Creating Links in HTML

In HTML, links are created using the anchor element <a>. This is one of the most fundamental and widely-used features in web development, allowing users to navigate between webpages and access resources.

The Anchor Tag

An anchor tag is defined using the <a> element. It includes an href attribute which specifies the URL where the link should direct. The content between the opening <a> and closing </a> tags defines the clickable link text.

Code Example:

<a href="https://www.example.com">Visit Example.com</a>

In the code above, "https://www.example.com" is the URL you are linking to, and "Visit Example.com" is the clickable text displayed to the user.

Opening Links in a New Tab

To open a link in a new tab, you can add the target="_blank" attribute to the <a> element.

Code Example:

<a href="https://www.example.com" target="_blank">Visit Example.com (Opens in new tab)</a>

The target="_blank" attribute tells the browser to open the linked page in a new browser tab.

Relative and Absolute URLs

An absolute URL contains the full details needed to locate a resource, such as "https://www.example.com/page". On the other hand, a relative URL provides the location relative to the current page, like "/page".

Code Example:

// Absolute URL
<a href="https://www.example.com/page">Visit Page</a>

// Relative URL
<a href="/page">Visit Page</a>

Relative URLs are useful when linking to pages within the same website, as they are shorter and more portable if the site structure changes.