Forcing https?

[brokaddr]

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:15.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/15.0.1

Anytime I type *my* website it seems to redirect to https now - beyond explanation, according to the web at large.

No, I've made 0 changes; nor do I welcome such behavior.
Sites like "ebay.com" if I follow in same fashion, go the http:// route.

No, I do not have any add-ons catering to the https crowd, as I type the S in myself if I require it.

This has happened on a friend's site as well, which is completely unrelated to mine.

Best way to replicate, in the address bar, start typing "mysi" ... without finishing, click on "mysite.com" and you (may) see the https version.

Anyone else experiencing this?

[phranque]

i would try a head checker such as the Live HTTP Headers add-on for firefox and verify precisely what url (including protocol) is being requested and what the response is.
are you getting a 301 or 302 status code with the response?

[brokaddr]

I currently have Header Spy add-on.
200 response code, no redirects.

If I select the page from the history pull-down (which already has the prefix attached), it's fine.

This behavior only seems to happen when I type the URL without a prefix.

[brokaddr]

This seems to be a "feature" in new versions of Firefox.
Since I frequent https most frequently for my site, it defaults in the browser address bar now.

IMO, this is one of the most annoying & needless features I've ever seen in a browser. Any tips on how to disable?

[dstiles]

I've also seen it noted as a new "feature". Agreed, a pain, since the vast majority of web sites do not offer https - costs quite a bit more for the owner of a low-cost site (cost of SSL cert) and it's a lot slower, taking up more processor time and hence slowing down large or heavily-loaded virtual servers. Also, you have to serve images from SSL since the browsers complain if you have mixed content; and since total image size is often much larger than a page this compounds the problem. Unless the site has sensitive data etc (shopping carts, submitting personal details etc) there is usually no reason for SSL, even if b... G tries to convince their gullible customers otherwise.

It is probable that about:config will have a switch for this, but turning off auto-complete may also work.

[brokaddr]

dstiles, I haven't noticed it on sites I don't own - but if they do this for EVERY site, this could pose some linking hazards in relation to SEO.

Wonder what their incentive to add this feature was.

[phranque]

try "about:config" in your browser address bar and see if you can find a relevant setting.