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faq

Q: What constitutes a Fail result?
A: Traffic to example.net is forwarded to www.example.net. The purpose of no-www is to advocate the use of domains without the www subdomain.

Q: What is Class A?
A: This is the most common no-www compliance level. With class A domains, example.net and www.example.net are both valid methods of reaching this website. Many servers default to this. It allows users who don't type in the www to access a website without being forwarded to a different hostname.

Q: What is Class B?
A: Class B is the optimal no-www compliance level. In Class B, www.example.net is a valid address, but it redirects all traffic to example.net. This classification actively reminds users that, while the www subdomain is accepted, it is not necessary.

Q: What is Class C?
A: Class C is the most stringent compliance level. In this class, www.example.net is an invalid subdomain. All traffic must go to example.net in order to view the site. Very few sites currently hold this classification, partially because many internet users are not yet savvy enough to drop the www every time. For that reason, this classification is not recommended for sites that serve the general public.

Q: Why are some domains N/A?
A: The no-www standard does not apply to certain domains. In these instances, traffic to example.net may be directed to a different host such as example.co.uk or it might contain different content than the www. version.

Q: How can I become Class B?
A: It's a fairly simple process, actually. Create a file called .htaccess and paste the following lines, changing the domain name to match that of your site:

Apache Webserver:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.(.+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://%1/$1 [R=301,L]
Windows Server/IIS:
  1. Start Internet Services Manager. or start the IIS Snap-in in Microsoft Management Console (MMC).
  2. Click to expand * server name, where server name is the name of the server.
  3. Right-click either the Web site or the folder that you want to redirect, and then click Properties.
  4. Click one of the following tabs that is appropriate to your situation: Home Directory, Virtual Directory, Directory
  5. Under When connecting to this resource, the content should come from, click A redirection to a URL.
  6. Type the URL of the destination folder or Web site in the Redirect to box. For example, to redirect all requests for files located at www.mycompany.com to mycompany.com type http://mycompany.com Click OK.

Q: What is a dead domain?
A: A dead domain is either not registered or unavailable at the time of testing. This domain may be available again at a later time.