Web Guide  > webguide > 2. Web publishing basics > 2.4 Policy and legal matters  > 2.4b The fao.org domain, subdomains and root directories

2.4b The fao.org domain, subdomains and root directories

Policy and Procedure

To view:

  • Policy for the fao.org domain;
  • Procedures for registering a new domain name;
  • Procedures for domain name renewal;
  • Policy for subdomains and root directories;
  • Procedures for registering a new sub domain; and
  • Procedures for registering a new root directory,

For more details about the policy, please see the document Internet domain name selection, registration and organization: policies and procedures.   Please note, however, that this document is currently being reviewed by the Web Management Team and it is recommended to contact domain-requests@fao.org for any requests regarding domain names, redirect and alias.

For a field project, it is recommended that its Web site occurs under the www.fao.org domain, preferably in the Department responsible for the project's implementation (e.g. www.fao.org/forestry/...).

It is important that the Web sites of Decentralized offices (Country Offices and/or regional/subregional offices) link to the Web sites of related field projects, and also that a link is added to Field Programme Management Information System (FPMIS).

Structure of URLs

Using descriptive real words in URLs by creating simple directory and file names for the documents on your Web site helps to keep the site organised and leads to improved crawling of documents by search engines.

URLs containing relevant words provide users and search engines with more information about the page than long and cryptic URLs that contain few recognisable words, making it easier for those who may want to link to the content.