A URL, generally considered as the "name and the address" of any web page, is technically a short string that identifies resources in the web: documents, images, downloadable files, services and electronic mailboxes etc. In real world the human beings could have similar names but no two websites could afford to have similar URLs (at least I haven't come across any such websites). Apparently, naming a URL, so that it could stand distinct and still be around in 2, 20 or 200 years is clearly not as simple as it sounds. Some important questions that need to be answered while naming/changing names of URLs include:

 

	Why should I care?
	What should I do?
	What to leave out?

 
 
 
 

Why should I care? On regularly updated websites, URLs are bound to change. But when you do that, you never know who will have links to the old URL. They might have made links from regular web pages. They might have bookmarked your page. They might have scrawled the URL in the margin of a letter to a friend. When someone follows a link and it breaks, they generally lose confidence in the owner of the server. They also are frustrated - emotionally and practically from accomplishing their goal. Enough people complain all the time about dangling links and the damage is obvious. Besides, obviously, the reputation damage is to the maintainer of the server whose document vanishes.

 

Hypertext > Styleguide to hypertext > Naming URLs
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 

What should I do?  It is the duty of a webmaster to allocate URLs which would stand by in 2 years, in 20 years, in 200 years. This needs thought, organization and commitment. URLs change when the information is updated. It is critical how you design them. Seek the help of experts for the purpose and better knowledge on advanced techniques in designing URLs. A variety of sites giving tips on designing websites are also available on Internet for reference.

 

Hypertext > Styleguide to hypertext > Naming URLs
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

What to leave out? Everything! After the creation date, putting any information in the name (URL) is asking for trouble one way or another. Author's name- Authorship can change with new versions. People quit organizations and hand things on.  Subject - This is tricky. It always looks good at the time but changes surprisingly fast. Status - Directories like "old" and "draft" and so on, not to mention "latest" and "cool" appear all over file systems. Documents change status - or there would be no point in producing drafts. The latest version of a document needs a persistent identifier whatever its status is. Keep the status out of the name.  Topics and Classification by subject -  According to Tim Berners-Lee at W3C Worldwide Web Consortium, this is one of the most difficult things to avoid. Typically, topics end up in URIs while classifying the documents according to a breakdown of the work you are doing. That breakdown will change. Names for areas will change. He argues - effectively, when you use a topic name in a URI you are binding yourself to some classification. You may in the future prefer a different one. Then, the URI will be liable to break.

Hypertext > Styleguide to hypertext > Naming URLs