| Computer Desktop Encyclopedia: meta refresh |
An HTML command that switches you to a different Web page within a specified amount of time. It is used to briefly display an outdated page and send the visitor to the new page. Fast meta refreshes are used to quickly switch doorway pages to the page the user is supposed to see. See doorway page.
Download Computer Desktop Encyclopedia to your iPhone/iTouch
| 5min Related Video: Meta refresh |
| Wikipedia: Meta refresh |
Meta refresh is a method of instructing a web browser to automatically refresh the current web page or frame 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.
Contents |
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.
Place inside <head> to 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/" />
Meta refresh tags have some drawbacks:
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
 | doorway page (technology) |
| Refresh |
| URL redirection |
Copyrights:
 |
 | Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. THIS COPYRIGHTED DEFINITION IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. All other reproduction is strictly prohibited without permission from the publisher. © 1981-2009 Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Meta refresh". Read more |
|
