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This section discusses the creation of Hyperlinks, which provide pathways to other pages and sites. Quick Links:
Working with HyperlinksA hyperlink is an active part of a document. When you click a hyperlink, you can link to
Hypertext and hyperlink documents are commonplace in computing now. Consider the MS Windows, Macintosh, and OS/2 Help systems, for example. Help typically displays highlighted areas that you can click to access additional information. This other information might be contained elsewhere in the same file or in another help file on your computer. On the Web, hyperlinks access information on your own computer, and potentially on any accessible computer on the Internet. The information you access, stored in computer files, can produce words, sounds, pictures, or even action video on your own computer. About URLsUniform Resource Locators or URLs are street addresses for bits of information on the Internet. Most of the time, you can avoid trying to figure out your own URLs by simply navigating to the information you want to point to with your browser, and then copying and pasting the long string of "stuff" into your link. But it's often useful to understand what a URL is all about, and why it has to be so long and complex. Also, when you begin publishing your own information on the Web, you'll want to know something about URLs so that you can tell people how to find your Web page. Most URLs have four parts: the protocol, the host name, the directory, and the file name; for example:
Creating LinksTo create links in your page to other documents. Summary
Tip: To create a link to a page displayed in the browser, drag the link icon from the browse window (left of the location box) to an edit window. When you link to a local document, you're linking to a document on your computer; documents you reference don't have to be in the same directory (it's a good idea though). Linking to a remote document means you're linking to somewhere on the Internet rather than on your local disk. Details You can create links in your documents by dragging them from other windows and then dropping them into the edit window. For example, you can drag a link from a browse, bookmark, mail, or news window and drop it on a document in the Composer window. You can also create links using the Link Properties dialog.
Link Properties dialogAbout the Link Properties dialog Lets you insert a new link or modify an existing link's properties. Click OK to make the specified changes and close the dialog box. Click Apply to preview the changes you've specified and then click Close to accept the changes and exit the dialog box.
Link source - Displays the selected text or image you want to use to create a link. To change linked text, select the text in your document and retype it. To see the change reflected in the dialog, select the text before opening the dialog. Note: If you don't have any text selected when inserting a new link, the title of the document to which you're linking appears in your document as the link text. Link to page or file - The local file name or remote URL to which you want the selected text to link. Type a URL or click Browse File to select a file. Choose File - Lets you select an HTML file to link to Remove Link - Unlinks the selected linked text. The Link to page or file box is cleared. If the current selection contains more than one link, an alert box appears asking you if you want to remove all links. Select a named target - The named targets present in the current document or selected file (depending on how you've set the "Show targets in" option). Select a target to which you want to link the selected text. Targets are also known as "anchors" or "bookmarks". Show targets in - Lets you specify to display either the named targets in the current local document or those in the local file specified in the Link to page or file box. Linking ImagesSummary
Details Just as with text, you can configure images to behave as links in your documents. When you click a linked image, the browse window displays the page that the image is linked to.
Linking to TargetsIf you want to link to a specific place within a document rather than just linking to the document itself, you create a target (also called anchor or bookmark in HTML). You can do this by inserting a target in one document, and then creating a link in the same document, or another document that points to that target. When you click on the link in the browser, the browser opens the document containing the target and scrolls to the target location. For example, the seven links at the top of this page link to the orange topic headings throughout the page. These headings have been defined as targets. This makes it easier for you to jump to a specific location on the page.
Relative and Absolute LinksWhen you specify the path name of a file to be linked to as a single file name, Navigator looks for the listed file in the current directory (same directory as the current file), even if it is looking at that file over a network. This is a relative path name. Relative path names point to the document you want to link to by describing its relation to the current document. Relative path names
Absolute path names point to the document by starting at the top level of your directory hierarchy and working down through all the subdirectories to reach the file. You should use absolute path names when linking to a page from another Web site, such as the Netscape site. Note: Check both publish options in the Composer Preferences dialog to take care of this automatically. Generally, when linking together your own documents, you'll want to use relative path names. If you specify your links as absolute path names and then move your files elsewhere on the disk, rename a directory or a disk listed in that absolute path, or publish your pages to a server, then your links to these files might not work. Absolute path names or URLs
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