I have good news on domain names with .et extension. As of Stable Channel Release, version 38.0.2125.10, Google Chrome fully supports domain names with .et extension. Opera browser also got the issue fixed because it is built on Chromium open source project.
It is a big step forward because .et is an important domain name extension. The extension allows for so many important domain hacks and is gaining popularity among people. Let me tell you the story of getting .et domain approved in Google Chrome:
Previously, Chrome browser didn’t recognize .et as a valid domain extension. For instance, people who typed in “vi.et” for the first time (using Chrome) would get a search for the term “vi.et” instead of going directly to https://vi.et (a full web address with HTTPS protocol). Additionally, I like to secure my website with SSL/HTTPS as I always do with my portfolio of sites (I personally think that extra step is necessary if you are on the internet). But Chrome hasn’t recognized it yet, so it gave my website an ugly red slash on the security padlock. I was upset because nobody else in the industry even attempted to submit a bug report to Chromium team so that they can fix it. So I did.
Previously, Cloudflare helped me submit a bug report (on the same problem) to Mozilla’s Firefox’s development team, and they fixed it pretty quickly. Ever since (months ago), I attempted to contact Google Chromium team and submitting bug reports about this every once in a while so they can help fix it. I understood that getting Chrome to fix things would take more time than usual, so I was a little more consistent in getting their attention. The work paid off, .et is now recognized by Chrome browser, and I appreciate that Chromium team put in the effort to fix it.
If you use Google Chrome to browse my blog as of today, you might notice the green padlock on the address bar, representing that the website is fully secured with SSL/HTTPS.
IMPORTANT: If you haven’t seen the green lock on my blog address, or haven’t been able to resolve .et domain properly on your Chrome browser, simply update your Chrome version by doing the following:
- Click the option button on the top right of the Chrome screen.
- Click “About Google Chrome”.
- Click “Update”