Need help getting a SparkFun ESP8266 connecting to a URL - arduino

Question

I've been trying to get a piece of code that sends a text message to a phone when an IFTTT applet site is visited, I've been following this tutorial regarding the text message itself and this one for the WiFi shield for the ability to connect to a webpage and an HTTP request.
Basically, my problem is that it will connect to any "simple" site like google.com but it can't for "longer/complex" links. I was wondering if you would have any idea how would I solve this problem and get this to work. I've tried just using the addition symbol to combine the "simple" link and the rest of my desired link but that doesn't work either.
#include <SoftwareSerial.h> // Include software serial library, ESP8266 library dependency
#include <SparkFunESP8266WiFi.h> // Include the ESP8266 AT library
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
String url = "/trigger/ESP/with/key/dwSukgpyQsyampQMkXXXX";
Serial.print (url);
// put your setup code here, to run once:
if (esp8266.begin()) // Initialize the ESP8266 and check it's return status
Serial.println("ESP8266 ready to go!"); // Communication and setup successful
else
Serial.println("Unable to communicate with the ESP8266 :(");
int retVal;
retVal = esp8266.connect("network", "networkpassword");
if (retVal < 0)
{
Serial.print(F("Error connecting: "));
Serial.println(retVal);
}
IPAddress myIP = esp8266.localIP(); // Get the ESP8266's local IP
Serial.print(F("My IP is: ")); Serial.println(myIP);
ESP8266Client client; // Create a client object
retVal = client.connect("maker.ifttt.com" + url, 80); // Connect to sparkfun (HTTP port)
if (retVal > 0)
Serial.println("Successfully connected!");
client.print("GET / HTTP/1.1\nHost: maker.ifttt.com" + url + "\nConnection: close\n\n");
while (client.available()) // While there's data available
Serial.write(client.read()); // Read it and print to serial
}
void loop() {
// put your main code here, to run repeatedly:
}
Thanks, any help would be very much appreciated!

Answer 1

First, the connect function requires a server(name) to connect to. In your case: maker.ifttt.com. Anything after the .com will make the connection fail (because it's not a correct servername).
Second: this function needs an IP address (like 54.175.81.255) or an array of characters. You cannot concatenate.
After you've established the connection, you can send and receive data to a specific part of this website, using the print function.
Also, in this function you can't concatenate.
Luckily, there is a String class where we easily can concatenate.
So, after you've created the client object (ESP8266Client client;), this could be the code:
String url;
char host[] = "maker.ifttt.com";
retVal = client.connect(host, 80);
if (retVal > 0) {
Serial.println("Successfully connected!");
}
url = "GET / HTTP/1.1\r\nHost: ";
url += host;
url += "/trigger/ESP/with/key/dwSukgpyQsyampQMkXXXX";
url += "\nConnection: close\n\n";
client.print(url);
while (client.connected() && !client.available());
while (client.available()) {
Serial.write(client.read());
}