Please visit our sponsors !

HTML Links

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

Examples

Create hyperlinks
This example demonstrates how to create links in an HTML document.

An image as a link
This example demonstrates how to use an image as a link.

More Examples

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 W3Schools:

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/">Visit W3Schools!</a>

The line above will look like this in a browser:

Visit W3Schools!

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.w3schools.com/"
target="_blank">Visit W3Schools!</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 specified section on a page, instead of letting the user scroll around to find what he/she is looking for.

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">Read the Useful Tips section</a>

You should notice that a named anchor does not display in a special way.

To link to the named anchor you add a # sign and the name of the anchor to the end of the URL, like this:

<a href="http://www.w3schools.com/html_links.asp#tips">
Read the Useful Tips section</a>

The line above will take the user straight to the text within the anchor <a name="tips">... </a> within the file "html_links.asp".

A hyperlink to the Useful Tips section from within the file "html_links.asp" will use this syntax: 

<a href="#tips">Useful Tips</a>

Basic Notes - Useful Tips

Always add a trailing slash to subfolder references. If you link like this: href="http://www.w3schools.com/html", you will generate two HTTP requests to the server, because the server will add a slash to the address and create a new request like this: href="http://www.w3schools.com/html/"

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. 

More Examples

Open a link in a new browser window
This example demonstrates how to link to another page by opening a new window, so that the visitor does not have to leave your Web site.

Link to a location on the same page
This example demonstrates how to use a link to jump to another part of a document.

Break out of a frame
This example demonstrates how to break out of a frame, if your site is locked in a frame.

Create a mailto link
This example demonstrates how to link to a mail message (will only work if you have mail installed).

Create a mailto link 2
This example demonstrates a more complicated mailto link.

Link Tags and Targets:

NN: Netscape, IE: Internet Explorer, W3C: Web Standard

Jump to: Top of Page or HOME or Printer friendly page

Search W3Schools:

What Others Say About Us

Does the world know about us? Check out these places:

Dogpile Alta Vista MSN Google Excite Lycos Yahoo Ask Jeeves

We Help You For Free. You Can Help Us!

• Tell your newsgroup or mailing list
• Link to us from your pages
• Help us correct errors and broken links
• Help us with spelling and grammar
• Validate the XHTML code of this page

W3Schools is for training only. We do not warrant its correctness or its fitness for use. The risk of using it remains entirely with the user. While using this site, you agree to have read and accepted our terms of use and privacy policy.

Copyright 1999-2002 by Refsnes Data. All Rights Reserved

How we converted to XHTML