- HTML Tag
- Browser Support
- Attributes
- Global Attributes
- Event Attributes
- Related Pages
- Default CSS Settings
- COLOR PICKER
- Report Error
- Thank You For Helping Us!
- HTML Links
- HTML Links — Hyperlinks
- HTML Links — Syntax
- Example
- HTML Links — The target Attribute
- Example
- Absolute URLs vs. Relative URLs
- Example
- Absolute URLs
- Relative URLs
- HTML Links — Use an Image as a Link
- Example
- Link to an Email Address
- Example
- Button as a Link
- Example
- Link Titles
HTML Tag
The tag defines the relationship between the current document and an external resource.
The tag is most often used to link to external style sheets or to add a favicon to your website.
The element is an empty element, it contains attributes only.
Browser Support
Attributes
Attribute | Value | Description |
---|---|---|
crossorigin | anonymous use-credentials | Specifies how the element handles cross-origin requests |
href | URL | Specifies the location of the linked document |
hreflang | language_code | Specifies the language of the text in the linked document |
media | media_query | Specifies on what device the linked document will be displayed |
referrerpolicy | no-referrer no-referrer-when-downgrade origin origin-when-cross-origin unsafe-url | Specifies which referrer to use when fetching the resource |
rel | alternate author dns-prefetch help icon license next pingback preconnect prefetch preload prerender prev search stylesheet | Required. Specifies the relationship between the current document and the linked document |
sizes | HeightxWidth any | Specifies the size of the linked resource. Only for rel=»icon» |
title | Defines a preferred or an alternate stylesheet | |
type | media_type | Specifies the media type of the linked document |
Global Attributes
Event Attributes
Related Pages
Default CSS Settings
Most browsers will display the element with the following default values:
COLOR PICKER
Report Error
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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. A link can be an image or any other HTML element!
HTML Links — Syntax
The link text is the part that will be visible to the reader.
Clicking on the link text, will send the reader to the specified URL address.
Example
This example shows how to create a link to W3Schools.com:
By default, links will appear as follows in all browsers:
- An unvisited link is underlined and blue
- A visited link is underlined and purple
- An active link is underlined and red
Tip: Links can of course be styled with CSS, to get another look!
HTML Links — The target Attribute
By default, the linked page will be displayed in the current browser window. To change this, you must specify another target for the link.
The target attribute specifies where to open the linked document.
The target attribute can have one of the following values:
- _self — Default. Opens the document in the same window/tab as it was clicked
- _blank — Opens the document in a new window or tab
- _parent — Opens the document in the parent frame
- _top — Opens the document in the full body of the window
Example
Use target=»_blank» to open the linked document in a new browser window or tab:
Absolute URLs vs. Relative URLs
Both examples above are using an absolute URL (a full web address) in the href attribute.
A local link (a link to a page within the same website) is specified with a relative URL (without the «https://www» part):
Example
Absolute URLs
W3C
Relative URLs
HTML Images
CSS Tutorial
HTML Links — Use an Image as a Link
To use an image as a link, just put the tag inside the tag:
Example
Link to an Email Address
Use mailto: inside the href attribute to create a link that opens the user’s email program (to let them send a new email):
Example
Button as a Link
To use an HTML button as a link, you have to add some JavaScript code.
JavaScript allows you to specify what happens at certain events, such as a click of a button:
Example
Tip: Learn more about JavaScript in our JavaScript Tutorial.
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.