Hi,
Is there any way to use the Browser component to go back/forward in history?
Or, should I just use JS?
I’ve always used JS.
Why would you like to go back in history?
Normally, you will just go to a new link.
I use go back quite often. In blogs for example. I have a main list and you can click to read the full article. The article page will have a button to go back to the list.
In my current project, there is a step-by-step wizard style form with Next & Previous buttons.
So I just need to redirect user to previous page when previous is pressed.
Next functionality works fine.
Going back to a list view from a detail page, I usually just use history/back.
1 Like
Yes, I do as well. I was just giving George an example. 
Sorry - looking at your example, I see mine didn’t actually add anything very useful. At least, there are obviously a few of us who think it’s a useful. Perhaps George has a different idea.
What if someone sent you a link to the blog details page? What would the history/back do then?
It's more useful to have a link directly to the list page, applied to the 'back' button 
In many cases I will have perhaps three featured articles on the home page (Perhaps news articles) and a page with a main list of all articles. Both lists lead to the same detail page. The history will take them back to the originating page. How would you suggest handling that?
The link back should only appear or be available if the previous page is on the same domain.
What I mean is, if I send you a link via email or some kind of messenger? How would the back button work then?
I always prefer using an <a> tag pointing to the list page instead of JavaScript history/back.
With a short list of items, I agree this might be a good solution. However where the relevant list page is the result of selecting a category or searching a table of perhaps thousands of items, it's necessary to go back to the specific records which were being viewed, taking into account paging.
I got your point but my question about linking to a specific item using an email or some messenger is valid for this case as well.
In the case of links from other places (not the current site), there isn’t always a logical place to be taken back to. In most cases, I think to return the user to wherever they were before makes most sense - eg the originating site, rather than the site with the detail page.
I usually add the same search/navigation options on every page, so if the user wants to remain on the site with the detail page, they’re in the right place; if they want to go back, the ‘back’ button will take them where they expect.
Anyway, I think it depends on various factors. You could check the referring page to decide where to go back to (though that’s not reliable).
I use them to instantly get the user back to where they were. I mostly use them for a hyperlink that leads to an explanation of what information the form is requesting. They click the help button, read whatever info that is intended to help them complete the form, then when they’re finished click the history button back to where they were. Works great when the help pages are located several tiers away. The history is easier to me than to try figuring out how far out the page might be, i.e., …/…/…/…/ Ha!
Going back from detail to main index, makes sense, but still only if the user is really coming from your index… what if he goes to the detail page directly? Then hitting back will bring him to the previous site he was on and not the index page you wanted him on …
So still having history back - is only useful if you have full control of the user actions in the right sequence. If you don’t - then I would really not advice to using it.
1 Like
For the direct link issue, I agree that going back looses its utility.
But, in my use case, the direct link doesn’t work. User is always shown the first step of the wizard, even if they try to use a direct link.
I understand the use case for this is pretty small, but it would be nice to at least have the option in browser component itself. 