That’s a feature of the browser that usually appears when you visit a secure site using an encrypted connection. Ex: “https://somesite.com”
I believe different browsers may display it slightly differently, but it’s a “click-able” feature that will offer you more detail about a sites security certificates/features.
So it’s a poorly designed feature?
@swansonphotos
I should hardly think so. Nor did I indicate that it was.
I stand by my suggestion…junk in, junk out.
I stand by my suggestion…junk in, junk out.
You have made no suggestion, here. And not to belabor the issue, but clearly you are misunderstanding what you are commenting on.
The colored area (green in this instance) in the address bar in the screenshot supplied by the OP – if you actually take a minute to look at it – is a feature representative of the default behavior of Firefox while visiting a site secured by https. Not all https sites display green bars. Some may be blue. In any event, it indicates the use of a secure protocol, and clicking on the “colored band” will offer you more information about the sites certificate of authority or “secure connection” status.
You can test this yourself by visiting https://google.com – blue band in Firefox, or https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/ – green band in Firefox. Go ahead. Try it. Click on the colored area. What do you see? Now try it in other browsers. Similar? Slightly different? The same?
It’s not a poorly designed feature, it’s an indicator that the user has reached a site using a secure connection. It’s working exactly to design intent.
@clayton
That’s a feature of the browser that usually appears when you visit a secure site using an encrypted connection. Ex: “https://somesite.com”
I believe different browsers may display it slightly differently, but it’s a “click-able” feature that will offer you more detail about a sites security certificates/features.
A color does not appear on every site that has a certificate, so it must be a functionality of the site or the web page, not of the browser.
So the question remains; How is this done??
I have a new site on which I installed a certificate and it does not show any color in that area. That is why I asked the question and what I would like to do with my site.
Here is an example without the color:
http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/82/httpswithoutcolor.jpg
Notice that this example does have a grey background so there is a way to do it.
Does anyone have any references that might help me figure this out?
TIA for any help
Bob
@blamberson
Some additional interesting and general information for you.
Why do I see different colors in the Security status bar?
“How Web browsers display a standard SSL connection compared with an EVSSL connection”
http://support.hostgator.com/articles/ssl-certificates/ssl-setup-use/color-bars-for-ssl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address_bar#Address_bar_implementations
Oddly enough, some of the examples you will find features a link to BoA, similar to the example in your first screen-shot. 🙂
If you find any documentation that supports it being anything other than a browser based feature for identifying a sites security status, I would be interested in taking a look at it.
[edit] ..the address bar security indicator in your second screen-shot from //google.com/webmaster/tools, isn’t without color. It appears to be blue.
@clayton
Very good information, thanks for taking the time to dig it up and send it.
As I understand it, the color and the icons displayed are coming from the browser interpretation of information supplied by the certificate. I wonder if there is some way web sites have control over what the certificate information is, that the browser interprets. I will do some additional research.
[edit] ..the address bar security indicator in your second screen-shot from //google.com/webmaster/tools, isn’t without color. It appears to be blue.
I think this may depend on the browser interpretation also. My misunderstanding was that you called it an implementation of the browser, when in fact it is a combination of the value in the certificate along with however each browser chooses to interpret that information. Fine line maybe but different.
My misunderstanding was that you called it an implementation of the browser…
I challenge you to show me anywhere in this conversation where I made that statement – but that’s beside the point. 🙂
I think you probably have a good grasp on the issue now. Thanks for being patient!
Good luck to you!
@clayton
My apologies, you are correct I interpreted your calling it a browser feature as an implementation of the browser.
