Removing querystrings from the URL before page refresh

Question

After a new user signs up, I need to redirect the user to the home page and display a twitter-style welcome message. I initially tried using the jquery cookie plugin to store my message and display it on the redirected page if the cookie is present, but the problem was that it didn't work across all browsers. Firfox on Safari does not delete the cookie, so the message keeps showing everytime the browser is refreshed. Here's the code:

if ($.cookie("message")) {
    TwentyQuestions.Common.ShowMessageBar($.cookie("message"), 7000);
    $.cookie('message', "any_value", { expires: -10 })
}

So I decided to use querystring instead, but now the problem is similar. When the home page load, the query string is detected and the message is displayed. But how do I remove the querystring from the URL so that the message doesn't show everytime the page is refreshed?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Could you do:

window.location.href = window.location.href.split('?')[0];

It works, but I'm not for sure if this is what you are looking for?

Answer 2

Maybe the problem is you're trying to do everything on the client side. Instead you should set a persistent cookie associated with the user. Then in the back-end, the first time the homepage is displayed to this user, show you welcome message. Also clear whatever "first time user" flag for this user on the server side. Then the next time the user visits this page they won't see the message.

You can also do a SO like thing where if a user visits your website and the cookie doesn't exist, you can display the "Welcome first time user" message.