Help with $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER']?

[bigdaddysheikh]

Hello,

I want to keep track of the urls where my user's come from. I put in the code for the referer and it does not seem to work. This is the code i have at the top of the page.

<? $url=$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];
            echo $url; ?>

Now when i go to yahoo.com and come back to the index page where this code is, it doesnt echo the variable which means the referer is wrong. maybe i am not getting the concept of this thing right? Is there a way to get where users come from.

[devinemke]

from the manual:
http://www.php.net/manual/en/reserved.variables.php

'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.

[bigdaddysheikh]

is there a better method than, cause on php.net it says "it cannot be trusted".

Thank you for replying ot me earlier.

[Roger_Ramjet]

Nope, Which is how all the hacks faking click counts get away with it. You could try javascripting the client's history, but that presupposes they did not open a new window.