heard about this once for a company that did a test before job interviews. The applicant was given a sheet with a list of instructions to follow on the company's web site. The first step listed was "Type in companyname.com on the browser's URL bar". If the applicant typed in "www.companyname.com" instead of "companyname.com" the interview ended there and they were not hired.

That is absurdly draconian.

Anyone who's ever worked in any IT or tech job will tell you it makes sense. Technical instructions need to be followed verbatim. Throwing in things or leaving them out because of habit or because you feel that's how it normally should be done results in things not working. For an example, check this out, which is probably one of the most browsed pages on the web:

https://maps.google.com

And now click on this:

https://www.maps.google.com

And now you see why adding www. before a URL if not specifically specified is not an acceptable web browsing habit.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

I typed in com, and it did not take me to the valid address of www.com

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Throwing in things or leaving them out because of habit or because you feel that's how it normally should be done results in things not working. For an example, check this out, which is probably one of the most browsed pages on the web:

https://maps.google.com

And now click on this:

https://www.maps.google.com

And now you see why adding www. before a URL if not specifically specified is not an acceptable web browsing habit.

You also get an example of the pointless HTTPS-ation of the internet.  I can't think of a single valid reason why HTTPS is needed with Google Maps by default.  I could somewhat see it if I were logged in with a Google account and there were some details in my account I wished to keep hidden.  Google of course does it so as to target me with ads (which I never see thanks to AdBlockPlus.)  and besides I stay logged out of my Google account by default, only occasionally logging in when there is something I want to do that I must be logged in to do.  Maps ain't such a thing.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Not usually, no.

I heard about this once for a company that did a test before job interviews. The applicant was given a sheet with a list of instructions to follow on the company's web site. The first step listed was "Type in companyname.com on the browser's URL bar". If the applicant typed in "www.companyname.com" instead of "companyname.com" the interview ended there and they were not hired.

That is absurdly draconian.

Anyone who's ever worked in any IT or tech job will tell you it makes sense. Technical instructions need to be followed verbatim. Throwing in things or leaving them out because of habit or because you feel that's how it normally should be done results in things not working. For an example, check this out, which is probably one of the most browsed pages on the web:

https://maps.google.com

And now click on this:

https://www.maps.google.com

And now you see why adding www. before a URL if not specifically specified is not an acceptable web browsing habit.

I know that. It's just that that seems like the sort of thing it would take five minutes to explain in on-the-job training, at most, unless you were dealing with somebody whom the interview process probably would have weeded out on some other grounds anyway.

[dead0man]

I typed in com, and it did not take me to the valid address of www.com

If you hit ctrl-enter it does.

[tik 🪀✨]

Not usually, no.

I heard about this once for a company that did a test before job interviews. The applicant was given a sheet with a list of instructions to follow on the company's web site. The first step listed was "Type in companyname.com on the browser's URL bar". If the applicant typed in "www.companyname.com" instead of "companyname.com" the interview ended there and they were not hired.

That is absurdly draconian.

Anyone who's ever worked in any IT or tech job will tell you it makes sense. Technical instructions need to be followed verbatim. Throwing in things or leaving them out because of habit or because you feel that's how it normally should be done results in things not working. For an example, check this out, which is probably one of the most browsed pages on the web:

https://maps.google.com

And now click on this:

https://www.maps.google.com

And now you see why adding www. before a URL if not specifically specified is not an acceptable web browsing habit.

Your test is dumb. If you asked me to visit google.com, I would have typed http://www.google.com. If you asked me to visit maps.google.com, I would have typed http://maps.google.com because I know better. But I still will type www when it can be there because that's.. not implicitly the wrong thing to do. I know it's wrong when a subdomain is present. It also takes me three hundredths of a second to type.

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

No, except for my school website.

[TDAS04]

No.

[Lambsbread]

No (not an old)

[ElectionsGuy]

No. And if I've visited the site before (like this one) I just type in the first letter and hit enter (lazy).

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

No. (Normal )

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I typed in com, and it did not take me to the valid address of www.com

If you hit ctrl-enter it does.

On my browser it takes one to www.com.com

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Sometimes; especially if I know the website needs the "www."

[dead0man]

I typed in com, and it did not take me to the valid address of www.com

If you hit ctrl-enter it does.

On my browser it takes one to www.com.com

Yeah, I thought that's what he was going for, but perhaps not as there is just a www.com...but then I suspect he's not adding "www" to a website because "www" is the name of the website and there is no world wide web part....unless you put it it too, but it goes to the same placeholder page.  www.www.com


and whois tells me it's owned by rebel.com, which not surprisingly, does domain name registering.

[tik 🪀✨]

ctrl+enter for "uselectionatlas" takes me to http://ww1.uselectionatlas.com/

[dead0man]

because it's a .org and not a .com....the ctrl-enter trick adds a .com by default.

[tik 🪀✨]

That's just lazy programming.