LINKS 

CONCEPT

There are a variety of hypertext links that are supported in HTML. The most obvious link is to another HTML document. Take some time to explore the examples below. Read chapters 7 and 12 in the Castro text book. Links are the heart of HTML.

LINK TYPES

Absolute

<a href="http://www.xyz.com/here.htm">click here</a>

Relative

A relative link is used to locate resources within the same directory.

<a href="here.htm">click here</a>

Or link to another page on the same server

<a href="../newsite/here.htm">click here</a>

Target

Link to an area on the same page

<a name="anchorname">

<a href="#anchorname">go to here</a>

Links to non-HTML resources

e-mail link

<a href="mailto:me@here.com">email me!</a>

NOTE: Your browser is trained to launch files of different file types. Examples are listed below.

sound

<a href="hello.wav">hello!</a>

Linked example:  Quack!

Now here's an example of an "embedded" sound file: Quacking Page!

Reference: Castro, Chapter 12 - Multimedia

video / media

<a href="trip.mpg">watch video</a>

Linked example:
Countdown!

Now here's the same video "embedded".
Countdown Page!

Reference: Castro, Chapter 12 - Multimedia

streaming media

Streaming media allows playing of an audio or video file while it continues to download. This technology solves the download lag time but requires a "stream" server and plenty of bandwidth.

View the source of the Black Lagoon page to get some idea of the services at work.

text and other files

<a href="exam.doc">Exam</a>

<a href="ftp://ftp.microsoft.com">MS FTP</a>

EXERCISE : Anchors and Targets

Copy the text file how_to_get_hits.txt from the web_des_clips folder on Pitman 3 to you Web Design folder.

Convert this document to a simple HTML document and save it as anchors.htm

Add anchor and target tags so that users may visit each of the five steps by clicking on the top numbers and return to the top by clicking on [TOP]

Add a link that will launch the original text file in your browser.

RESOURCES

Castro Chapter 7