Latest web development tutorials

HTML <a> tag

Examples

Link to this tutorial:

<A href = "http://www.w3big.com"> visit this tutorial! </ a>

try it"
(For more examples, see the bottom of the page)

Browser Support

Internet ExplorerFirefoxOperaGoogle ChromeSafari

All major browsers support <a> label.


Tag definitions and instructions

<a> tag defines a hyperlink from one page to link to another page.

The most important element is the href attribute <a> attribute that specifies the link target.

In all browsers, the default link looks like this:

  • Not visited link is underlined and blue
  • Has been visited link is underlined and purple
  • Active link is underlined and red

Tips and Notes

Tip: If you do not use the href attribute, you can not use hreflang, media, rel, target and type properties.

Tip: normally displayed in the current browser window linked pages, unless the provisions of the other target.

Tip: Use CSS to change the style of the link.


Differences between HTML 4.01 and HTML5

In HTML 4.01, <a> tag can be both a hyperlink, it can be anchored. In HTML5, <a> label is a hyperlink, but if there is no href attribute, it is just a placeholder for a hyperlink.

HTML5 has some new attributes, while no longer supports some HTML 4.01 attributes.


Attributes

New: HTML5 new property.

属性 描述
charset char_encoding HTML5 不支持。规定目标 URL 的字符编码。
coords coordinates HTML5 不支持。规定链接的坐标。
download New filename 指定下载链接
href URL 规定链接的目标 URL。
hreflang language_code 规定目标 URL 的基准语言。仅在 href 属性存在时使用。
media New media_query 规定目标 URL 的媒介类型。默认值:all。仅在 href 属性存在时使用。
name section_name HTML5 不支持。规定锚的名称。
rel alternate
author
bookmark
help
license
next
nofollow
noreferrer
prefetch
prev
search
tag
规定当前文档与目标 URL 之间的关系。仅在 href 属性存在时使用。
rev text HTML5 不支持。规定目标 URL 与当前文档之间的关系。
shape default
rect
circle
poly
HTML5 不支持。规定链接的形状。
target _blank
_parent
_self
_top
framename
规定在何处打开目标 URL。仅在 href 属性存在时使用。
type New MIME_type 规定目标 URL 的 MIME 类型。仅在 href 属性存在时使用。
注:MIME = Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions。

Global Properties

<a> tag supports HTML global properties .


Event Properties

<a> tag supports HTML event properties .


Examples

Try - Example

Creating hyperlinks
This example demonstrates how to create a link in an HTML document.

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

Open link in a new browser window
This example demonstrates how to open a page in a new window, so visitors do not need to leave your site up.

Create e-mail link
This example demonstrates how to link a message. (In this case to work after you install the mail client.)

Create e-mail link 2
This example demonstrates a more complex e-mail link.

Use anchors to jump to a different location on the same page
This example demonstrates how to use the id attribute anchor jump to a different position on the page (HTML5 does not support name attribute).


related articles

HTML Tutorial: HTML link

HTML DOM Reference: Anchor objects