My First Week of Web Development: Learning (and Breaking) the Web
Starting web development is an exciting journey—until you accidentally create issues that break basic browser functionality. One of the most notable problems I faced this week was a Back button trap, an issue that reminds you how small mistakes can have big usability impacts.
The Backstory
While working on deploying my first portfolio site on GitHub Pages, I decided to redirect my root index.html to another folder using a meta-refresh tag:
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0; url=./Projects/4.3%20HTML%20Porfolio%20Project/index.html">
At first glance, it seemed to work fine. Visitors landed exactly where I wanted them to. But then came the discovery: pressing Back didn’t take me back! Instead, it threw users into a loop, reloading the redirect page repeatedly.
What Went Wrong?
The problem stemmed from breaking one of the most basic web navigation rules: respect the Back button. As pointed out in usability studies:
- The Back button is the second most-used navigation feature, after links.
- A seamless Back experience makes users feel safe to explore.
Using immediate redirects breaks this. Instead of letting users return to the previous page, the browser gets stuck in a loop of navigating back to the redirect, pushing them forward again.
Lesson Learned
Here’s what I realized about fixing and avoiding this mistake:
Redirection needs care:
Using a redirect isn’t wrong, but the implementation matters. Tools like JavaScript redirection (e.g.,window.location.href) avoid polluting browser history, providing a smoother experience.Server-side options are better:
If you have control over the server (or use a more advanced platform than GitHub Pages), HTTP redirects are ideal because they handle navigation gracefully.Design for users, not shortcuts:
Breaking basic web conventions like the Back button—even accidentally—can turn a positive experience into a frustrating one. Always test your changes for usability!
A Bright Side to Mistakes
This mistake helped me understand more about user experience and web fundamentals. Even in failure, there’s growth—and that’s what made the first week of web development so rewarding.
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