HTML 5 <link> Tag
The HTML <link> tag is used for defining a link to an external document. It is placed in in the <head> section of the document.
The <link> tag is commonly used for linking to an external style sheet.
Despite its name ("link"), the link tag is not used for creating a hyperlink to another HTML document. If you need to link to another HTML document, use the HTML <a> tag.
Example
This example references styles an external style sheet. The external style sheet is linked to the document with the <link> tag.
Attributes
HTML tags can contain one or more attributes. Attributes are added to a tag to provide the browser with more information about how the tag should appear or behave. Attributes consist of a name and a value separated by an equals (=) sign, with the value surrounded by double quotes. Here's an example, style="color:black;".
There are 3 kinds of attributes that you can add to your HTML tags: Element-specific, global, and event handler content attributes.
The attributes that you can add to this tag are listed below.
Element-Specific Attributes
The following table shows the attributes that are specific to this tag/element.
| Attribute | Description | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| href | Specifies the URL of the resource document. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| hreflang | Language code of the destination URL. Purely advisory. The value must be a valid RFC 3066 language code. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| media | Specifies which media the target URL uses. Only to be used when the href attribute is present.
Value: [The value must be a valid media query. The default value is |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| rel | Describes the relationship between the current document and the destination URI. Multiple values can be provided, separated by a space.
Possible values:
|
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| type | The MIME type of content at the link destination. Purely advisory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| sizes | Specifies the sizes of icons for visual media. Can be used for favicons. Multiple values can be provided, as long as they're separated by a space.
Examples:
|
Global Attributes
The following attributes are standard across all HTML 5 tags.
| accesskey | hidden | itemtype |
| class | id | lang |
| contenteditable | inert | spellcheck |
| contextmenu | itemid | style |
| dir | itemprop | tabindex |
| draggable | itemref | title |
| dropzone | itemscope | translate |
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 global attributes.
Event Handler Content Attributes
Event handler content attributes enable you to invoke a script from within your HTML. The script is invoked when a certain "event" occurs. Each event handler content attribute deals with a different event.
Here are the standard HTML 5 event handler content attributes.
| onabort | onerror* | onmousewheel |
| onblur* | onfocus* | onpause |
| oncanplay | onformchange | onplay |
| oncanplaythrough | onforminput | onplaying |
| onchange | oninput | onprogress |
| onclick | oninvalid | onratechange |
| oncontextmenu | onkeydown | onreadystatechange |
| ondblclick | onkeypress | onscroll |
| ondrag | onkeyup | onseeked |
| ondragend | onload* | onseeking |
| ondragenter | onloadeddata | onselect |
| ondragleave | onloadedmetadata | onshow |
| ondragover | onloadstart | onstalled |
| ondragstart | onmousedown | onsubmit |
| ondrop | onmousemove | onsuspend |
| ondurationchange | onmouseout | ontimeupdate |
| onemptied | onmouseover | onvolumechange |
| onended | onmouseup | onwaiting |
For a full explanation of these attributes, see HTML 5 event handler content attributes.