Views Auto-Refresh

A module to refresh a view after a specified time interval or when triggered by an event. Includes advanced options to avoid reloading the whole view, and to avoid causing a full Drupal bootstrap at each refresh.

Suitable for usage on liveblogs, activity streams, comment lists, and any other view where new items are frequently added.

HOWTO: Basic autorefresh

• Create a new page view
• Add a new header of type Global: Autorefresh
• Set the interval time to 5000ms
• Save the view and open its page
• In a second browser tab, add a new content that fits the view's criteria
• See the new content in the view!

HOWTO: Incremental refresh

Use incremental refresh when you don't want to reload the whole view at each refresh. This is handy if rendering the view items needs further client-side work, like reloading a YouTube video.

• Create a new page view
• Add a second page display with:
• A different path
• A distinctive name like "Incremental Page"
• A contextual filter of type Content: Post date (with operator)
• In your original page, add a new header of type Global: Autorefresh with:
• Set the interval time to 5000ms
• Check Use a secondary view display to incrementally insert new items only
• In Secondary display, select the second page you created above
• Save the view and open its page
• In a second browser tab, add a new content that fits the view's criteria
• See the new content in the view!

HOWTO: Using a ping script

Using a ping script is essential for production environments, to avoid a full Drupal bootstrap at each refresh.

• Create a new page view
• Copy the file ping.php.example to your Drupal root folder and rename it as ping.php
• Edit ping.php such that DRUPAL_ROOT points to your Drupal root, and adjust the query:
  

  $result = $db->query("SELECT count(nid) FROM node WHERE created > $timestamp");
  

  to reflect your view's generated SQL query. Make sure to keep the created condition in the query.

• Add a new header of type Global: Autorefresh with:
• Set the interval time to 5000ms
• Check Use a ping url
• In Path to the ping script, enter ping.php
• Save the view and open its page
• In a second browser tab, add a new content that fits the view's criteria
• See the new content in the view!

HOWTO: Using Node.js and Rules

Using Node.js integration and Rules to avoid polling the server at regular intervals.

• Enable Node.js integration (latest 7.x-1.x-dev), apply this patch and start the node.js server
• Enable Rules
• Create a new page view with a secondary display as in the incremental HOWTO
• Instead of specifying a time interval, check Use Node.js to refresh the view instead of interval pings
• Save the view
• Add a new rule that is triggered by the event corresponding to your use case, e.g. Node: After saving new content
• Add the action Autorefresh a View through Node.js to your rule, selecting the view display that corresponds to your primary display
• Open the view's page
• In a second browser tab, add a new content that fits the view's criteria
• See the new content in the view!