Bookmark (Anchor) Linking Tip
Linking to a specific point on an HTML page is normally done using anchors,
or bookmarks. Typically, these work by adding an anchor (or bookmark) to a Web
page using a tag such as:
<a name="important_part">
A link to a bookmark is made using syntax like:
<a href="#important_part">
or, if the anchor is not on the current page:
<a name="bookmarklinking.htm#important_part">
You can see this working by trying it out now.
There is another method, however, which isn't as well known. You can link to
any tag within the page by quoting its ID. For example, if you have a paragraph
with an ID of "intro", then you can link directly to that point without having
to insert a bookmark. The link tag syntax is exactly the same as it would be for
a standard bookmark:
<a href="#intro">
You can see this working by trying out this link.
Apart from simpler coding, there is a bonus with this method (although the
bonus only applies to Internet Explorer). If you link to a form field, IE will
set the focus to that field. This can be especially useful if you are providing
Help for a Web-based form, and want to redirect the user to a particular field.
You can try this out (if you are using IE) on a sample
form. With other browsers, the link will still work, but the form field
won't get the focus.
With a bit of ingenuity, you will be able to exploit this technique to make
your content more effective.
Test Area
This area
of the Bookmark Linking Tip is simply provided to test the various linking
effects within this page.
Important Part - This paragraph has an anchor
tag with a name of "important_part".
Return
Paragraph with an ID of "intro" - This paragraph has a
simple ID attribute. It wouldn't have to be a paragraph. It can be a heading, or
even a form field.
Return