diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vedit/validator/impl/UrlValidator.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vedit/validator/impl/UrlValidator.java
index 5d580f58e..b2cb5a3bb 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vedit/validator/impl/UrlValidator.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vedit/validator/impl/UrlValidator.java
@@ -2,28 +2,37 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.impl;
 
-import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.Validator;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+
+import com.hp.hpl.jena.iri.IRI;
+import com.hp.hpl.jena.iri.IRIFactory;
+import com.hp.hpl.jena.iri.Violation;
+
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.ValidationObject;
-import java.util.regex.*;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.Validator;
 
 public class UrlValidator implements Validator {
 
     public ValidationObject validate (Object obj) throws IllegalArgumentException {
 
         ValidationObject vo = new ValidationObject();
-        String theString = null;
 
         if (!(obj instanceof String)){
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Expected instance of String");
         }
 
-        Pattern pat = Pattern.compile("[a-z]{3,5}*://.*\\.[a-z]{2,4}");
-        Matcher mat = pat.matcher(theString);
-        if (mat.matches()){
-            vo.setValid(true);
-        } else {
+        IRIFactory factory = IRIFactory.jenaImplementation();
+        IRI iri = factory.create((String) obj);
+        if (iri.hasViolation(false) ) {
+            String errorStr = "";
+            Iterator<Violation> violIt = iri.violations(false);
+            while(violIt.hasNext()) {
+                errorStr += violIt.next().getShortMessage() + "  ";
+            }
             vo.setValid(false);
-            vo.setMessage("Please enter a valid URL");
+            vo.setMessage("Please enter a valid URL.  " + errorStr);
+        } else {
+            vo.setValid(true);
         }
 
         vo.setValidatedObject(obj);
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/OntologyRetryController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/OntologyRetryController.java
index e9d5405ee..f9814d647 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/OntologyRetryController.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/OntologyRetryController.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.forwarder.impl.UrlForwarder;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.util.FormUtils;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.Validator;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.impl.RequiredFieldValidator;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.validator.impl.UrlValidator;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.permissions.SimplePermission;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Ontology;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.Controllers;
@@ -47,7 +48,13 @@ public class OntologyRetryController extends BaseEditController {
         epo.setBeanClass(Ontology.class);
         epo.setBeanMask(testMask);
 
-        String action = "insert";
+        String action = null;
+        if (epo.getAction() == null) {
+            action = "insert";
+            epo.setAction("insert");
+        } else {
+            action = epo.getAction();
+        }
 
         OntologyDao oDao = request.getUnfilteredWebappDaoFactory().getOntologyDao();
         epo.setDataAccessObject(oDao);
@@ -67,13 +74,12 @@ public class OntologyRetryController extends BaseEditController {
             epo.setOriginalBean(ontologyForEditing);
         } else {
             ontologyForEditing = (Ontology) epo.getNewBean();
-            action = "update";
-            log.error("using newBean");
         }
         
         //validators
         List<Validator> validatorList = new ArrayList<Validator>();
         validatorList.add(new RequiredFieldValidator());
+        validatorList.add(new UrlValidator());
         epo.getValidatorMap().put("URI", validatorList);
 
         //make a simple mask for the class's id