HTML5 anchor Tag

Introduction

The <a> tag defines an anchor. The HTML <a> tag is used for creating a hyperlink to another web page. The <a> tag is supported in all major browsers. All HTML links are created with the <a> tag. You can also use JavaScript to create links, but you'd only do this if you're trying to do something more complicated than HTML can handle.

An anchor can be used in two ways:

1. To create a link to another document, by using the href attribute.
2. To create a bookmark inside a document, by using the name attribute.

Attributes

HTML tags can contain one or more attributes. Attributes are added to a tag to provide the browser with more information about how the tag should appear or behave. Attributes consist of a name and a value separated by an equals (=) sign, with the value surrounded by double-quotes.

There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes. The attributes that you can add to this tag are listed below.

Element-Specific Attributes

The following table shows the attributes that are specific to this tag/element.

Attributes Introduced by HTML5

Attributes	Description
href	Specifies the destination of the target URL.
target	Specifies where to open the target URL. Possible values: * _blank * _self * _top * _parent
rel	Specifies the relationship between the current document and the target URL.
media	Specifies what media/device the target URL is optimized for. Default value: all
hreflang	Specifies the language of the target URL.
type (New)	Specifies the MIME type of the linked resource. Only to be used when the href attribute is present.

Attributes not Introduced by HTML5

Attributes	Description
rev	Not supported in HTML5.
shape	Not supported in HTML5.
name	Not supported in HTML5.
charset	Not supported in HTML5.
coords	Not supported in HTML5.

Global Attributes

The following attributes are standard across all HTML 5 tags.

HTML5 Global Attributes
accesskey	draggable	style
class	hidden	tabindex
dir	spellcheck
contenteditable	id	title
contextmenu	lang

Event Handler Content Attributes

Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.

Here are the standard HTML 5 event handler content attributes.

onabort	onerror*	onmousewheel
onblur*	onfocus*	onpause
oncanplay	onformchange	onplay
oncanplaythrough	onforminput	onplaying
onchange	oninput	onprogress
onclick	oninvalid	onratechange
oncontextmenu	onkeydown	onreadystatechange
ondblclick	onkeypress	onscroll
ondrag	onkeyup	onseeked
ondragend	onload*	onseeking
ondragenter	onloadeddata	onselect
ondragleave	onloadedmetadata	onshow
ondragover	onloadstart	onstalled
ondragstart	onmousedown	onsubmit
ondrop	onmousemove	onsuspend
ondurationchange	onmouseout	ontimeupdate
onemptied	onmouseover	onvolumechange
onended	onmouseup	onwaiting

Creating a Basic HTML Link

Href- Specifies the destination of the target URL.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<body>
<a href="http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/">Visit c-sharpcorner.com!</a>
</body>
</html>

Internet Explorer

FireFox

Open link in new window

target - Specifies where to open the target URL.

Possible values:

_blank- _blank opens the URL in a new browser window

_self- _selfLoads the URL in the current browser window.

_top- _top loads the URL into the parent frame (still within the current browser window). This is only applicable when using frames.

_parent- _parent loads the URL in the current browser window, but canceling out any frames. Therefore, if frames were being used, they aren't any longer.

_blank- If you set the target attribute to "_blank", the link will open in a new browser window or a new tab.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<body>
<a href="http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/" target ="_blank">Visit c-sharpcorner.com!</a>
<p>If you set the target attribute to "_blank", the link will open in a new browser window or a new tab.</p>
</body>
</html>

Internet Explorer

Creating image link

The below html code defines how to create a image link.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<body>
<a href="http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/" target ="_blank">
<img src="Water%20lilies.jpg" width="368" height="247" border="2"
style="border:2px solid black;" alt="Photo of Milford Sound in New Zealand!" />
</a>
</a>
<p>If you set the target attribute to "_blank", the link will open in a new browser window or a new tab.</p>
</body>undefined</html>

Now click on the image.

Internet Explorer

Creating Email Link

The following code creates an email link - when your users click on the link, the browser should open the default email client with the "to" and "subject" fields already populated.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<body>
<a href="mailto:[email protected]?subject=mail!">Email Link</a>
</body>
</html>

Now click on the link.

Internet Explorer

Creating CSS Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks with no underline

a:link { text-decoration: none }

It can confuse your users if your hyperlinks aren't underlined. A more usable solution would be only to apply this behavior to hyperlinks only when users hover over them.

Text rollovers

a:hover { text-decoration: none }

Use the a:hover selector

Cursor effects
a:hover { cursor:help }

For example

In this example we will see that hyperlink will be display green when we move mouse over link color will be orange and we click on the hyperlink color will be red.

<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
a {font-family:Verdana, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;font-size:large;cursor: auto}
a:link {color:Green;}
a:visited {color:Orange;}
a:hover {text-decoration: none; color: #ff9900; font-weight:bold;}
a:active {color: #ff0000;text-decoration: none}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<p>
<a href="http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/" target="_blank">CSS Hyperlinks</a>
</p>
</body>
</html>

Internet Explorer

HTML5 anchor Tag

Reactions

Introduction

Attributes

Element-Specific Attributes

Global Attributes

Event Handler Content Attributes

2 Comments

Creating a Basic HTML Link

Open link in new window

Creating image link

Creating Email Link

Creating CSS Hyperlinks