Introduction to HTML Links

Tutorial 2 of 5

Introduction

The goal of this tutorial is to equip you with the knowledge and skills needed to create links in HTML. Links are a fundamental aspect of the web, allowing users to navigate between pages and sites. By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:

  • Understand the <a> tag and its attributes.
  • Create clickable links that lead to different webpages.
  • Create links that open in a new browser tab or window.

Prerequisites: This is a beginner-friendly tutorial. However, basic knowledge of HTML and how to edit HTML files will be beneficial.

Step-by-Step Guide

In HTML, links are created using the <a> tag. The <a> tag stands for 'anchor'. The destination of the link is specified in the href (Hypertext REFerence) attribute.

Here's a basic example:

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

In this example, "Visit Example.com" is the link text, and "https://www.example.com" is the destination URL. When a user clicks on the link text, they will be directed to the specified URL.

To open a link in a new browser tab, you can use the target attribute with _blank as its value.

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

Code Examples

Example 1: Basic Link

<!-- This is a basic link to Google's homepage -->
<a href="https://www.google.com">Go to Google</a>

When you click on "Go to Google", you will be directed to "https://www.google.com".

Example 2: Link Opening in a New Tab

<!-- This link also leads to Google's homepage but will open in a new browser tab -->
<a href="https://www.google.com" target="_blank">Open Google in a new tab</a>

When you click on "Open Google in a new tab", a new browser tab will open, and you will be directed to "https://www.google.com".

Summary

In this tutorial, we've learned:

  • The <a> tag is used to create links in HTML.
  • The href attribute specifies the destination URL.
  • The target attribute with the _blank value opens the link in a new browser tab.

Next steps: Explore more about other HTML tags and attributes. You can also learn about relative and absolute URLs, and how to create links to specific parts of a webpage.

Additional resources:

Practice Exercises

  1. Create a link to your favorite website.
  2. Create a link that opens your favorite website in a new browser tab.
  3. Create a link to a specific part of a webpage (Hint: you'll need to use the id attribute in addition to the <a> tag).

Solutions:

  1. <a href="https://www.yourfavoritewebsite.com">Visit my favorite website</a>
  2. <a href="https://www.yourfavoritewebsite.com" target="_blank">Visit my favorite website (in a new tab)</a>
  3. <a href="#specificPart">Go to a specific part</a> - You need to have an element with the id "specificPart" on your webpage.

Remember, the best way to learn is by doing. So, try these exercises and keep on practicing!