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As discussed earlier, Hyperlinks are those elements of HTML which makes it possible for us to navigate through different web pages or to different locations within a single web page. They are also used for adding e-mail support in the HTML document. In fact, hyperlinks act as the backbone of a website. As these links are used to fulfill different types of needs and demands, the way they are defined in the HTML document varies according to the circumstances. Every hyperlink needs an address to the location where the hyperlink is intended to redirect us. Technically speaking, each hyperlink needs a URL in order to point towards another location. External hyperlinks points towards a webpage of a different website on the same web server, whereas internal hyperlinks point towards a location on the same web page or to a different webpage of the same website. He structure can be more complex if a hyperlink is intended to point towards a web page of different website on the different web server. In each of the cases the way a URL is defined differs. It is very important to understand and learn the different ways to write the URLs because each type of URL changes the meaning of the hyperlink. The syntax of the URLs decided whether a hyperlink is internal, external or it is an e-mail link. Below are some examples of most common ways to write the URLs, each changing the intended meaning of the hyperlink.

1) <A NAME=”bottom”>Bottom</A>

<A HREF=”#bottom”>Go to bottom</A>

This is an internal hyperlink which is redirecting the user at the bottom of the same web page which he is currently viewing. To make this hyperlink an internal one, note the way the URL is written after the HREF attribute of anchor tag. There is no file name or path to a file name before the # sign. This makes the hyperlink an internal one.

2) <A HREF=”welcome.html#hi”>

This is an example of a hyperlink which redirects to a different document of the same folder. This means that both the linked documents are contained under the same parent folder.

3) <A HREF=”hello/welcome.html#hi”>

This is a hyperlink which points towards a different document residing in a different folder. But, in this case both the folders whose web documents are linked with each other are on the same web server.

4) <A HREF=”http://www.yahoo.com/good/hello/welcome.html#hi”>

The above example represents a hyperlink which is pointing towards a different web document which resides in a different folder on a different web server. This makes the hyperlink completely an external one.

5) <A HREF=”mailto://queries@content mantra.com”>

This type of URL consisting of ‘mailto:’ protocol indicated that the hyperlink is linked to a mail server.

So, the way URLs are used, changes the purpose and functioning of the hyperlinks. In fact, how much information you should include in the URL of a hyperlink depends upon where the hyperlink is redirecting the user i.e. where the linked resource is is located.

Hyperlinks play an important role in HTML. We always need to jump from one web page to another several times while surfing the internet. Hyperlinks make this task practically feasible. They redirect us to another location on World Wide Web once clicked. All the textual links on a web page which we click to go to another web page are hyperlinks. The most common attribute of hyperlinks is that when we roll over our mouse cursor on them, the cursor transforms into a hand with a pointing finger towards the hyperlink. Hyperlinks are also known as anchors. They mark textual data and images as a point which, when clicked, redirects to another web page, text or image. There are two types of hyperlinks in HTML:

1) External Hyperlinks
2) Internal Hyperlinks

External hyperlinks are those which points to another web page. On the other hand, internal hyperlinks are those which points to a different location on the same web page. Both the links are created by using <A> (anchor) tag. We can create the hyperlinks with the help of three attributes:

a) <A>, the anchor tag
b) HREF=””, which is used with the <A> tag
c) URL, which is used with HREF to tell the link where to redirect the user.

For example: to create an external hyperlink we can write the HTML code as:

<A HREF=”http://www.yahoo.com”>Go To Yahoo</A>

According to the above example, if you click on ‘Go To Yahoo’ text, you will be redirected to http://www.yahoo.com URL which is mentioned with HREF attribute.

Sometimes, we also need to jump to a specific location on the same web page instead of going to another web page. In these circumstances, internal hyperlinks are used. To create internal hyperlinks we have to decide the location and its name. Then, the name of that location will be used to jump to that location. When a particular location is identified, then to assign a name to it the ‘name’ attribute is used with the <A> tag. For example:

<A NAME=”bottom”>BOTTOM</A>

<A HREF=”#bottom”>go to the bottom </A>

In the above code, first of all we have assigned a name to the text BOTTOM as bottom with the help of NAME attribute. This text is written at the bottom of the web page. Then, in the next code we have specified that name after the HREF which will take us to the bottom of the page. One more thing which is to be noted here is that there is no filename before the # sign. This indicates that the link is pointing towards a location on the same web page.

Apart from external and internal hyperlinks, we can also insert e-mail links in the HTML documents. For this purpose, ‘mailto:’ protocol is used instead of http. For example:

<A HREF=”mailto://query@contentmantra.com”>Post your Queries</A>

According to the above example, if somebody clicks on the Post your Queries text, then the query will be submitted to query@contentmantra.com. For this purpose, after clicking on the link Microsoft outlook will get opened by default if it is installed on the system.