Redirect back to previous page in PHP

Question

How do I redirect to a previous page using header("Location:...") ? The problem occurs when a user is scrolling down in a page to find a link for example, then clicks it - opens another page, clicks the link I've given "Go back to links (header("Location:links.php");)", but when the user clicks it, it will head to previous page but on the top part of the page.

The user must scroll down again where he found the link he just clicked (which is frustrating). Is there a php code like the 'back'-button used in web browsers where you will go back to the exact location and page right before you click something else?

`header("Location:links.php#anchor");` ought to work. Or assign a session name to the anchor. — Funk Forty Niner, May 28 '14 at 16:30
See this answer on SO http://stackoverflow.com/a/22490864/ it uses sessions. — Funk Forty Niner, May 28 '14 at 17:39

score 17 · Accepted Answer · edited May 28 '14 at 16:37

17

try this

header('Location: ' . $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);

Note that this may not work with secure pages (HTTPS) and it's a pretty bad idea overall as the header can be hijacked.

or

header("location:javascript://history.go(-1)");

edited May 28 '14 at 16:37

Funk Forty Niner

74,450
15
68
141

answered May 28 '14 at 16:33

Ezhil

996
8
13

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered May 28 '14 at 16:30

2

Try this: header('Location: ' . $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']);

'HTTP_REFERER'

The address of the page (if any) which referred the user agent to the current page. This is set by the user agent. Not all user agents will set this, and some provide the ability to modify HTTP_REFERER as a feature. In short, it cannot really be trusted.

answered May 28 '14 at 16:30

Ali Gajani

14,762
12
59
100

2

`HTTP_REFERER` is not always reliable. – Funk Forty Niner May 28 '14 at 16:32
1

Has worked for me at least. Sessions another technique – Ali Gajani May 28 '14 at 16:32
1

Oh it works, in many circumstances, but it's not always reliable. I would have to find the related pages for that, but I don't have time right now to Google this. But from memory, it's not the best method to use; just saying. – Funk Forty Niner May 28 '14 at 16:34
I know, it's not the best method. Not good especially on HTTPS. – Ali Gajani May 28 '14 at 16:34
There was a page/question on SO about a month or so ago, where they had discussed a similar issue, and someone had devised a genius way for doing this, and for the life of me, I never did find it again. It may very well be inside one of my favorites, but that could take a while lol – Funk Forty Niner May 28 '14 at 16:36
Will be glad to see it :) Patiently waiting – Ali Gajani May 28 '14 at 16:39
I found this as to why using `HTTP_REFERER` is not reliable: => http://stackoverflow.com/a/5934792/ and I think I may have found that method using sessions http://stackoverflow.com/a/13703882/ – Funk Forty Niner May 28 '14 at 16:44
Sessions with Token would be a reliable form :) – Ali Gajani May 28 '14 at 17:50
Yes, totally. I've used such a method for a login script I made some time ago. Works beautifully. – Funk Forty Niner May 28 '14 at 17:51

score -2 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

-2

Looks like you should add some javascript to the page to perform scrolling. Here is an example of such implementation with Jquery: how to remember scroll position of page

edited May 23 '17 at 12:02

Community

1
1

answered May 28 '14 at 16:33

Sergii Ivashchenko

543
5
12

Redirect back to previous page in PHP

3 Answers3