Address bar 

An address bar (also location bar or URL bar) is a widget in a graphical user interface web browser that indicates the current URL; webpage address; path to a local file; or other item to be located by the browser. A new page can be viewed by typing its URL to the URL bar.

In most browsers, the URL value can often be auto-completed, either by looking up similar URLs from the history or by using keyboard shortcut for URL completion. For websites which use favicon (a small icon that represents the website), there will also be a small icon in the URL bar.

The URL bar is also used, in some web browsers, to indicate the security status of the web page. Various colors and padlock icons show if the page is encrypted and how trustworthy the communication is. In Safari (and, optionally, in Opera), the URL bar also doubles as a progress bar that indicates how much of the content of the page has been loaded. It can also be used to detect RSS feeds that can be used to subscribe to pages.

Contents

Address bar implementations

The following sections compare address bar widgets for a few well-known web browsers.

Firefox

Firefox's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Firefox's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Firefox's address bar when visiting Wikipedia secure
Firefox's address bar when visiting Wikipedia secure
Firefox 3beta5's address bar when visiting Paypal which uses a Extended Validation Certificate
Firefox 3beta5's address bar when visiting Paypal which uses a Extended Validation Certificate

Opera

Opera's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Opera's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Opera's address bar when visiting Wikipedia secure
Opera's address bar when visiting Wikipedia secure

Internet Explorer

Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting a secure site (Wikipedia secure, not displaying nonsecure items) that does not have an Extended Validation Certificate
Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting a secure site (Wikipedia secure, not displaying nonsecure items) that does not have an Extended Validation Certificate
Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting a secure site (Paypal) that has an Extended Validation Certificate
Internet Explorer 7's address bar when visiting a secure site (Paypal) that has an Extended Validation Certificate

Safari

Safari 3's address bar when visiting Wikipedia
Safari 3's address bar when visiting Wikipedia

See also

External links