a – hyperlink (CHANGED)

Permitted contents #

transparent (either phrasing content or flow content)

Permitted attributes #

global attributes & name & href & target & rel & hreflang & media & type

global attributes

Any attributes permitted globally.

name = ID OBSOLETE #

Specifies that its a element is a named hyperlink, with the name given by the value of this attribute.

The name attribute on the a element is obsolete. Consider putting an id attribute on the nearest container instead.

Any string, with the following restrictions:

must be at least one character long
must not contain any space characters

Previous versions of HTML placed greater restrictions on the content of ID values (for example, they did not permit ID values to begin with a number).

href = URL potentially surrounded by spaces #

A URL that provides the destination of the hyperlink. If the href attribute is not specified, the element represents a placeholder hyperlink.

target = browsing-context name or keyword CHANGED #

A name or keyword giving a browsing context for UAs to use when following the hyperlink.

The target attribute on the a element was deprecated in a previous version of HTML, but is no longer deprecated, as it useful in Web applications, particularly in combination with the iframe element.

Any string that is either of the following:

a browsing-context name
any case-insensitive match for one of the following literal strings: "_blank", "_self", "_parent", or "_top".

rel = set of space-separated tokens #

A list of tokens that specify the relationship between the document containing the hyperlink and the destination indicated by the hyperlink.

hreflang = language tag #

The language of the destination of the hyperlink.

A valid language tag as defined in [BCP 47].

media = media-query list NEW #

The media for which the destination of the hyperlink was designed.

A valid media query list as defined in [Media Queries].

type = MIME type #

The MIME type of the destination of the hyperlink.

A string that identifies a valid MIME media type as defined in [RFC 2046].

Additional constraints and admonitions #

The interactive element a must not appear as a descendant of the a element.
The interactive element a must not appear as a descendant of the button element.
The coords attribute on the a element is obsolete. For image maps, use the area element instead of the a element.
The shape attribute on the a element is obsolete. For image maps, use the area element instead of the a element.
The urn attribute on the a element is obsolete. Specify the preferred persistent identifier using the href attribute instead.
The charset attribute on the a element is obsolete. Use an HTTP Content-Type header on the linked resource instead.
The methods attribute on the a element is obsolete. Use the HTTP OPTIONS feature instead.
The rev attribute on the a element is obsolete. Use the rel attribute instead, with a term having the opposite meaning.

Tag omission #

An a element must have both a start tag and an end tag.

Permitted parent elements #

any element that can contain phrasing elements, any element that can contain flow elements

Changes in HTML5 #

Although previous versions of HTML restricted the a element to only containing phrasing content (essentially, what was in previous versions referred to as “inline” content), the a element is now transparent; that is, an instance of the a element is now allowed to also contain flow content (essentially, what was in previous versions referred to as “block” content)—if the parent element of that instance of the a element is an element that is allowed to contain flow content.

Details #

If the contents of an a element are empty, the element represents an empty hyperlink.

DOM interface #

interface HTMLAnchorElement : HTMLElement {
  stringifier attribute DOMString href;
           attribute DOMString target;
           attribute DOMString rel;
  readonly attribute DOMTokenList relList;
           attribute DOMString media;
           attribute DOMString hreflang;
           attribute DOMString type;

           attribute DOMString text;

  // URL decomposition IDL attributes
           attribute DOMString protocol;
           attribute DOMString host;
           attribute DOMString hostname;
           attribute DOMString port;
           attribute DOMString pathname;
           attribute DOMString search;
           attribute DOMString hash;
};

Typical default display properties #

a:link, a:visited {

color: (internal value);

text-decoration: underline;

cursor: auto; }

a:link:active, a:visited:active {

color: (internal value); }

Examples #

A hyperlink intended to be useful in output for all media types except the print media type.

<a href="./page2.html" rel=next media="not print">next</a>

The name attribute is obsolete.

<a name="section5"/>

A placeholder hyperlink.

<a>prev</a>

A hyperlink that will cause its target to be opened in a new browsing context.

<a href="http://help.example.com" target="_blank">Help</a>

The value of the href attribute contains a space character.

some <a href="http://example.com/Archive/Public Data/">public</a> data is also available

A hyperlink that represents multiple link types.

<a href="../toc.html" rel="index up">up</a>

A hyperlink that contains a paragraph.

<a href="javascript:void(0);"
  onmouseover="return anno('Note: This paragraph is informative only.')
  onmouseout="return anno_bye();">
<p>The following is introductory information…</p>
</a>

HTML: The Markup Language Reference