def format_base_url(base_url):
    """properly format a url

    Args
    ------
    base_url (str): the original URL supplied

    Returns
    ------
    str:
    """
    base_url = 'https://' + \
        base_url if not base_url.startswith(
            ('http://', 'https://')) else base_url
    base_url = base_url + '/' if not base_url.endswith('/') else base_url
    return base_url