We have a need to require that a given page A be viewed before page B or C can be viewed. That is page A is a prerequisite for pages B and C.
I’m trying to figure out the best way to accomplish this without shutting anyone out from being able to ever get to page B. I wanted to run my research by the forum for anything I might have missed.
The three methods I can think of are referer field, session cookies or requiring a password.
Checking referring page address
Pro:
- Ensures that anyone viewing a protected page has just viewed the disclaimer
Con:
- Doesn’t work in a small number of browsers; visitors using such browsers won’t be able to view the protected content
- Some types of servers block this information; this is out of the visitor’s control
- Some internet security programs block this information
- May conflict with new “Do Not Track” browser settings
Cookie
Pro
- Supported on all browsers
Cons
- Some people choose to block cookies; they will have to enable cookies to view the protected pages
- If two people share a computer login, one will have seen the disclaimer page and the other won’t have (but that’s also true if someone navigates to the restricted page and then shows it to someone else)
- May conflict with new “Do Not Track” browser settings
Password
Pro
- Supported on all browsers
Con
- Annoying to visitors
Thoughts?