HTML, XHTML & CSS

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Part II: Formatting Web Pages with (X)HTML
To instruct a browser to redirect users from one page to another, here’s what
you need to do in particular:
1. Use the element with http-equiv=”refresh”.
2. Adjust the value of content to specify how many seconds before the
refresh happens and what URL you want to jump to.
For example, the element line in the following markup creates a
refresh that jumps to www.w3.org after 15 seconds:
All About Markup
This page is still in development. Until we are done, please visit
the W3C Website for the definitive
collection of markup-related resources.
Please wait 10 seconds to be automatically redirected to the W3C.
Use metadata with caution when redirecting a Web page. When some
search engines see metadata redirects in use, they think the site is trying
to spam. This could result in your Web site or page being delisted, or
removed from the search engine’s listings. When you become a pro at using
metadata to redirect, you can step up to the next level and try redirecting
using the HTTP code number 301 to force a server-based redirect from an
*.htaccess file located in the root directory on your Web server. While
server-based 301 redirects are outside the scope of this book, a simple
Google search can lead you to a number of good resources such as the
.htaccess file Redirect/Rewrite Tutorial on Master Site Manager located
at www.mastersitemanager.com/857/301-htaccess-redirecttutorial.
Older Web browsers may not know what to do with elements that
use the http-equiv element to redirect a page. Be sure to include some text
and a link on the page so a visitor can link manually to your new target page
if your element fails to work. Linking, which uses the anchor ()
element, is discussed in Chapter 3.