Allow Subdomain Wildcards such as WWW, For More Exposure.

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   buckjosephposted 10 years ago

   http://buckjoseph.hubpages.com/ is a valid link, but when you add the World-Wide-Web sub-domain, such as http://www.buckjoseph.hubpages.com/ will not work.
   
   It is a real problem, more than any of you will ever know! Most people that are actually used to the web will know that you don't need a wildcard anymore, but many people still think that you need the WWW extension, like most of my family and friends here in the small-town of Glasgow, KY, USA. Most of Kentucky, even the bigger cities, is still rural, and it would help a whole lot if we could be allowed to use wildcards.
   
   This would give us more exposure, meaning more revenue to not only Hubbers, but also HubPages as a company. For those of you who have clicked on my broken link, you will see why we need them.
   
   Please help!
   
   Thank you for your regards.
   
   ~Joseph D. Smith

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      Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This is a great point - I hadn't realized people couldn't find us with the wildcard.

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      Simone Smithposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Very interesting, buckjoseph! I had never heard of this being a problem before. I'll bring it up in our next community meeting and see what the team suggests. Thank you for starting the thread.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'm absolutely astonished that this wasn't already covered.  It's a pretty basic thing - all domains and sub-domains should work whether or not someone types www in front of them.  Hope it gets fixed soon.

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            lobobrandonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Surprise surprise... How coul0 www redirects be forgotten and no one even realized it before Thanks for pointing it out buckjoseph

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      Susana Sposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This issue did come up a couple of years back - here's the thread: http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/83045
      
      The staff response at the time (from Jason) was that so few people would type http://www.etc into the address bar that it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

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         lobobrandonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Oh. I thought it would be a simple thing to do. But that's considering one domain not sure how they'd do it for all our subdomains. I doubt it would have to be one at a time though

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I must admit I assumed it would be easy too, but then I've only had to do it for a domain not a subdomain.

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         Simone Smithposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wow, you're quite good at finding those threads, Susana S!
         
         After bringing the issue up in today's community meeting, the same conclusion was reached: this is so rarely an issue (and people are smart enough to Google Hubbers' names, or try the address without "www" I guess) that we do not have the justification required to put resources toward addressing it at this time.
         
         Sorry to disappoint! ^_^;;

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   buckjosephposted 10 years ago

   Why thank you, Marcy, and Simone! I appreciate it that a HubPages staff member respects this idea, and I equally appreciate it that a high-ranked Hubber thinks the same way.
   
   May the team find a solution.
   
   ~Joseph D. Smith

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   buckjosephposted 10 years ago

   Well, for those of us who have used free hosting services, such as Blogger for blogs, or even ProBoards for message boards, we were still able to use the wild-card.
   
   There are a lot of people still not used to the internet, and it would help a whole lot for those who still think that you need the WWW. I used to think that surely everyone has internet now, but many of my friends still don't. They have to go to a friends house, and when they finally get the internet, they will still have no clue.

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   buckjosephposted 10 years ago

   What kind of resources do you need to do this anyway? How much more will it cost? I know that you will need to put time, money, and resources into creating the wildcard, but after you are done, it's like nothing ever happened.
   
   I have witnessed first-hand the countless amount of people who have come up to me and said that the page didn't work, because they still try to type in the WWW. The first person who told me surprised me, because I didn't realize that she was trying to type in the WWW, I just couldn't figure out for the life of me why she couldn't see it.
   
   I know why now, and it bothers me that we can invest in a little more resources for the 20% (wild guess) who still type it in. It would be worth it, because even though it's a small number, they are still out there, and HubPages would be more accessible!

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   sunforgedposted 10 years ago

   I remember this topic!
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/86908#post1862634
   
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/83045
   
   
   Can understand not having the resources to allocate to the change - but definitely not the assumption that people are smart enough ... the issue is never "are they smart enough" its "will they bother to try again"
   
   Usually, they probably wont - not to mention the potential "malformed" links across the web that not only do not resolve correctly but also lead to an error message that simply says the user doesnt exist
   
   Make a new error message "hey there, try without the www ! "

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      buckjosephposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That could work. But it would be better though just to flat out allow the "WWW".

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         sunforgedposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I dont disagree with you ... just already typed my case out two years ago ( I just reread and it was "fun" conversation back then)
         
         Unless the community meeting was followed by a full days crunching of 404 and error log data and HP systematically checks for 404's (probably impossible with this massive site) the decision would be based on a guess.
         
         But you always have to set priorities and there are likely more  pressing ones than this at HP's door.
         
         But for your own sites and future projects - def give it the old actual test by doing technique - might blow your mind to see what happens when you "claim" all the links in the world that were intended for your site and you make an effort to guide and assist "users" who land somewhere unexpected.

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   buckjosephposted 10 years ago

   So, we can get to an article by typing http://www.buckjoseph.hubpages.com/hub/ … ceful-Life and it works successfully, but we can't do the same for http://www.buckjoseph.hubpages.com/?

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