What does "main.css?v=1.5" mean?

[Eric C.]

Hi all

Can anyone explain why some sites append query strings to their
stylesheet URLs? For example:

If you go here: http://www.lovefilm.com/visitor/home.html

You'll see:

<link rel="stylesheet"
href="http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/static/css/main.css?v=1.5"
type="text/css" media="all"/>

 

[Benjamin Niemann]

Can anyone explain why some sites append query strings to their
stylesheet URLs? For example:

If you go here: http://www.lovefilm.com/visitor/home.html

You'll see:

<link rel="stylesheet"
href="http://www.lovefilm.com/lovefilm/static/css/main.css?v=1.5"
type="text/css" media="all"/>

The CSS may be generated by a script and the query parameter specifies which
version of the CSS file should be used. If it is a static file though
(which the 'static' in the URL suggests), the query part is simply ignored.

Might be an artifact from a time, when the CSS was dynamically created, e.g.
a CMS which uses dynamic files for the 'development version', but exports
static files for the 'live version'.