What is a Hyperlink?

A commonly asked question is, “What is a hyperlink?”

A hyperlink, also called a hypertext link, is an image or a line of text on a web page or in the content of a document that opens another web page or moves to another section of a screen or document.

Hyperlinks make it real easy to move from one website to another url and they are commonly designed as elements of html pages that provide information or data which prompts the user to visit another online resource.

Hyperlinks can be used for external linking (linking to other urls) or for linking within the main website. For instance, if the content at the top of a web page references a list, a table or a message further down on the page, or even on another page in the site, you may include a hyperlink in your code. When browsers click on the hyperlink, it will to take them to the part of the web page or document defined in the hyperlink.

It is rather easy to create a hyperlink. In most applications you simply highlight the text or graphic that you want to link, right click the mouse and choose “hyperlink”. A window will open that has a place at the top for you to input any text you want displayed. At the bottom of the window you input the address for the hyperlink, generally the url that you want the hyperlink to open.

When setting up a hyperlink on a website, if you want the main page to stay open in the browser, you can select an option for the hyperlink to open in a new window which will keep the current window open so the user can easily return to the main webpage.

// posted by BasicMichelle on 9/16/2005 08:14:00 AM / Permanent Link