Is it considered a big no-no to use
<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh"
CONTENT="1;URL=http://www.(site).com">

to forward someone to another site if what I wanted to do was use my own link to mask the destination page. I would just like to make it more difficult for prospective copycats of my site to mouseover all of my outbound links and copy them all.

If so, is what are other ways of doing this for a novice like myself (don't know any scripts or java, etc)?

You could try using this simple php script...

<?php 
//Php redirect script

$urls[1] = 'http://site.com'; 
$urls[2] = 'http://site2.com'; 
$urls[google] = 'http://google.com'; 
//Add anything text or numbers to the array


if(!isset($_GET['id'])) 
    die('Id not found'); 

$id = $_GET['id'];
if(!isset($urls[$id])) 
    header('Location: http://www.domain.com/errorpage.htm'); 
else 
    header('Location: ' . $urls[$id]);

?>

By using this you simple need to save it as go.php and then you can add more urls easily, so simple if you typed www.yoursite.com/go.php?id=1 it would take you to 'http://site.com'

Hope this helps

-James

I would love to know how to implement this: I don't know anything about php. Where would I paste this code and what would I need to modify - the red text (I'm guessing here) .....

... and ... id my current method going to get me blacklisted by search engines? What if I placed the redirect page (META "refresh") in a non-crawled folder in my directory? (ie: listed as a non-crawl folder in my robots.txt page)

You just copy it into notepad and then save it as go.php (Remember to change the 'Save as type' to 'All files')

Im not sure about the second part...

But if you mean you dont want google to find it..
Just upload the script into a new directory...

e.g www.domain.com/go/go.php

( also then if you saved the php script as index.php you would be able to type www.domain.com/go?id=1 )

Then just set the directory in the robots.txt for search engines to not read it..

User-agent: *
Disallow: /go/

Hope this helps

-James

I feel like a total moron - that was so easy! .... and virtually seemless! Thanks so much for your patience. I have learned so many valuable things on this forum in so little time. I only hope I can learn enough to be of assistance to others soon!

what is the function or purpose of the code near the bottom that reads:

header('Location: http://www.domain.com/errorpage.htm');

?????

How would I need to alter this? Looks like some sort of custom 404 page reference?

Its for if you enter an id which doesnt exist it will take you to that page, you could make it like an error page telling them the ID they entered is invalid

But otherwise if you dont want an error page just use this code instead..

<?php 
//Php redirect script

$urls[1] = 'http://site.com'; 
$urls[2] = 'http://site2.com'; 
$urls[google] = 'http://google.com'; 
//Add anything text or numbers to the array


if(!isset($_GET['id'])) 
    die('Id not found'); 

$id = $_GET['id'];
if(!isset($urls[$id])) 
    die('ID Not listed!'); 
else 
    header('Location: ' . $urls[$id]);

?>

..which will just display 'ID Not listed!' if an invalid id is entered


Hope this helps

-James

Thank you - php really has some great possibilities

PHP makes nearlly everything possible...

Only been working with php for a week or two and already learned loads

-James

Where did you learn this. I have the book: Teach yourself PHP in 24 hours and seems this is a highly regarded resource but I'm having a hard time letting it sink in as of yet (I've just learned html a few months ago). Anything you'd care to share?

Well I learned this script from this forum, when I wanted to use it before

Also theres some good tutorials and info at PHP Freaks (http://phpfreaks.com)

Also HotScripts.com (http://hotscripts.com/PHP)

And mainly anything else I want I just search Google and theres always something out there

-James

Originally Posted by Dark-Skys99

You could try using this simple php script...

I have been using this with great success - however, let's say I have one of the hidden links in my php document as an affiliate link that will only allow credit from this domain. What's to keep them from having me set up a link from some other domain to go through my approved domain this way? seems like a way to mask it? Your thoughts on this? Would I get blackballed?

Originally Posted by Joobz

I have been using this with great success - however, let's say I have one of the hidden links in my php document as an affiliate link that will only allow credit from this domain. What's to keep them from having me set up a link from some other domain to go through my approved domain this way? seems like a way to mask it? Your thoughts on this? Would I get blackballed?

I dont get what you mean??

-James

Originally Posted by Dark-Skys99

I dont get what you mean??

OK, let's say I set up this document as www.mydomain.com/go.php and let's say for arguement's sake, mydomain.com is registered with Amazon under their affiliate program but none of my other sites are approved by them.

Now, let's also state that one of my links listed in the array (let's say link #1) is my Amazon.com affiliate link. So, if I wanted to send someone from mydomain.com to Amazon.com then I would direct them to http://www.mydomain.com/go.php?id=1.

Now, let's say www.myotherdomain.net is not affiliated with Amazon - and - I want to direct someone from this site to my Amazon.com affiliate link, I would just send them to http://www.mydomain.com/go.php?id=1 and Amazon.com would think this traffic came from mydomain.com and not myotherdomain.net ...... correct?

(for the record, I do not have an Amazon.com affiliate account - this is just a hypothetical inquiry)

yea..Should Work

-James

Originally Posted by Joobz

Is it considered a big no-no to use
<META HTTP-EQUIV="refresh"
CONTENT="1;URL=http://www.(site).com">

to forward someone to another site if what I wanted to do was use my own link to mask the destination page.

Change the "1" to "10" or greater... some people suggest 30 seconds but I've never had a problem using 10.

Whether you use this or the PHP method, you want to avoid giving the impression that you are trying to deceive or mislead anyone, including the SEs. Including a short delay basically tells people they are being redirected and therefore is not seen as deceptive.

However, the common use for this would be to redirect from old pages to new pages - I'm not sure I understand why you are worried about someone seeing outbound links...