# Why no "www" **URL:** \ **Category:** Uncategorized\ **Created:** [April 11, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160 "2006-04-11T13:44:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/1 "2006-04-11T13:44:30Z")
I’m sure this sounds like an internet rook question…but why is it…out of curiousity…that most pages begin with the “www” prefix, like… [www.apples.com](http://www.apples.com) [www.nike.com](http://www.nike.com) [www.asparagus.org](http://www.asparagus.org) etc., etc., etc. and others, such as [mail.blah.com](http://mail.blah.com) [sharepoint.reebok.com](http://sharepoint.reebok.com) ftp.apples.com do not require the “www” prefix? and instead have “mail” or “ftp” or whatever the case may be. Not why in the sense of “oh, because one is for mail, and one is to upload files!” but why in the sense of how are they set up differently…are they on different servers? is it how the servers are configured? or what? what is the actual difference between these? thanks for any response! 🙂 Fitz ---
**Author:** ![this](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/this/32/669_2.png) [@this](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/this)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/2 "2006-04-11T13:56:06Z")
www (world wide web) show the page mail (webmail) show email ftp (file transfer protocol) show the files of page or mail all in same server. only differet subdomain. ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/3 "2006-04-11T14:02:30Z")
hey, thanks for the reply from Brasil! > www (world wide web) show the page > mail (webmail) show email > ftp (file transfer protocol) show the files of page or mail > all in same server. only differet subdomain. so when you say they’re different subdomains…is it some sort of functional requirement to use those different subdomains…or could I just as easily use… [www.nike.com/index](http://www.nike.com/index) [www.nike.com/mail](http://www.nike.com/mail) [www.nike.com/ftp](http://www.nike.com/ftp) or whatever else I wanted to use? ---
**Author:** ![Seb\_Hughes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Seb\_Hughes](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Seb_Hughes)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/4 "2006-04-11T14:05:09Z")
[en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail\_server](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_server) - About mail servers (File Transfer Protocol) A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. FTP was invented and in wide use long before the advent of the World Wide Web and originally was always used from a text-only interface. [sharepoint.reebok.com](http://sharepoint.reebok.com) - This is a subdomain. ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/5 "2006-04-11T14:20:35Z")
thanks for the reply Seb…but I guess I didn’t explain myself well enough. I know what FTP stands for and I know what its function is. I know what a mail servers function is as well…I just don’t understand why they don’t require the “www,” while other most sites do. I appreciate the wikipedia link though…guess I need to read up on Domain Name Servers. ---
**Author:** ![Seb\_Hughes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Seb\_Hughes](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Seb_Hughes)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:24pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/6 "2006-04-11T14:24:50Z")
Well an ftp is not a website. Its liek you can get http and https ---
**Author:** ![ramie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/edb3f5/32.png) [@ramie](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ramie)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/7 "2006-04-11T14:37:22Z")
ftp, mail, http are all different network protocals, the prefix is just a standard way of accessing them, they are not subdomains [http://www.webopedia.com/Networks/Network\_Protocols/](http://www.webopedia.com/Networks/Network_Protocols/) ---
**Author:** ![Ordinathorreur](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/ordinathorreur/32/536_2.png) [@Ordinathorreur](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Ordinathorreur)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:41pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/8 "2006-04-11T14:41:13Z")
AgentFitz answered the q but I think it kinda got lost in translation… so heres a little more info: “[www.nike.com/products](http://www.nike.com/products)” is the same location as “[products.nike.com](http://products.nike.com)” ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/9 "2006-04-11T14:47:46Z")
Cool. Well I’m somewhat familiar with http and https, the “s” dealing with a page being “secure.” But maybe this will explain my query better. So say I’m designing a Web site called [www.go.com](http://www.go.com). I have three pages associated with this “go” Web site. index.html contact.html about.html So whenever I need to go edit my index page…no problem, I just upload my new index page and overwrite my old one. Say I need to update my “about” page, no problem, simply edit it, upload and overwrite. Same for contact. But…how about my [mail.go.com](http://mail.go.com), or my [ftp.go.com](http://ftp.go.com). I don’t see those in the root directory on my Web server…where do those subdomains reside? I didn’t create them…who did? how is it that they even exist? Why do I not have control over them? What makes them different from my three pages that I created, index.html, contact.html, and about.html? Why are they not prefixed by “www”? Why do they “stand alone”? Maybe this makes my question clearer. Thanks again for any insight. ---
**Author:** ![955](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/9/4bbf92/32.png) [@955](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/955)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:53pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/10 "2006-04-11T14:53:42Z")
Most sites don’t require the “www” subdomain. > **[Apple](https://www.apple.com/)** > > Discover the innovative world of Apple and shop everything iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, plus explore accessories, entertainment, and expert device support. [http://nike.com/](http://nike.com/) [http://asparagus.org/](http://asparagus.org/) They should work fine. ---
**Author:** ![bwh2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@bwh2](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/bwh2)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/11 "2006-04-11T14:57:06Z")
[QUOTE=λ]Most sites don’t require the “www” subdomain.[/QUOTE]unfortunately it’s not all b/c some webmasters are idiots and don’t set up the domain correctly. ---
**Author:** ![DDD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc348/32.png) [@DDD](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/DDD)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/12 "2006-04-11T15:15:10Z")
mail.go and ftp.go are not subdomains and do not reside on your webserver like index.html (which are files)…you can use [ftp.go.com](http://ftp.go.com) to get to index.html and make your changes becasue the is ftp (file transfer protocol) mail.go is your mail server no need to edit files there. Unless you literrally make a subdomain called mail.go then you can access files through ftp.go. ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:20pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/13 "2006-04-11T15:20:58Z")
> mail.go and ftp.go are not subdomains and do not reside on your webserver like index.html (which are files)… Thanks for the responses fellas. So, DDD, since you’re saying they are not subdomains and do not reside on the webserver, what exactly are they and where do they reside? ---
**Author:** ![bwh2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@bwh2](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/bwh2)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/14 "2006-04-11T15:23:22Z")
they reside on the mail, ftp, or sharepoint servers. ---
**Author:** ![Seb\_Hughes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Seb\_Hughes](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Seb_Hughes)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/15 "2006-04-11T15:29:05Z")
They are different prefix. They do different things. ---
**Author:** ![fester8542](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a183cd/32.png) [@fester8542](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/fester8542)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:29pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/16 "2006-04-11T15:29:59Z")
Exactly For insance FTP is “File Transfer Protocol” Its the protocol used to transfer files to and from your web server. ---
**Author:** ![Seb\_Hughes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Seb\_Hughes](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Seb_Hughes)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/17 "2006-04-11T15:33:44Z")
They also use different ports. Where data is sent and recived. Makes it easier and safer i guess. ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/18 "2006-04-11T15:47:27Z")
> [@"Ramie"](#): > > ftp, mail, http are all different network protocals, the prefix is just a standard way of accessing them, they are not subdomains > > [http://www.webopedia.com/Networks/Network\_Protocols/](http://www.webopedia.com/Networks/Network_Protocols/) Sorry I actually overlooked this post by accident…I think this is the term I’m looking for…network protocols…? [http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/protocols/](http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/protocols/) ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Fat\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@Jolly\_Fat\_Man](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/Jolly_Fat_Man)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:49pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/19 "2006-04-11T15:49:24Z")
They might even be on the same server as all the other files. They are in the hdd just another folder, but to you the remote webmaster a place to be accessed with another app. Mail needs a mail program… FTP needs an FTP program… The subdomain is the first section of the URL, not much to do with the server. subdomain.domain.extension (eg:www.myspace.com or www.google.pt) Read up on wikipedia about URL and it’ll become clear. The World Wide Web is just another place in the Web that you can read the story about on wikipedia. It’s a part of the Internet. Like IRC, or FTP, POP, etc. Like diferent streets… The name they’re called has very little to do with what they can actually do. About the [mail.whatever.com](http://mail.whatever.com)… The fact there is “mail. …” has nothing to do with the real aplication of that URL. It’s just a good manners to it that way. Netiquette I believe is the word, although poorly written I’m sure… The prefix has more to do with what you have on the server. FTP://ftp.mymine.com/ is just as valid as ftp://mymine.com/ The prefix on these URL’s is FTP which is the protocol being used followed by the link the Domain name server will translate into an Internet Protocol Address with a port that the end server will recognize and that port will give you access to a folder with files upon login and password introduction. Like I said before. Wikipedia is a good place to look up all this info. ---
**Author:** ![AgentFitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f17d59/32.png) [@AgentFitz](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/AgentFitz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160/20 "2006-04-11T15:55:27Z")
Jolly Fat Man, you’re a champion, and I appreciate the info. Thanks to everyone for their input – I really needed a clue to start the research and be on the right track. [Next page](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/why-no-www/185160.md?page=2)