Meta tags, refresh after

I'm a newbie, getting ready to upload my first site. Working for my client on meta tags. Dreamweaver extension meta tag generator calls for "refresh after." I'm assuming a short time, but how many seconds normally used for this?

Also, reading other posts, it looks like I can get away with using metas only on the index.htm page. Can customize metas for other pages later (?).

Any advice appreciated.

Tom