Meta refresh
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Meta refresh is a method of instructing a web browser to automatically refresh the current web page after a given time interval, using an HTML meta element with the http-equiv parameter set to "refresh" and a content parameter giving the time interval in seconds. It is also possible to instruct the browser to fetch a different URL when the page is refreshed, by including the alternative URL in the content parameter. By setting the refresh time interval to zero (or a very low value), this allows meta refresh to be used as a method of URL redirection.
[edit] Usability
Use of meta refresh is discouraged by the W3C, since unexpected refresh can disorient users[1]. Meta refresh also impairs the web browser's "back" button in some browsers (including Internet Explorer 6 and before), although most modern browsers compensate for this (Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Internet Explorer 7).
Alternatives to meta refresh include JavaScript, or HTTP redirection headers such as HTTP 301.
[edit] Examples
Refresh page after 5 seconds:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5" />
Redirect to http://example.com/ after 5 seconds:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="5;url=http://example.com/" />
Redirect to http://example.com/ immediately:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=http://example.com/" />
