Is it possible to redirect a user to a different page through the use of PHP?
Say the user goes to www.example.com/page.php and I want to redirect them to www.example.com/index.php, how would I do so without the use of a meta refresh? Is it possible?
This could even protect my pages from unauthorized users.
Summary of existing answers plus my own two cents:
You can use the header() function to send a new HTTP header, but this must be sent to the browser before any HTML or text (so before the <!DOCTYPE ...> declaration, for example).
header('Location: '.$newURL);
die() or exit()
header("Location: https://example.com/myOtherPage.php");
die();
Why you should use die() or exit(): The Daily WTF
Absolute or relative URL
Since June 2014 both absolute and relative URLs can be used. See RFC 7231 which had replaced the old RFC 2616, where only absolute URLs were allowed.
Status Codes
PHP's "Location"-header still uses the HTTP 302-redirect code, this is a "temporary" redirect and may not be the one you should use. You should consider either 301 (permanent redirect) or 303 (other).
Note: W3C mentions that the 303-header is incompatible with "many pre-HTTP/1.1 user agents. Currently used browsers are all HTTP/1.1 user agents. This is not true for many other user agents like spiders and robots.
HTTP Headers and the header() function in PHP
You may use the alternative method of http_redirect($url); which needs the PECL package pecl to be installed.
This function doesn't incorporate the 303 status code:
function Redirect($url, $permanent = false)
{
header('Location: ' . $url, true, $permanent ? 301 : 302);
exit();
}
Redirect('https://example.com/', false);
This is more flexible:
function redirect($url, $statusCode = 303)
{
header('Location: ' . $url, true, $statusCode);
die();
}
As mentioned header() redirects only work before anything is written out. They usually fail if invoked inmidst HTML output. Then you might use a HTML header workaround (not very professional!) like:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=finalpage.html">
Or a JavaScript redirect even.
window.location.replace("https://example.com/");
Use the header() function to send an HTTP Location header:
header('Location: '.$newURL);
Contrary to what some think, die() has nothing to do with redirection. Use it only if you want to redirect instead of normal execution.
File example.php:
<?php
header('Location: static.html');
$fh = fopen('/tmp/track.txt', 'a');
fwrite($fh, $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] . ' ' . date('c') . "\n");
fclose($fh);
?>
Result of three executions:
bart@hal9k:~> cat /tmp/track.txt
127.0.0.1 2009-04-21T09:50:02+02:00
127.0.0.1 2009-04-21T09:50:05+02:00
127.0.0.1 2009-04-21T09:50:08+02:00
Resuming — obligatory die()/exit() is some urban legend that has nothing to do with actual PHP. It has nothing to do with client "respecting" the Location: header. Sending a header does not stop PHP execution, regardless of the client used.
function Redirect($url, $permanent = false)
{
if (headers_sent() === false)
{
header('Location: ' . $url, true, ($permanent === true) ? 301 : 302);
}
exit();
}
Redirect('http://www.google.com/', false);
Don't forget to die() / exit() !
Most of these answers are forgetting a very important step!
header("Location: myOtherPage.php");
die();
Leaving that vital second line out might see you end up on The Daily WTF. The problem is that browsers do not have to respect the headers which your page return, so with headers being ignored, the rest of the page will be executed without a redirect.
header("Location: https://www.example.com/redirect.php");
Direct redirect to this link https://www.example.com/redirect.php
$redirect = "https://www.example.com/redirect.php";
header("Location: $redirect");
First get $redirect value and than redirect to [value] like: https://www.example.com/redirect.php
In the eve of the semantic web, correctness is something to consider. Unfortunately, PHP's "Location"-header still uses the HTTP 302-redirect code, which, strictly, isn't the best one for redirection. The one it should use instead, is the 303 one.
W3C is kind enough to mention that the 303-header is incompatible with "many pre-HTTP/1.1 user agents," which would amount to no browser in current use. So, the 302 is a relic, which shouldn't be used.
...or you could just ignore it, as everyone else...
Yes, you can use the header() function,
header("Location: http://www.yourwebsite.com/user.php"); /* Redirect browser */
exit();
And also best practice is to call the exit() function right after the header() function to avoid the below code execution.
According to the documentation, header() must be called before any actual output is sent.
Like others here said, sending the location header with:
header( "Location: http://www.mywebsite.com/otherpage.php" );
but you need to do it before you've sent any other output to the browser.
Also, if you're going to use this to block un-authenticated users from certain pages, like you mentioned, keep in mind that some user agents will ignore this and continue on the current page anyway, so you'll need to die() after you send it.
You can try using
header('Location:'.$your_url)
for more info you can refer php official documentation
1. Using header, a built-in PHP function
a) Simple redirect without parameters
<?php
header('Location: index.php');
?>
b) Redirect with GET parameters
<?php
$id = 2;
header("Location: index.php?id=$id&msg=succesfully redirect");
?>
2. Redirect with JavaScript in PHP
a) Simple redirect without parameters
<?php
echo "<script>location.href='index.php';</script>";
?>
b) Redirect with GET parameters
<?php
$id = 2;
echo "<script>location.href='index.php?id=$id&msg=succesfully redirect';</script>";
?>
<?php
header('Location: B.php');
exit();
?>
Suppose we want to route from A.php file to B.php than we have to take help of <button> or <a>. Lets see an example
<?php
if(isset($_GET['go_to_page_b'])) {
header('Location: B.php');
exit();
}
?>
<p>I am page A</p>
<button name='go_to_page_b'>Page B</button>
B.php
<p> I am Page B</p>
Use:
<?php
$url = "targetpage"
function redirect$url(){
if (headers_sent()) == false{
echo '<script>window.location.href="' . $url . '";</script>';
}
}
?>
There are multiple ways of doing this, but if you’d prefer php, I’d recommend the use of the header() function.
Basically
$your_target_url = “www.example.com/index.php”;
header(“Location : $your_target_url”);
exit();
If you want to kick it up a notch, it’s best to use it in functions. That way, you are able to add authentications and other checking elemnts in it.
Let’s try with by checking the user’s level.
So, suppose you have stored the user’s authority level in a session called u_auth.
In the function.php
<?php
function authRedirect($get_auth_level,
$required_level,
$if_fail_link = “www.example.com/index.php”){
if ($get_auth_level != $required_level){
header(location : $if_fail_link);
return false;
exit();
}
else{
return true;
}
}
. . .
You’ll then call the function for every page that you want to authenticate.
Like in page.php or any other page.
<?php
// page.php
require “function.php”
// Redirects to www.example.com/index.php if the
// user isn’t authentication level 5
authRedirect($_SESSION[‘u_auth’], 5);
// Redirects to www.example.com/index.php if the
// user isn’t authentication level 4
authRedirect($_SESSION[‘u_auth’], 4);
// Redirects to www.someotherplace.com/somepage.php if the
// user isn’t authentication level 2
authRedirect($_SESSION[‘u_auth’], 2, “www.someotherplace.com/somepage.php”);
. . .
References;
I like the kind of redirection after counting seconds
<?php
header("Refresh: 3;url=https://theweek.com.br/índex.php");
If you're running on Apache you can also use .htaccess for redirect.
Redirect 301 / http://new-site.com/