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Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) Registries

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Requirements for .mobi Web Sites
Requirements for .mobi web sites Any web site using a ".mobi" domain must adhere to three "Mandatory Registrant Rules" published by the dotMobi registry: The response to an HTTP request for the default document on port 80, such as: `http://Sample.mobi/ http://www.Sample.mobi/` must be a valid XHTML -Mobile Profile document. To determine if a site satisfies this requirement, go to the W3C Markup Validation Service and enter the URL for the domain, both with and without the "www" as shown for "Sample.mobi" above, to validate the default page on the site (do not include a subdirectory or file path). The results from the validation of both URLs should include this: This Page Is Valid -//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN! To determine if a specific web page is in compliance with the XHTML -Mobile Profile, make sure it uses this DOCTYPE: `<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN" "http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/xhtml-mobile10.dtd">` then submit the page to the W3C Markup Validation Service. To reduce typing on devices with limited keyboard capabilities, sites must allow access using the second level domain (`http://Sample.mobi`) as well as the third level domain (`http://www.Sample.mobi`). Frames should be avoided. One way to easily provide content that both satisfies these requirements for mobile devices and can also be displayed in traditional web browsers without having to create duplicate files for different devices is using XSL templates. back to top

Requirements for .mobi Web Sites

Requirements for .mobi web sites

Any web site using a ".mobi" domain must adhere to three "Mandatory Registrant Rules" published by the dotMobi registry:

The response to an HTTP request for the default document on port 80, such as: http://Sample.mobi/ http://www.Sample.mobi/ must be a valid XHTML -Mobile Profile document. To determine if a site satisfies this requirement, go to the W3C Markup Validation Service and enter the URL for the domain, both with and without the "www" as shown for "Sample.mobi" above, to validate the default page on the site (do not include a subdirectory or file path). The results from the validation of both URLs should include this: This Page Is Valid -//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN! To determine if a specific web page is in compliance with the XHTML -Mobile Profile, make sure it uses this DOCTYPE: <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//WAPFORUM//DTD XHTML Mobile 1.0//EN" "http://www.wapforum.org/DTD/xhtml-mobile10.dtd"> then submit the page to the W3C Markup Validation Service.
To reduce typing on devices with limited keyboard capabilities, sites must allow access using the second level domain (http://Sample.mobi) as well as the third level domain (http://www.Sample.mobi).
Frames should be avoided.

One way to easily provide content that both satisfies these requirements for mobile devices and can also be displayed in traditional web browsers without having to create duplicate files for different devices is using XSL templates.

Caveats and Issues
.mobi sites in Internet Explorer It seems that for some strange reason, IE (versions 6 and 7 at least) treats ".mobi" as a file name extension rather than a top level domain. For example, if you used IE to access a site such as `http://Example.mobi`, it displays a dialog box where you can save the ".mobi" file with a default file name of "Example". This happens even if you include `www` and a final `/`, as in `http://www.Example.mobi/`. Other browsers such as FireFox recognize the name between `http://` and the next `/` as the domain name, not a file name, and therefore properly treat a ".mobi" domain the same as any other top level domain. What is really strange is that if you include the server's default page name in the URL in the browser, as in http://www.Sample.mobi/index.xml IE displays the page properly. IE is acting differently in these two cases even though only the request is different and the server is delivering the same headers and content in the HTTP response. Therefore, there is no way to modify the response from the server to correct the problem unless without coercing the browser to modify the HTTP request, which requires a conditional redirect. http://www.Sample.mobi/ uses a conditional HTTP redirect in its .htaccess file to automatically redirect requests from Internet Explorer to the server's default `DirectoryIndex` page. back to top

Caveats and Issues

.mobi sites in Internet Explorer

It seems that for some strange reason, IE (versions 6 and 7 at least) treats ".mobi" as a file name extension rather than a top level domain. For example, if you used IE to access a site such as http://Example.mobi, it displays a dialog box where you can save the ".mobi" file with a default file name of "Example". This happens even if you include www and a final /, as in http://www.Example.mobi/.

Other browsers such as FireFox recognize the name between http:// and the next / as the domain name, not a file name, and therefore properly treat a ".mobi" domain the same as any other top level domain.

What is really strange is that if you include the server's default page name in the URL in the browser, as in http://www.Sample.mobi/index.xml IE displays the page properly. IE is acting differently in these two cases even though only the request is different and the server is delivering the same headers and content in the HTTP response. Therefore, there is no way to modify the response from the server to correct the problem unless without coercing the browser to modify the HTTP request, which requires a conditional redirect. http://www.Sample.mobi/ uses a conditional HTTP redirect in its .htaccess file to automatically redirect requests from Internet Explorer to the server's default DirectoryIndex page.

Last updated Sunday March 25, 2007

Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) Registries

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Top Level Domain (TLD) Registries

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