Alternative for $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] PHP variable in MSIE

Question

I have used $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] variable in my application (used PHP). On Firefox above variables is wokring. But i observed that $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] is not working on Microsoft Internet Explorer 8. I also got to know that HTTP_REFERER variable doesnt work on MSIE8 and MSIE7.

Please give me your suggestions, how to use $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] variable to get rid on MSIE7/8 or is there any other alternative for $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] variable

Thanks for your suggestion.

-Pravin.

Answer 1

If you only need to use the referrer information internally for your website (ie: between pages of your website, not externally), you can manually keep track of a user's referrer information.

// Get the full URL of the current page
function current_page_url(){
    $page_url   = 'http';
    if(isset($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && $_SERVER['HTTPS'] == 'on'){
        $page_url .= 's';
    }
    return $page_url.'://'.$_SERVER['SERVER_NAME'].$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
}

/* (Assuming session already started) */
if(isset($_SESSION['referrer'])){
    // Get existing referrer
    $referrer   = $_SESSION['referrer'];

} elseif(isset($_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'])){
    // Use given referrer
    $referrer   = $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'];

} else {
    // No referrer
}

// Save current page as next page's referrer
$_SESSION['referrer']   = current_page_url();

Then, to access the referrer, just use the $referrer variable.

if(isset($referrer)){
    echo 'Referred from "'.$referrer.'"';
    echo '<a href="'.$referrer.'">Back</a>';
} else {
    echo 'No referrer';
}

That way, if a user visits http://www.example.com/page_1.php, they will see the referrer information if their browser has provided it, otherwise no referrer. Then when they visit http://www.example.com/page_2.php, and any subsequent pages of your site, the referrer will be accessible.