#summary The HTML <a> element represents a hyperlink or placeholder.
#labels about-html,is-html-element,from-w3c
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[EsAElement Español]

If the `<a>` element has an `href` attribute, then it represents a hyperlink. 

If the `<a>` element has a `name` attribute, it serves as an anchor, so that a hyperlink can lead to a specific place in a html page.

The `target` attribute specifies if the link will open in the same window, or a new one. If [FrameElement frames] are used, those can be the target too.

SVG also defines its own [SVGAElement <a> element] which has a similar purpose.

== Usage ==

{{{
<a href="/">home</a>
<a name="navbar"></a>
<a href="#navbar">navigation</a>
<a href="example.com" target="_blank">somewhere</a>
}}}

== Attributes ==

Common attributes:

  * [AHrefAttribute href]
  * [ANameAttribute name]
  * [ATargetAttribute target]

Other attributes:

  * [ACharsetAttribute charset]
  * [ACoordsAttribute coords]
  * [ADisabledAttribute disabled]
  * [AHrefLangAttribute hreflang]
  * [AMediaAttribute media]
  * [AMethodsAttribute methods]
  * [APingAttribute ping]
  * [ARelAttribute rel]
  * [ARevAttribute rev]
  * [AShapeAttribute shape]
  * [ASuppressAttribute suppress]
  * [ATypeAttribute type]
  * [AURNAttribute urn]

== Browser compatibility ==

[ArticleBrowserCompatibilityLegend Compatibility table legend]

|| *Test* || *IE8* || *IE7* || *IE6* || *FF3* || *FF2* || *Saf3* || *Op9* || *Chrome* ||
|| [http://doctype.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/tests/html/elements/a-element-appears-in-dom-test.html appears in DOM] || Y || Y || Y || Y || Y || Y || Y || Y ||
|| [http://doctype.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/tests/html/elements/a-element-applies-style-test.html applies style] || Y || N || N || Y || Y || N || Y || Y ||

== Further reading ==

  * [http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/#the-a The <a> element in HTML 5]
  * [http://www.w3.org/TR/html401/struct/links.html#h-12.2 The <a> element in HTML 4]
  * [http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms535173.aspx The <a> element on MSDN]
  * [http://www.blooberry.com/indexdot/html/tagpages/a/a-hyperlink.htm History of the <a> element on blooberry.com]
  * [http://reference.sitepoint.com/html/a The <a> element on the SitePoint HTML Reference]