The Motive Web Design Glossary

uniform resource locator (URL)

A uniform resource locator (URL) identifies the location of a website on the internet. This is simultaneously a text string (address) and a number.

For example, you can type into your address bar either the address: http://www.motive.co.nz; or the internet protocol number 216.71.203.42 to access the Motive homepage.

Parts of a URL

A URL is comprised of four parts. Using http://www.motive.co.nz/about/index.html as an example:

Browser handling of incomplete or broken URLs

Where a URL does not included a file name; for example http://www.motive.co.nz/about/, the web browser may:

• display the file designated by the web server as the ‘starting page’ for that directory; commonly index.html, index.htm or default.html
• if no starting page has been assigned, a list of the folders (directories) and files accessible from the current location may be displayed
• in some cases a browser message may be shown, advising that, as there is no webpage that location, access is forbidden

Related terms: anchor, domain name, DNS server, hosting, hyperlink, HTTP, IP address, linking, server.

References and further reading

• Status codes in HTTP (W3C)
  Each time a URL is accessed, a web server responds with a status code. Commonly seen by users is 404 Not Found.
• Top 10 unintentionally worst company URLs (Independent Sources)
  Choosing a domain name can be fraught… (light relief)
• Trust in little things (Steve Baty, UX Matters)
  Establishing trust about taking care of the details, including providing human-readable, rather than abbreviated, URLs.

Motive Web Design Glossary Trivia