HTML Tag Reference - HTML tag <a>
This element defines a hyperlink, the named target destination for a hyperlink, or both.
href attribute has the URL linking to
other web page or resource. label is used
to display information for web page visitors.
<a href="http://www.example.com">label</a>
Anchor name starts with #. It marks a linkable area inside a page. We can use
anchor link to hyperlink to a specific part in a web page.
<a href="#anchorName">label</a>
Standard Syntax
<a
accesskey="key"
charset="character code for language of linked resource"
class="class name(s)"
coords="comma-separated list of numbers"
dir="ltr | rtl"
href="URL" hreflang="language code"
id="unique alphanumeric identifier"
lang="language code"
name="name of target location"
rel="comma-separated list of relationship values"
rev="comma-separated list of relationship values"
shape="default | circle | poly | rect"
style="style information"
tabindex="number"
target="frame or window name | _blank | _parent | _self | _top"
title="advisory text"
type="content type of linked data"
>
</a>
Browser compatibility
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
<a> |
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
What's new in HTML5
HTML5 has some new attributes, and some HTML 4.01 attributes are deprecated.
Attribute
- charset
- char encoding of a linked document. Not supported in HTML5.
- coords
- the coordinates of a link. Not supported in HTML5.
- download
- the target will be downloaded when clicking the hyperlink. New in HTML5
- href
- the URL of the link
- hreflang
- the language code of the linked document
- media
- media/device the linked document is optimized for. New in HTML5.
- name
- Specifies the name of an anchor. Not supported in HTML5. Use the global id attribute instead.
- rel
- Possible values:alternate|author|bookmark|help|license|next|nofollow|noreferrer| prefetch|prev|search|tag. Relationship between the current document and the linked document
- rev
- Not supported in HTML5.
- shape
- Possible values:default|rect|circle|poly. Not supported in HTML5. The shape of a link
- target
- Possible values:_blank|_parent|_self|_top|framename. Where to open the linked document.
- type
- New in HTML5. Media type of the linked document.
Global Attributes
The <a> tag supports the Global Attributes in HTML.
Event Attributes
The <a> tag supports the Event Attributes in HTML.
Default CSS Settings
a:link, a:visited {
color: (internal value);
text-decoration: underline;
cursor: auto;
}
a:link:active, a:visited:active {
color: (internal value);
}
Example
A demo showing how to use anchor tag to create hyperlink and anchor.
<html>
<body>
<a name="top"></a>
<a href="http://www.java2s.com">java2s.com</a>
<a href="#par3">Go to paragraph #3 in this page</a>
<p><a href="yourdocument.html#sty">
Go to the yourdocument.htm page,sty location</a></p>
<p><a name="par3">Paragraph #3</a></p>
<p><a href="#top">Top</a></p>
</body><!-- w w w . j ava 2s. c o m-->
</html>