ITSS WebDev Guide
What is "http://www.d.umn.edu/goto/warp"?
Warp is a service available from ITSS that allows you to "shorten" a URL. For example, this page is buried in the ITSS directory inside another directory named "webdev".
Before Warp
If I wanted to tell people how to get to this page, it would go something like:
- Go to the UMD home page
- Click twice after ".edu/" to get a cursor
- Type in "itss/webdev/guide/warp.html"
- Hit "Return" (Mac OS) or "Enter" (Windows)
Ugly. And this is a short url.
After Warp
With Warp I could tell them:
- Go to the UMD home page
- Click twice after ".edu/" to get a cursor
- Type in "goto/warp"
- Hit "Return" (Mac OS) or "Enter" (Windows)
Through the magic of Warp, the user would be sent to the longer url.
The Power of Warp
Warp really flexes its muscle when the real url is long and has upper and lower case letters. If I wanted to get to the "Cascading Style Sheets" online workshop in the ITSS Training Web site without Warp, I would need to type in the following string after the "edu/" at the UMD home page:
itss/support/Training/Online/CSS
Now that the url is warped, I only have to type in the following string after the "edu/" at the UMD home page:
goto/css
Very nice!
No Free Lunch in Life
Warp is a first-come, first-served service. Once a warp name is assigned, it belongs to that person or group until they are finished with it, and Warp is not available for "~" accounts (e.g. ~breeves).
For warping your url, contact Sally Bradt at 8856 or email Sally at sbradt@d.umn.edu.
Rev: 01.05 bdr xs