HTML Links
Links are found in nearly all web pages. Links allow users to click their way from page to page.
HTML Links - Hyperlinks
HTML links are hyperlinks.
You can click on a link and jump to another document.
When you move the mouse over a link, the mouse arrow will turn into a little hand.
Note: A link does not have to be text. It can be an image or any other HTML element.
HTML Links - Syntax
In HTML, links are defined with the <a> tag:
<a href="url">link text</a>
Example
<a href="mycscode.com">
MYCSCODE</a>
The href attribute specifies the destination address (mycscode.com)
of the link.
The link text is the visible part (MYCSCODE).
Clicking on the link text will send you to the specified address.
Note: Without a forward slash at the end of subfolder addresses, you might generate two requests to the server. Many servers will automatically add a forward slash to the end of the address, and then create a new request.
Local Links
The example above used an absolute URL (a full web address).
A local link (link to the same web site) is specified with a relative URL (without http://www....).
Example
<a href="html_images.asp">HTML Images</a>
HTML Link Colors
By default, a link will appear like this (in all browsers):
- An unvisited link is underlined and blue
- A visited link is underlined and purple
- An active link is underlined and red
You can change the default colors, by using CSS:
Example
<style>
a:link {
color: green;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:visited {
color: pink;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: none;
}
a:hover {
color: red;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: underline;
}
a:active {
color: yellow;
background-color: transparent;
text-decoration: underline;
}
</style>
HTML Links - The target Attribute
The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
The target attribute can have one of the following values:
- _blank - Opens the linked document in a new window or tab
- _self - Opens the linked document in the same window/tab as it was clicked (this is default)
- _parent - Opens the linked document in the parent frame
- _top - Opens the linked document in the full body of the window
- framename - Opens the linked document in a named frame
This example will open the linked document in a new browser window/tab:
Example
<a href="mycscode.com/"
target="_blank">Visit MYCSCODE</a>
Tip: If your webpage is locked in a frame, you can use target="_top" to break out of the frame:
Example
<a href="mycscode.com/learnhtml/"
target="_top">HTML5 tutorial!</a>
HTML Links - Image as Link
It is common to use images as links:
Example
<a href="mycscode.com">
<img src="smiley.gif" alt="HTML tutorial"
style="width:42px;height:42px;
border:0;">
</a>
Note: border:0; is added to prevent IE9 (and earlier) from displaying a border around the image
(when the image is a link).
Link Titles
The title attribute specifies extra information about an element.
The information is most often shown as a tooltip text when the mouse moves over the element.
Example
<a href="mycscode.com/" title="Go to MYCSCODE">Visit our Tutorials.</a>
HTML Links - Create a Bookmark
HTML bookmarks are used to allow readers to jump to specific parts of a Web page.
Bookmarks can be useful if your webpage is very long.
To make a bookmark, you must first create the bookmark, and then add a link to it.
When the link is clicked, the page will scroll to the location with the bookmark.
Example
First, create a bookmark with the id attribute:
<h2 id="C4">Chapter 4</h2>
Then, add a link to the bookmark ("Jump to Chapter 4"), from within the same page:
<a href="#C4">Jump to Chapter 4</a>
Or, add a link to the bookmark ("Jump to Chapter 4"), from another page:
Example
<a href="html_demo.html#C4">Jump to Chapter 4</a>
External Paths
External pages can be referenced with a full URL or with a path relative to the current web page.
This example uses a full URL to link to a web page:
Example
<a href="www.mycscode.com/" title="Go to MYCSCODE">Visit our Tutorials.</a>
This example links to a page located in the html folder on the current web site:
Example
<a href="/html/learnhtml.html">
HTML tutorial
</a>
This example links to a page located in the same folder as the current page:
Example
<a href="index.html">Homepage</a>
Chapter Summary
- Use the
<a>element to define a link - Use the
hrefattribute to define the link address - Use the
targetattribute to define where to open the linked document - Use the
<img>element (inside<a>) to use an image as a link - Use the
idattribute (id="value") to define bookmarks in a page - Use the
hrefattribute (href="#value") to link to the bookmark