Disable the "Back" button?

[PrivatePile]

Hi,

Can anyone help me by either telling me how i can disable the back button on the browser without having to remove the entire tool bar, or pointing me in the direction of a site that can help me?

TYIA

[kamy99]

Not many options out there, except Javascript!

You can either open the desired page in a new window, without the toolbar, as you said.
Or you can disable the right-click through JS.

HTH

[PrivatePile]

are you 100% sure that there is no other way of doing it. I seem to remember a short while back i came across an online banking system that actually disabled the back button, to prevent customers from submitting a transfer request more than once. It was as if the browser window was new, and had no history. But then after proceeding a few pages ahead, the back button became enabled again.

I'd like to think that there is always a way of doing something...you just gotta be creative sometimes...lol unfortunately i seem to have no inspiration at the moment :-)

[sarah]

I'm almost certain there isn't a way to disable the back button, but one thing that works in some situations is to link to a page, PAGE1, that redirects imediately to PAGE2. Then, when the user clicks the back button to go back to where they were before PAGE2, they will hit PAGE1 and automatically be redirected to PAGE2.

[stolzyboy]

there is NO valid way to disable the back button, but you can fool the browser in to thinking there is no back to go to

<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript">

function goNewWin() {

//Get what is below onto one line

window.open("backbuttonnewpage.html",'TheNewpop','toolbar=1,
location=1,directories=1,status=1,menubar=1,
scrollbars=1,resizable=1');

//Get what is above onto one line

self.close()

}

</SCRIPT>

<A HREF="javascript:goNewWin()">Click to go to a new page</A>

[sarah]

Only problem is those clever little visitors who turn off their javascript just so that they can submit forms that aren't validated and do other mean little tricks. Make sure the thing wont blow up if they don't have javascript enabled.

[Norman_Graham]

Why do you want to do this? If it's for genuine security reasons, that's fine, but scripts which prevent the back button from escaping the page are insidious and are a guarantee that the visitor will avoid the page in future. There are a lot of them about and I hate them.

What banks and e-mail providers do if you shouldn't be allowed to go back for security reasons is redirect you to another page with information about why you can't go back (e.g. This page has now expired. Please submit the form again). Just not being able to leave the page is simply annoying.

Norman

[PrivatePile]

The reason for disabling the back button in this case is for a distributed system within the organisation i work for. Lucky for me, this means that the users won't have the choice of not returning to the page...its all part of their jobs.

The problem we are having is that users are submitting data from a form, and then deciding they are not happy with what they put. They are then clicking the back button and think they have just unsubmitted the form - doh! We have added messages to notify users that this is not the case, and have even sent out company wide e-mails but to no avail... so now i'm investigating other avenues.

[Norman_Graham]

Yes, this sort of behaviour is immensely irritating. I suggest you offer a confirmation page showing the data that the user has entered and asking for final confirmation of the entries made. The user should have two options: 1. Confirm and send; 2. Return to blank form and start again. It should be clear with option 1 that there is no going back.

I would even recommend this for private sites with no security issues. I mean, on this site (PHP Builder), you get a chance to preview your entry before submitting it.

On my private site that I'm working on, the user will have a chance to submit comments into a form but will receive a confirmation page with the entries nicely laid out before clicking on send. A back button will present a fresh form.

Best o luck

Norman

[Sphynx]

LOL... good luck to you!

I have the same issues on my Intranet. I even put huge bold bright red letters at the top of the confirmation page saying "YOUR REQUEST HAS NOT YET BEEN SAVED. PLEASE CHECK YOUR ENTRIES AND CLICK SAVE TO SAVE, OR BACK TO CORRECT".

Sometimes that doesn't work either. I have users that just simply don't read what is on a page....period... they just do not read. So there's situations where they submit and see the confirmation page and think it's saved, then just close the window and walk away. It really is mind-boggling.

[dar-k]

No matter how well a script is written, it can't be used flawlessly without first removing all the users.

Anyway, maybe u can do something with Javascript's location.replace('newlocation.php');
It actually replaces the current location in the history list, so it's impossible to go back to the previous page.

Also, I always use location headers when working with POST. Just in case someone likes the result page so much they feel like refreshing it.

Good luck ppl!

[Norman_Graham]

Yes ... I can see this happening quite easily, judging by some of the people I work with. I think an in-your-face javascript alert might solve this issue with some people. Is it possible to produce an alert when the user tries to close the browser window, or shut down the browser, or use either the back or forward buttons?
Would it, on the other hand, perhaps be possible to have an alert on the confirmation screen that says, "The information you have entered will be submitted in 25 seconds. Click OK or click Stop to return to the form and change your entries". Kind of like what happens when I have my net connection open without activity for more than 20 minutes - I get a warning that the connection will die in 20 seconds unless I choose to keep it active. I've no idea if you can do this kind of thing with javascript.

Problem occurring between keyboard and chair, methinks.

Norman

[ahundiak]

I have seen many threads on this subject and I guess I am just confused. When I want to prevent data from being posted twice I include a unique string in the data. First time the data gets posted I set a flag in the database next to that unique string. The next time a post is attempted I test the flag and block the posting.

I get the impression that there must be some kind of flaw with this workflow.