Do something like header ( "Location: index.php?Message=" . urlencode ( $Message )); Then on index.php... if ( isset ( $_GET [ 'Message' ])) { print $_GET [ 'Message' ]; } In other words, index.php will always check if it's being passed a message in the url. If there is one, display it. Then, just pass the message in the redirect if you really want to use a modal popup, generate the js... if ( isset ( $_GET [ 'Message' ])) { print '<script type="text/javascript">alert("' . $_GET [ 'Message' ] . '");</script>' ; }