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 HTML <a> tag defines a hyperlink. It has the following syntax:

<a href="url">link text</a>
<a href="https://www.google.com/">Visit Google.com!</a>

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

<a href="https://www.google.com/" target="_self">Visit google!</a>
<a href="https://www.google.com/" target="_blank">Visit google!</a>
<a href="https://www.google.com/" target="_parent">Visit google!</a>
<a href="https://www.google.com/" target="_top">Visit google!</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

You can change the link state colors, by using CSS:

<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>

Link Buttons

A link can also be styled as a button, by using CSS:

<style>
a:link, a:visited {
  background-color: #f44336;
  color: white;
  padding: 15px 25px;
  text-align: center;
  text-decoration: none;
  display: inline-block;
}

a:hover, a:active {
  background-color: red;
}
</style>

Create a Bookmark in HTML

Bookmarks can be useful if a web page is very long.

To create a bookmark - first create the bookmark, then add a link to it.

When the link is clicked, the page will scroll down or up to the location with the bookmark.

Example

First, use the id attribute to create a bookmark:

<h2 id="C4">Chapter 4</h2>
<a href="#C4">Jump to Chapter 4</a>
<a href="html_demo.html#C4">Jump to Chapter 4</a>