Should I use a 301, 302, or 303 redirect after form submission?

Question

I am creating a simple question-answer message board in php. When someone submits the answer to a question, the php script redirects the user to the original question, with the updated answer at the bottom of the page.

In this case, would it be better to use a 301, 302, or 303 redirect? I was thinking a 302 redirect because the redirect is not permanent or static – the redirect depends on parameters that are sent to the submission script. However, I have seen 303 recommended for some forms as well.

Geesey

Answer 1

The correct redirect for this situation would be a 303 redirect, since you are redirecting from a form submission (presumably this would be a POST request) to a viewing page (which should be a GET request) and it is a temporary redirect (i.e. the redirect may change depending on parameters).

This is backed up by the standard:

The response to the request can be found under a different URI and SHOULD be retrieved using a GET method on that resource. This method exists primarily to allow the output of a POST-activated script to redirect the user agent to a selected resource. The new URI is not a substitute reference for the originally requested resource. The 303 response MUST NOT be cached, but the response to the second (redirected) request might be cacheable.

Longe

Thank you. After some research, including the standard you quoted, I proceeded with the 303 redirect. – Geesey