back button woes

  • Thread starter Thread starter Robert Megee
  • Start date Start date
R

Robert Megee

I've been able to essentially disable the back button on IE6 by
expiring the cache. I would like to do the same for the browser
that runs on pocketPC. I believe it is IE4. However this technique
doesn't seem to work. Anyone know how I might try to keep the
back button from showing previous pages of this application?

thanks,

Robert Megee
 
I've been able to essentially disable the back button on IE6 by
expiring the cache. I would like to do the same for the browser
that runs on pocketPC. I believe it is IE4. However this technique
doesn't seem to work. Anyone know how I might try to keep the
back button from showing previous pages of this application?
Click to expand...

You're not going to like this answer, but I'll give it anyway ;-)

Disabling the back button is one of the most unfriendly things you can
do to a user. It is the second most common navigational aid on the web
(after the hyperlink) and if you disable it, people will hate your site.
They will still click the back button and see the error message. This
will either annoy them enough to make them go elsewhere (remember, the
next site is only one click away), or they will refresh the page,
causing another postback. This could have side-effects that you don't
want.

This isn't my opinion, it's the opinion of many web experts and
usability experts. Feel free to ignore it, but you will drive a lot of
people away from your site.

HTH
 
You're not going to like this answer, but I'll give it anyway ;-)

Disabling the back button is one of the most unfriendly things you can
do to a user. It is the second most common navigational aid on the web
(after the hyperlink) and if you disable it, people will hate your site.
They will still click the back button and see the error message. This
will either annoy them enough to make them go elsewhere (remember, the
next site is only one click away), or they will refresh the page,
causing another postback. This could have side-effects that you don't
want.

This isn't my opinion, it's the opinion of many web experts and
usability experts. Feel free to ignore it, but you will drive a lot of
people away from your site.

HTH
Click to expand...
If I was doing a site for general consumption I to would not consider
such a thing. What I'm doing is a web based front end for our factory
control software that does a series of validations (unlike the actual
mes) to keep our operators from mis-processing lots and allow them to
enter much of the information with bar-code scanning. It's a private
network and hand-held windowsCE devices are used for this purpose.
Using the back button enables the operators to attempt to enter data
that is possibly not current. So in this case your concerns don't
apply.
For some reasons even though I tell the operators not to use the back
button, they can't resist. Maybe I can record the use of the back
button along with the user id to help me get my point across.

Thanks for the information anyway.

Robert
 
Robert,

Fair point. I didn't realise this was a private site.

Still, it's a shame we can't teach people how we think they should use a
site. It would save a lot of usability issues!!! Never mind what *you*
think, do it my way!!

Ta ra
 
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