Agent Wranglers

LOC-17Optional

Make non-ASCII domains work

If you use a domain name with non-Latin or accented letters, make its punycode form work everywhere the name appears.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

How to do it

DNS, certificates and server configuration use the punycode form, an ASCII spelling that starts with xn--. Put that form in the certificate and the server name. Also own the plain ASCII spelling, and redirect it. Test links in email and on social sites. Accept such email addresses too, as Accept international addresses says.

Examples

Shell example

node -e 'console.log(new URL("https://bücher.example").hostname)'
# xn--bcher-kva.example

nginx example

server {
  listen 443 ssl;
  server_name xn--bcher-kva.example;
}

How to check

curl -sI https://xn--bcher-kva.example/ answers 200 with a valid certificate.

Sources

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/localization/multilingual-websites/idn-support">Agent Wranglers localization playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.