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Making Links
In HTML, a link is referred to as an "anchor." The tag for an anchor is <A>. Like other tags, you begin a link with an <A> and end it with an </A>. The text that you want to make a link goes between these two tags.
Like an image tag, an anchor tag will not function without attributes. The most frequently used attributes for the anchor tag are:
| Attribute |
Definition and Values |
| HREF |
Specifies the document that is opened when the link is activated. HREF can specify a link to a document, a named location within a document, a file, an email address, an FTP site, a telnet site. In short, an HREF can specify anything that can be viewed or started from a browser. |
| TITLE |
In newer browsers, this information is displayed when the cursor is placed over the link. |
| TARGET |
Specifies the frame or window in which the link is opened. TARGET is an important attribute in framed sites, which are discussed in the coding primer, Using Frames. A target can have any name -- Biff or Bob will each do, as will Socrates and Linda. Four names are reserved for specific functions:
- _blank Opens the link in a new, unnamed browser window.
- _self Opens the link in the current window. This is the default for all untargeted links.
- _top Opens the link in the current window, whether or not the document containing the link is in a frame.
- _parent Opens the link in the "parent" frame.
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| NAME |
Specifies a named location within a document. |
Note: Additional attributes include ACCESSKEY, CHARSET, TYPE, and TABINDEX. You can learn more about these and other attributes on a site that discusses HTML tags in more detail, such as the HTML Compendium at http://www.htmlcompendium.org, or in a book such as Jennifer Niederst's HTML Pocket Reference, published by O'Reilly (info on the Web at http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/htmlpr/).
Creating Links to Other Documents
Creating Links to Non-Web Pages and Objects
Email Addresses: |
<A HREF="mailto:Mike.Palmquist@ColoState.edu" Title="Send Mike an Email Message">Mike.Palmquist@ColoState.edu</A>. |
| This link uses the mailto: prefix to specify an email address: Mike.Palmquist@ColoState.edu. |
Linking to FTP, Telnet, Newsgroup, and Gopher Sites: |
<A HREF="ftp://ftp.ipswitch.com" Title="Visit the Ipswitch FTP Site">Visit Ipswitch's FTP Site</A>. |
| This link uses the ftp: prefix to specify an FTP (file transfer protocol) site. Other prefixes include telnet:, news:, and gopher:.
Visit Ipswitch's FTP Site. |
Linking to Files |
<A HREF="image_demo.cpt" Title="Download this Corel PhotoPaint File">image.cpt</A>. |
| This link will allow you to download a file that can't be viewed in a Web browser: image_demo.cpt. |
Creating and Linking to Named Anchors
<A NAME="attributes"></A>. |
| This anchor specifies a location in the file you are currently reading. It is not visible in the document. |
<A HREF="#attributes" Title="Return to the Attributes List">Attributes List</A>. |
| To link to a named anchor in the current document, use a pound sign ( # ) before the name of the link: Attributes List. |
If you were linking to this named anchor from another document, you could use this code: <A HREF="primer_links.cfm#attributes" Title="View the Attributes List in the Links Primer">Attributes List</A>. |
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| Coding Primer: To learn how to code links in framed Web sites, view the coding primer, Using Frames. |
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