FAO Web guide: 6.10 Domains, URLs and aliases

Web Guide home 1. Introduction 2. Web publishing basics 3. Planning 4. Content collection 5. Design 6. Construction 7. Testing 8. Launch 9. Maintenance 10. Writing for the Web Resources 1.1 FAO and the Internet: What is an FAO Web site? 1.2 Quality criteria of Web sites 1.3 An introduction to Web accessibility at FAO 1.4 Electronic publishing at FAO 2.1 Content quality 2.2 Roles in Web publishing 2.3 Web site quality clearance and continuity 2.4 Policy and legal matters 2.5 Language coverage policy 2.6 Web site traffic monitoring 2.7 Static and dynamic content 2.8 Really Simple Syndication (RSS) 2.9 Social Media Guidelines 2.10 Current server structure at FAO 3.1 What and (who) is the site for and what is it about?3.2 Define the Web site subject scope 3.3 Define your audience 3.4 Identify resources 3.5 How to track and share planning decisions 4.1 Developing a content inventory 4.2 FAO content repositories 4.3 Metadata 5.1 Review user needs 5.2 Defining information architecture 5.3 Prepare interface design 5.4 Define technical implementation 5.5 Tracking design implementation 6.1 Management of files/naming 6.2 HTML and coding 6.3 Use of style sheets 6.4 Graphics 6.5 Conversion of electronic documents 6.6 Language encoding 6.7 Link management 6.8 Printable pages 6.9 Providing access to search 6.10 Domains, URLs and aliases 6.11 Tools 7.1 Testing approaches 7.2 How to use the test environment 8.1 Launch checklist 8.2 Promotion 9.1 Quality assurance and routine checking 9.2 Update procedures for Web sites 9.3 Web usage analysis 9.4 Evaluation of Web sites 10.1 Writing a page of text 10.2 Organizing your text on the page 10.3 How to optimize content for search engines 10.4 How to write feedback, error messages 10.5 Quotations 10.6 Non-discriminatory language Checklists Acronyms Newsletter Guidelines Policies Procedures Web resources Tag cloud Contacts 2.3a Data ownership 2.3b Regulation of access to servers 2.3c Clearance of Web sites by OCP 2.4a Country names, flags and maps 2.4b The fao.org domain, subdomains and root directories 2.4c Use of FAO emblem and logos 2.4d Politically sensitive material 2.6a FAO Web sites: the user perspective 2.6b How to gather user information: user research 2.6c Designing for the user 2.6d Page size and downloading 2.7a Static content 2.7b Dynamic content 2.7c Content Management Systems (CMS) 2.9a FAO and Facebook 2.9b FAO and Flickr 2.9c FAO and Google+2.9d FAO and LinkedIn 2.9e FAO and SlideShare 2.9f FAO and Twitter 2.9g FAO and Wikipedia 2.9h FAO and YouTube 4.3a What is metadata?4.3b Why embed metadata in Web pages?4.3c How to embed basic metadata in the HTML head section 4.3d How to create or improve current metadata 4.3e FAO standards for encoded metadata 4.3f Metadata, search engines and their robots 5.2a Identify Web pages and subject categories 5.2b Define navigation 5.2c Define metadata and search requirements 5.3a Corporate visual identity 5.3b Web site design usability principles 6.1a How to use the FTP server 6.2a HTML and XHTML 6.2b Browser compatibility 6.2c New windows and pop-ups 6.2d JavaScript 6.2e HTML title and metadata tags 6.3a CSS and Web accessibility 6.3b Cascading Style sheets (CSS) and browser compatibility 6.4a Graphic formats 6.4b Use of images on the Web 6.4c Photos 6.5a Converting Word documents into PDF 6.6a Guidelines for language encoding 6.6b Multilingual interfaces 6.7a Linking files across languages 6.7b Links to the FAO home page, FAO copyright and AskFAO 6.7c Absolute and relative links 6.7d Avoid spamming on e-mail addresses 6.8a How to prepare print-safe Web pages using CSS 6.8b Other ways of preparing print-safe Web pages 6.11a Recommended editing tools for Web site construction 6.11b Graphics, document and conversion tools 9.1a Maintaining quality 9.1b Content freshness
	Web Guide > webguide > 6. Construction > 6.10 Domains, URLs and aliases
	6.10 Domains, URLs and aliases Policy www.fao.org is the entry point to all FAO information on the Internet and is the domain under which, in principle, all information published by FAO on the Internet should be located. Exceptions to this policy and the registration and use of a non-FAO domain can be made when there are compelling reasons; for instance when the use of such a domain was specified in the aforementioned formal agreement or when the use of the FAO domain would harm the collaborative nature of agreement. Internet domain registration and subdomains The domain name identifies a Web site on the Internet. Every time a domain name is used it is actually translated into a corresponding Internet Protocol (IP) address. For example the domain name www.fao.org corresponds to the IP address 193.43.36.103 (for "fao.org" on the www sub-domain). Domain names, not IP addresses, are used because they are alphabetic and therefore easier to remember. A sub-domain is a domain that is part of a larger domain name. For example, in the domain name money.cnn.com, "money" is a subdomain of the larger domain cnn.com. Domain registration is the process of securing these Web addresses. Registration or renewal is done through official registration sites for a specified number of years. Anybody requiring a new domain should write an e-mail to OCP (use Domain-Requests@fao.org), explaining the need for the new domain name. Detailed information on domain name section, registration and organization is available in the document Internet domain name selection, registration and organization (Word Document). How to phrase a URL It is best to keep URLs simple so that they are easy to copy and paste and so that they may easily be typed into a browser, used on brochures etc. It is important to avoid empty spaces in file names, otherwise they will display as "%20%" and may produce errors. How to obtain an alias or subdomain An alias is used when files are located in directories making a URL difficult to remember, for example, the Web page http://www.fao.org/waicent/portal/outreach/ has the alias http://www.fao.org/imark/. Appropriate aliases or subdomains under fao.org can be established to provide the required identity. The Director or Head of Office or, in case of field projects, the Director of the lead Technical Unit, responsible for the activity requiring an alias, subdomain or new domain should write by email to the Director, OCP, explaining the business case for the request. In the case of technological reasons, the request may be initiated by CIO and, in any case, should first be discussed with CIO. How to request hosting services Usually hosting services are available only for decentralized offices however there can be some exceptions, contact OCP for more information.	See also in the guide 2.4d Politically sensitive material References and resources Internet domain name selection, registration and organization [internal-Word]