URL principles
We design our URLs to be user-friendly and to follow a consistent, predictable format.
URLs should be clear and unambiguous. They should be easy to read, type and share.
Our URLs should always:
- use only lowercase letters
- use hyphens in place of spaces
- contain no spaces, underscores or any URL-encoded characters
These standards apply to the bath.ac.uk website and its subdirectories and subdomains. .
Domains and subdomains
Our registered domain name is bath.ac.uk.
www.bath.ac.uk
This is the primary domain. All material in this domain is owned by the Â鶹´«Ã½.
The Head of Content Strategy has editorial control, in consultation with the Director (Marketing & Brand).
people.bath.ac.uk
This is the subdomain for personal information created by staff and students.
Other subdomains
We only use other subdomains for University services. These include:
Departmental and group URLs
Â鶹´«Ã½, centres or groups officially passed by Senate and Council have URLs which follow the format:
- 'www.bath.ac.uk/departments/name'
- 'www.bath.ac.uk/groups/name'
Request a top-level URL
Top-level URLs show the page name immediately after the domain name, so are written 'www.bath.ac.uk/name'.
Some University organisations have top-level URLs:
- faculties and schools
- academic and service departments
- institutes
- official research centres and groups
If you think your section should have a top-level URL, email web-support@bath.ac.uk to request one. The Head of Content Strategy and the Development Manager will review your request.
If you want an alternative URL for a research group or project, use our URL shortening service,
Non-bath.ac.uk URLs
You can only use a non-bath.ac.uk URL if the site is:
- a nationally-funded service
- project-funded with multiple partners
- intended to be a commercial spin-off
- targeted at commercial customers and not a .ac.uk domain
The Head of Digital Development, in consultation with the Director of Marketing & Brand, considers and approves requests on a case-by-case basis.