How did they do that? Type of URL "masking"?

[Daria]

I wanted to go to tracking page on UPS site. I keyed in the address by hand, making a typo, as below (trking instead of tracking). I still got to the right place.

Check it out: http://ups.com/trking/tracking.html


How do they do that?

[the tree]

I'd guess something along the lines of URL re-write (http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/misc/rewriteguide.html) but they seem to be using a Netscape enterprise server so it must have some sort of equilivent to that.

[JPnyc]

Sometimes sites also buy up common misspellings of their domain so they get those also. You can substitute your main page for an error page also. Instead of getting a "page not found" error you get the main index page.

[Daria]

It looks more like a re-write... It's not a domain misspelling, since /tracking/ is obviously a folder within ups.com.

Or perhaps, they did it the old-fashion way, duplicating the most important folders with the common misspellings as the folder name :)

Thanks, people.

[JPnyc]

Well, like I said, you can use any page you wish in place of an error page. Since most people going to their site are there to track a package, that's what they may have done.

[Daria]

Yep, that would be logical. That's a great idea. Unfortunately for them, they have a standard "not found" page :) May be you can give them that idea :) may be you will even get a bonus from them (yeah, right, "big boys" will share...)

[JPnyc]

I never deal with UPS if I have a choice They've eclipsed Verizon as the USA's most incompetent company. :)