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 HTTP refresh headers such as HTTP 301. AJAX may also be used for this purpose.

[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/" />

[edit] External links

• W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (1.0): Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes
• meta refresh deprecated by W3C
• Use standard redirects: don't break the back button!
• Examples of proper redirects