HTML Links

HTML uses a hyperlink to link to another document on the Web.

The Anchor Tag and the Href Attribute

HTML uses the <a> (anchor) tag to create a link to another document.

An anchor can point to any resource on the Web: an HTML page, an image, a sound file, a movie, etc.

The syntax of creating an anchor: 

<a href="url">Text to be displayed</a>

The <a> tag is used to create an anchor to link from, the href attribute is used to address the document to link to, and the words between the open and close of the anchor tag will be displayed as a hyperlink.

This anchor defines a link to Curtin:

<a href="http://www.curtin.edu.au/">Visit Curtin</a>

The line above will look like this in a browser:

Visit Curtin

The Target Attribute

With the target attribute, you can define where the linked document will be opened.

The line below will open the document in a new browser window:

<a href="http://www.curtin.edu.au/"
target="_blank">Visit Curtin</a>

The Anchor Tag and the Name Attribute

The name attribute is used to create a named anchor. When using named anchors we can create links that can jump directly into a specific section on a page, instead of letting the user scroll around to find what he/she is looking for.

Below is the syntax of a named anchor:

<a name="label">Text to be displayed</a>

The name attribute is used to create a named anchor. The name of the anchor can be any text you care to use.

The line below defines a named anchor:

<a name="tips">Useful Tips Section</a>

You should notice that a named anchor is not displayed in a special way.

To link directly to the "tips" section, add a # sign and the name of the anchor to the end of a URL, like this:

<a href="http://www.curtin.edu.au/html_links.asp#tips">
Jump to the Useful Tips Section</a>

A hyperlink to the Useful Tips Section from WITHIN the file "html_links.asp" will look like this: 

<a href="#tips">Jump to the Useful Tips Section</a>

Mailto Link

Open Window

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Named anchors are often used to create "table of contents" at the beginning of a large document. Each chapter within the document is given a named anchor, and links to each of these anchors are put at the top of the document.

If a browser cannot find a named anchor that  has been specified, it goes to the top of the document. No error occurs. 

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