<s>
Meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
instructing	O
a	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
to	O
automatically	O
refresh	O
the	O
current	O
web	O
page	O
or	O
frame	O
after	O
a	O
given	O
time	O
interval	O
,	O
using	O
an	O
HTML	B-Language
meta	O
element	O
with	O
the	O
http-equiv	O
parameter	O
set	O
to	O
"	O
refresh	O
"	O
and	O
a	O
content	O
parameter	O
giving	O
the	O
time	O
interval	O
in	O
seconds	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
also	O
possible	O
to	O
instruct	O
the	O
browser	B-Application
to	O
fetch	O
a	O
different	O
URL	O
when	O
the	O
page	O
is	O
refreshed	O
,	O
by	O
including	O
the	O
alternative	O
URL	O
in	O
the	O
content	O
parameter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
setting	O
the	O
refresh	O
time	O
interval	O
to	O
zero	O
(	O
or	O
a	O
very	O
low	O
value	O
)	O
,	O
meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
URL	O
redirection	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
feature	O
was	O
originally	O
introduced	O
by	O
Netscape	B-Protocol
Navigator	I-Protocol
1.1	O
(	O
circa	O
1995	O
)	O
,	O
in	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
header	O
and	O
corresponding	O
HTML	B-Language
meta	O
HTTP-equivalent	O
element	O
,	O
which	O
allows	O
document	O
author	O
to	O
signal	O
client	O
to	O
automatically	O
reload	O
the	O
document	O
or	O
change	O
to	O
a	O
specified	O
URL	O
after	O
a	O
specified	O
timeout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
earliest	O
polling	B-General_Concept
mechanism	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
web	O
,	O
allowing	O
a	O
user	O
to	O
see	O
the	O
latest	O
update	O
in	O
a	O
frequently-changing	O
webpage	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
ones	O
displaying	O
stock	O
price	O
or	O
weather	O
forecast	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Use	O
of	O
meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
is	O
discouraged	O
by	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
Consortium	O
(	O
W3C	O
)	O
,	O
since	O
unexpected	O
refresh	O
can	O
disorient	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
also	O
impairs	O
the	O
web	B-Application
browser	I-Application
's	O
"	O
back	O
"	O
button	O
in	O
some	O
browsers	B-Application
(	O
including	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
6	I-Application
and	O
before	O
)	O
,	O
although	O
most	O
modern	O
browsers	B-Application
compensate	O
for	O
this	O
(	O
Internet	B-Application
Explorer	I-Application
7	I-Application
and	O
higher	O
,	O
Mozilla	B-Application
Firefox	I-Application
,	O
Opera	B-Application
,	O
Google	B-Application
Chrome	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
legitimate	O
uses	O
of	O
meta-refresh	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
providing	O
updates	O
to	O
dynamic	O
web	O
pages	O
or	O
implementing	O
site	O
controlled	O
navigation	O
of	O
a	O
website	O
without	O
JavaScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
large	O
websites	O
use	O
it	O
to	O
refresh	O
news	O
or	O
status	O
updates	O
,	O
especially	O
when	O
dependencies	O
on	O
JavaScript	B-Language
and	O
redirect	O
headers	O
are	O
unwanted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Redirect	O
to	O
https://example.com/	O
after	O
5	O
seconds	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Redirect	O
to	O
https://example.com/	O
immediately	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
tags	O
have	O
some	O
drawbacks	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
If	O
a	O
page	O
redirects	O
too	O
quickly	O
(	O
less	O
than	O
2	O
–	O
3	O
seconds	O
)	O
,	O
using	O
the	O
"	O
Back	O
"	O
button	O
on	O
the	O
next	O
page	O
may	O
cause	O
some	O
browsers	B-Application
to	O
move	O
back	O
to	O
the	O
redirecting	O
page	O
,	O
whereupon	O
the	O
redirect	O
will	O
occur	O
again	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
uses	O
the	O
http-equiv	O
meta	O
tag	O
to	O
emulate	O
the	O
Refresh	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
header	O
,	O
and	O
as	O
such	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
sent	O
as	O
a	O
header	O
by	O
an	O
HTTP	B-Application
web	I-Application
server	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
Refresh	O
is	O
not	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
standard	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
supported	O
by	O
all	O
common	O
browsers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
HTTP	B-Protocol
Header	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
redirect	O
to	O
https://example.com/	O
after	O
5	O
seconds	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Alternatives	O
exist	O
for	O
both	O
uses	O
of	O
meta	B-Protocol
refresh	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
alternative	O
is	O
to	O
send	O
an	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
redirection	O
status	B-Protocol
code	I-Protocol
,	O
such	O
as	O
HTTP	B-Protocol
301	I-Protocol
or	O
302	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
preferred	O
way	O
to	O
redirect	O
a	O
user	B-Protocol
agent	I-Protocol
to	O
a	O
different	O
page	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
can	O
be	O
achieved	O
by	O
a	O
special	O
rule	O
in	O
the	O
Web	B-Application
server	I-Application
or	O
by	O
means	O
of	O
a	O
simple	O
script	O
on	O
the	O
Web	B-Application
server	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
JavaScript	B-Language
is	O
another	O
alternative	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
recommended	O
,	O
because	O
users	O
might	O
have	O
disabled	O
JavaScript	B-Language
in	O
their	O
browsers	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
simplest	O
way	O
of	O
JavaScript	B-Language
redirect	O
using	O
the	O
onload	O
property	O
of	O
the	O
body	O
tag	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
option	O
is	O
using	O
a	O
technique	O
such	O
as	O
Ajax	B-General_Concept
to	O
update	O
(	O
parts	O
of	O
)	O
the	O
Web	O
site	O
without	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
complete	O
page	O
refresh	O
,	O
but	O
this	O
would	O
also	O
require	O
that	O
the	O
user	O
enable	O
JavaScript	B-Language
in	O
their	O
browser	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
You	O
can	O
refresh	O
a	O
web	O
page	O
using	O
JavaScript	B-Language
location.reload	O
method	O
.	O
</s>
