hi, i have put together an seo tool online but can't get around how to verify that a url entered into the text box is valid i tried 'file-exists' and it worked at one stage but not now i tried: $handle = fopen... if (!handle) ... it works on what page but not on another is there a way for me to check that a url points to an actual site/web page? thanks in advance serge SEO Resource FREE Keyword Report from Meta Keywords Advice

hi, what do you mean by "it works on what page but not on another"? Because I actually use that method to test for URLs on a shoutbox if (@fopen ($_POST['url'], "r")){ // record the url } and I haven't found any problems (yet). --- Site of the Day

my mistake, i have so many going on in my head at the moment ... ggrr!! i use ERROR_REPORTING(0) on 2 pages with: $handle = fopen... if (!handle) ... to test for valid urls on the one page, the errors are not reported and the script reports an error when a non-valid url is entered as it should on the other page, php reports that it cannot open a stream to the invalid url i was wondering if: $handle = fopen... if (!handle) ... is the correct way to check for a valid url, if it is then i can troubleshoot why one page works while the other doesn't thanks for your time and reply :-)) serge SEO Resources Meta Keywords Advice

ic :D I'm also not sure whether it is the correct way or not, but my shoutbox is running for quite a long time and no problems comes up yet. It'll return true if the URL exist (not 404) even if the URL is a redirect. To test for redirects, you can combine with $http_response_header or get_meta_data(). --- Site of the Day

thanks for that if i am using the correct function to check for a url, i will check the code to see why it works on the one page and not on the other serge SEO Resources Meta Keywords Advice