# Some definitions for the sake of conversation:
URLs that include a scheme: "https://www.google.com" or "http://www.google.com"
URLs without a scheme: "www.google.com" or "google.com"
(For more details, see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL#Syntax)
# Issue report:
If you enter a URL without a scheme, such as "www.google.com", the extension does not currently work. (At least not on my machine.)
People are accustomed to modern browsers and search bars automatically adding a scheme component to any URLs that are missing them. (I just tested, and the chrome browser appears to add the "https://" prefix by default. Using "https" as a default seems okay because it looks like the most popular homepages do support secure connections.)
In this extension, incomplete URLs do not open a webpage, so some people are going to think the extension is broken. This is already happening on the extensions support page. See the "broken" reports at: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/new-tab-url/njigpponciklokfkoddampoienefegcl?hl=en-US
# Suggested fix:
When a user submits a target URL, search the submitted string for this substring: "//:" If the substring is present, then do nothing. If the substring is absent, then automatically add the following substring to the beginning of the URL: "https://".
I'm not certain if the above suggestion is the most comprehensive way to handle the problem, but I imagine it should fix the most common cases. For example it will change "Google.com" to "https://Google.com", which will function as the user expects.
The only (small) problem I can see with the above fix is that some pages will not support the https protocol. (Some older sites may only support http.) With that in mind, below are a couple alternative fixes.
# Alternative fix 1:
If the user enters a target URL that does not include a scheme, then do not accept it and display an error.
# Alternative fix 2:
Include instructions on the Target URL entry page, saying all URLs must include a scheme. Include an example. You could say something like "All URLs must include a scheme prefix. For example: "https://www.google.com" is fine, but "www.google.com" alone will not work." I've supplied an implementation of this possible fix, in a different this message in this thread (below).
-Blake
# Some definitions for the sake of conversation:
URLs that include a scheme: "https://www.google.com" or "http://www.google.com"
URLs without a scheme: "www.google.com" or "google.com"
(For more details, see also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL#Syntax)
# Issue report:
If you enter a URL without a scheme, such as "www.google.com", the extension does not currently work. (At least not on my machine.)
People are accustomed to modern browsers and search bars automatically adding a scheme component to any URLs that are missing them. (I just tested, and the chrome browser appears to add the "https://" prefix by default. Using "https" as a default seems okay because it looks like the most popular homepages do support secure connections.)
In this extension, incomplete URLs do not open a webpage, so some people are going to think the extension is broken. This is already happening on the extensions support page. See the "broken" reports at: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/new-tab-url/njigpponciklokfkoddampoienefegcl?hl=en-US
# Suggested fix:
When a user submits a target URL, search the submitted string for this substring: "//:" If the substring is present, then do nothing. If the substring is absent, then automatically add the following substring to the beginning of the URL: "https://".
I'm not certain if the above suggestion is the most comprehensive way to handle the problem, but I imagine it should fix the most common cases. For example it will change "Google.com" to "https://Google.com", which will function as the user expects.
The only (small) problem I can see with the above fix is that some pages will not support the https protocol. (Some older sites may only support http.) With that in mind, below are a couple alternative fixes.
# Alternative fix 1:
If the user enters a target URL that does not include a scheme, then do not accept it and display an error.
# Alternative fix 2:
Include instructions on the Target URL entry page, saying all URLs must include a scheme. Include an example. You could say something like "All URLs must include a scheme prefix. For example: "https://www.google.com" is fine, but "www.google.com" alone will not work." I've supplied an implementation of this possible fix, in a different this message in this thread (below).
-Blake