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="https://www.w3schools.com/html/">Visit our HTML tutorial</a> The link text is the visible part (Visit our HTML tutorial).
Clicking on the link text will send you to the specified address.
Note: Without a forward slash on subfolder addresses, you might generate two requests to the server. Many servers will automatically add a forward slash to 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
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
Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/"target="_blank">Visit W3Schools!</a> Example
<a href="https://www.w3schools.com/html/"target="_top">HTML5 tutorial!</a> HTML Links - Image as Link
It is common to use images as links:Example
<a href="default.asp">
<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).
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> <a href="#C4">Jump to Chapter 4</a> 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="https://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp">HTML tutorial</a> Example
<a href="/html/default.asp">HTML tutorial</a> Example
<a href="default.asp">HTML tutorial</a> You can read more about file paths in the chapter HTML File Paths.
Chapter Summary
- Use the <a> element to define a link
- Use the href attribute to define the link address
- Use the target attribute to define where to open the linked document
- Use the <img> element (inside <a>) to use an image as a link
- Use the id attribute (id="value") to define bookmarks in a page
- Use the href attribute (href="#value") to link to the bookmark
