PHP Referrer of Referrer (Recursively)

I am looking into sending the user back two (or maybe more) pages from where they came. What works so far is

<strong>
    <a href="javascript:history.go(-3)">
        Click here to go back to the view
    </a>
</strong>

However, the [history] page being called does not refresh to show the changes.

So I have the idea of referring the referrer. PHP gives me $_SERVER['REFERER'] to use, which is OK but only up to one level. How do I get the referrer (of referrer...) of $_SERVER['REFERER'] ?

Solution

Pure JS. No PHP.

Modify your existing code like this.

  <strong>
        <a href="javascript:window.name='autoLoad';history.go(-3)">
            Click here to go back to the view
        </a>
    </code>

Now add this JS to the page, where you are being redirected. say test.html when you click history.go(-3)

function autoLoad(){
  if (window.name=='autoLoad') {
     location.reload();
     window.name='';
  }
}

and in the body tag add this

<body onload="autoLoad()">