HELP - Lesson 6 Page 2

Hyperlinks with Enhanced HTML

EHTML has several tools to help build hyperlinks.

Firstly the autotype - just type < a then press the tab key and it will enter the start of the href=" attribute.

The Link Builder

This tool allows you to provide details or select from a list, then transfer the results straight into your document.

To start the list builder place the cursor where you want to insert the link and press Ctrl+F3 together or choose Builders | Link builder from the menu.

The URL Builder

Allows you to construct a url and store it for use later, or add it to the active document. To access this place the cursor where you want to insert the url and press Ctrl+U together or choose Builders | URL Builder from the toolbar.

Target attribute

The A tag has a particularly important attribute called target which you may have encountered in the Link Builder above.

The target specifies whether to open the linked url in the current window, replacing the current page, or whether to open it in a new window. Each browser window can be given a name, so if you have named a window, then setting the target="windowname" will open the linked url in that window instead of the current one. There are some special names too:

  • target="_top" - to ensure that the page opens in the full screen when used with a frameset, instead of opening up in one of the named windows. External links from within framesets must include this attribute or you will end up with web sites inside parts of your frames. Most people have seen this happen while browsing the web at some time or other, and it is down to bad html coding.
  • target="_blank" - a special name which forces the linked url to open in a new window every time. Very useful indeed. Make a link pop up in a new window with this - although you cant control the size or postion of that window - it will appear in the user's default browser style.
  • target="_self" - guarantees to open the new page in the current window, and especially important if working in framesets.
  • target="_parent" - a special reference to the frame which holds the active web frame. Similar to _top but allows more specific control.

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