[whatwg] input type="url" allow URLs without http:// prefix

[Ian Pouncey]

On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 3:48 PM, Kornel Lesinski<kornel at geekhood.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:46:19 +0100, Bruce Lawson <brucel at opera.com> wrote:
>
>> As it's very common for people to drop the http:// prefix on advertising,
>> business cards etc (and who amongst us reads out the prefix when reading a
>> URL on the phone?) I'd like to suggest that input type="url" allows the
>> http:// prefix to be optional on input and, if ommitted, be assumed when
>> parsing.
>
> The spec explicitly allows that actual value seen and edited by the user in
> the interface is different from DOM value of the input, so browsers are free
> to prepend http:// automatically (and IMHO should – DSK-253195).

To make this less ambiguous I would prefer that we talk about making
it optional to specify a protocol or scheme name (personal preference
for protocol) rather than http:// specifically. While http will be the
most common protocol by far it is not the only possibility.

I'm wary of automagically prepending values if it is not clear what
has been added by the user agent compared to what has been added by
the user. Thoughts of end users complaining that the information the
site owner has on record is not what was entered without a clear log
of the change spring to mind. Might sound far-fetched but I'm guessing
most of us have heard weirder complaints.

I have no problems with the idea though, I just think there needs to
be a mechanism for highlighting the change to the user rather than
this being hidden in the DOM.

Regards,
Ian Pouncey.