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Geocities
BASICS
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

SO, YOU WANT A HOMEPAGE?

Part 4: LINKING AROUND


Now we are in Part 4, and it's time to discuss how to make a "link". One of the most important AND popular characteristics of a homepage, is its links.

A "link" performs a navigational function. It allows your visitors to move about from page to page, or from site to site. Installed correctly, a link can be a great tool. But, if used incorrectly, it can be a hindrance. In this part of "So, You Want a Homepage?", you will learn how to place a link on a page.

The basic tag for a "page" link is:

<A HREF = "URL">The Site Name</A>

An example of this usage would be for this fictitious page:

<A HREF = "http://www.icky.net/ugh.html">My Home Page--ICK!</A>

The only part of this tag that would be visible on your page, is the My Home Page--ICK!, and it would be highlighted (on WebTV, it would show the link box) to show that it is a link. Your visitor could "click" on it, and would be transported to that icky page.

When adding a link to another site, you'll need to use the full URL in the tag as we have above. You can also use it when adding pages of your own to your site. But when your linked pages are in the same directory, all you need is the file name. For example:

<A HREF = "index.html">My Home Page</A>

Now, for some "helpful hints":
  • Don't forget to use the quotes around the URL and/or the file name. If you don't use them, the link will not work.
  • Don't forget the brackets (<>). They are just as important to the tag as the quotes are.
  • If you notice, this tag has two parts: the <A HREF> part and the </A> part (this closes the tag). Many times, if something is accidentally left out, its the </A>.
  • Be sure to have the brackets right next to the title, as shown above.
  • Since the WEBTV browser is very forgiving, it allows for things that Netscape and Microsoft Explorer doesn't. One of these things is "broken links" or "broken tags". If you put a space on either side of the equal sign (=), this will help alleviate the problem, as the tag will naturally break in one of those two places, instead of an "unwanted" place (like in the middle of the URL).
  • If you are adding your own pages to your site, don't forget to place a link back from your internal pages to your index page. That way your visitor can easily go back to the beginning if they want to.
See? Linking isn't really hard, if done correctly. Now, this is just ONE form of linking. In Part 5, we will discuss how to put images on your page, and how THEY can be used to link pages!

See you then!

Soose