Polling a server using ajax

Question

I am creating a website with a system in which users can send messages to each other. I would like that when a user logs in to the system who received the message, he will receive some update on his screen, informing him of this.

These messages do not have to be in real time, so I don’t think I want to press a comet or juggernaut or something like that. Instead, I would be happy to just poll the server every minute or so and listen for updates.

I am new to javascript and I am wondering if there is a way to do this.

Answer 1

periodicalUpdater, , . :

new Ajax.PeriodicalUpdater('items', '/items', {
  method: 'get', frequency: 3, decay: 2
});

Answer 2

:

http://www.mcfedries.com/JavaScript/timer.asp