Link text

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As a link text , reference text or anchor text refers to text , in a hypertext as -Dokument hyperlink functions. The text is linked to a reference to a target address (link). The link text and target address are specified separately in a hyperlink.

The link text is usually displayed in color and / or underlined, preferably in such a way that it clearly stands out from the normal text image. Links that have already been visited are sometimes displayed in a different color.

example

An example of the relationship between target address and link text in HTML - as source text is: 

<a href="http://example.com">Linktext</a>

Only the descriptive link text is then displayed in the document, the target address remains hidden in the text flow: 

Linktext

In most web browsers , it is displayed in the status bar or as a tooltip when you hover over it with the mouse pointer . The symbol behind the link in this example is not a standard. It is automatically inserted by the Wikipedia software using cascading style sheets to mark links that lead to websites outside of Wikipedia .

Meaningfulness and accessibility

Link texts are of particular importance for the information architecture of websites. They provide a context that determines the reader's expectation of what a hyperlink points to. Therefore, a meaningful text should be used for the link text. Links that are labeled with “click me” or “here” do not give the user any information about which page was linked. Search engines attach great importance to the information contained in the link text in their search engine ranking.

In addition, playing a meaningful link text for one of blind people usable Accessible Internet a role. If links are scrolled with the tab key and read out by the screen reader , the visitor cannot see where the link leads. In addition, all links with the same anchor text should lead to the same page.

In the case of a Google bomb , the link text is used manipulatively to link a certain website to be found with defamatory keywords.

Appearance

Depending supported by the default setting of web browser or program that hyperlink, the link text is colored differently, sometimes underlined or otherwise awarded ( in capital letters , bold , italic , painted , etc.). The user can usually change the setting according to his own ideas.

Many web browsers can also be set in such a way that the labeling information of the pages to be displayed is ignored in any case. This can be useful if the visitor prefers the preferences chosen by himself to the web designer's specifications, which may be difficult to read .

programming

HTML

In addition to the presetting, the assigned coloring can be influenced by HTML code. The attributes to be noted in the body element linkfor the color for links to destinations not yet visited, vlinkfor the color for links for destinations already visited and alinkfor the color for activated references are used: 

<body link="Wert" vlink="Wert" alink="Wert" />

Two different forms of notation can be used for "value" :

  • "#XXXXXX"is a hexadecimal RGB color (for example # FF0000 for red, # 003597 for greenish blue or in a shorter form: # 707 for dark purple ). Example:
<body link="#FF0000" vlink="#003597" alink="#707" />
  • "farbname"is the alternative with an allowed color name (for example red, navy, green); for details see: Web color # CSS 3 . Example:
<body link="red" vlink="navy" alink="green" />

However, this method is out of date. Recently, CSS has been used more and more for the design of HTML pages and thus also for those of the links.

Cascading style sheets

With CSS , the display properties of links can be influenced even more flexibly; the pseudo :link classes :visitedfor links to destinations that have not yet been visited and for links to destinations that have already been visited are specific to a elements : 

a:link    { color: #FF0000; }

a:visited { color: #00FF00; }

Wikitext

In Wikitext , which is used by Wikipedia , for example , the destination address is often deliberately identical to the link text: [[Zieladresse]]it is then displayed as the destination address . However, it is also possible to explicitly specify a link text with the so-called pipe syntax : [[Zieladresse|Linktext]]is then displayed as a link text , but actually refers to the target address. The information is only for convenience and a better overview when entering and is converted into normal HTML links for the web browser.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Good link text should not be overly general; don't use "click here". w3.org - Link text