Regular expression to validate url with www but optional http or https

Question

I want to have a regex that will validate url in following way

http://www.google.com   ->valid url
www.google.com          ->valid url
google.com              ->in-valid url
http://google.com       ->in-valid url

I have tried following regex from here

/(?:https?:\/\/)?(?:[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+?\.(?:[a-zA-Z])|\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)/

but it doens't validate the existence of www

Wait, what? You want to enforce that the domain starts with www., but you include bits in your regex that allow for IPv4 addresses in the form http://0.0.0.0/? Did you just dump someone else's regex in your question in an attempt to make it look like you make some effort? — user743382
– user743382, Commented Mar 14, 2016 at 20:09
@hvd I didn't say I have made that. Did I say that? I said I have tried. Seriously negative vote? — Awais Qarni
– Awais Qarni, Commented Mar 14, 2016 at 20:10
You certainly implied it. If it's someone else's regex, include a mention of the author in your question. See How to reference material written by others. — user743382
– user743382, Commented Mar 14, 2016 at 20:12

anubhava · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-14 20:10:55Z

1

You can use this regex in PHP:

$re = '~\b(?:https?://)?(www\.[^.\s]+\.[^/\s]+|\d+\.\d+\.\d+\.\d+)~';

RegEx Demo

This regex will enforce www. after optional htpp:// or https:// before it.

Another option in PHP is to use parse_url function and check for result['host'] array entry.

edited Mar 14, 2016 at 20:10

answered Mar 14, 2016 at 20:04

anubhava

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Comments

Bohemian · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-14 20:19:54Z

0

Put www in your regex:

/^(?:https?:\/\/)?(www(\.[\w-]+)+|\d+(\.\d+){3})/

I also improved it a bit (so it doesn't match "www......" etc)

See live demo.

edited Mar 14, 2016 at 20:19

answered Mar 14, 2016 at 20:10

Bohemian♦

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2 Comments

user2705585 Over a year ago

Shouldn't IP address be matched only till 255.255.255.255 ?

Bohemian Over a year ago

@noob sure, but that's not what op is asking about. Fixing the ip range would overly complicate the answer.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · 2016-03-14 20:30:53Z

0

To match www you will have to use regex like this.

Regex: (?:https?:\/\/)?www\.[a-zA-Z0-9.-]+.[a-zA-Z]+|(?:\d\.?){4}

Regex101 Demo

edited Mar 14, 2016 at 20:30

answered Mar 14, 2016 at 20:05

user2705585

3 Comments

Yunnosch Over a year ago

How about URLs with "_"?

Yunnosch Over a year ago

Are you sure about the .? Should be \., shouldn't it?

Yunnosch Over a year ago

Try this as input: www.test9/com That should demonstrate the mistake I mean.

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