Link

<a href="#">Go somewhere</a>
{# Reusable macro for other templates to import: #}
{%- macro link(htmlContent, url, classNames, title) -%}
<a
  {%- if classNames %} class="{{ classNames }}"{%- endif -%}
  {%- if url %} href="{{ url }}"{%- endif -%}
  {%- if title %} title="{{ title }}"{%- endif -%}
>
  {{- htmlContent | safe -}}
</a>
{%- endmacro -%}

{# Example rendering: #}
{{- link(text, url, class) | safe -}}
{
  "text": "Go somewhere",
  "url": "#",
  "listItems": [
    {
      "htmlContent": "Some list item content"
    },
    {
      "htmlContent": "More list item content"
    },
    {
      "htmlContent": "Even more list item content"
    },
    {
      "htmlContent": "I can't believe there's still more list item content"
    },
    {
      "htmlContent": "Seriously?! That's enough now."
    }
  ],
  "footer": {
    "copy": "&copy; 2019 <strong>Buildit</strong>. All rights reserved.",
    "linksA": [
      {
        "label": "Stories",
        "url": "#"
      },
      {
        "label": "People",
        "url": "#"
      },
      {
        "label": "Jobs",
        "url": "#"
      }
    ],
    "linksB": [
      {
        "label": "Terms",
        "url": "#"
      },
      {
        "label": "Accessibility",
        "url": "#"
      },
      {
        "label": "Privacy & Cookie Policy",
        "url": "https://wiprodigital.com/privacy-policy"
      }
    ]
  },
  "hero": {
    "pullout": "Big, attention-grabbing headline",
    "paragraph": "Witty subtitle",
    "cta": {
      "text": "Clickbaity label",
      "url": "#"
    }
  },
  "img": {
    "random": {
      "src": "/images/img-random-1.png",
      "alt": "A placeholder image with an arbitrary aspect ratio."
    },
    "square": {
      "src": "/images/img-1x1.png",
      "alt": "A placeholder image with a perfect square (1:1) aspect ratio."
    },
    "tv": {
      "src": "/images/img-4x3.png",
      "alt": "A placeholder image with a 4:3 aspect ratio, like an old TV."
    },
    "widescreen": {
      "src": "/images/img-16x9.png",
      "alt": "A placeholder image with a 16:9 aspect ratio, like a widescreen TV."
    },
    "logo": {
      "src": "/images/img-random-2.png",
      "alt": "A test image for a logo with an arbitrary aspect ratio."
    }
  },
  "title": "Page title",
  "header": {
    "url": "./homepage",
    "links": [
      {
        "text": "Jobs",
        "url": "./jobs"
      },
      {
        "text": "Locations",
        "url": "./locations"
      }
    ],
    "externalLinks": [
      {
        "text": "Fancy external website",
        "url": "./error-page"
      }
    ]
  },
  "sections": [
    {
      "title": "Example section",
      "class": "grav-o-full-bleed__content",
      "content": [
        {
          "paragraph": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "section": {
    "title": "This is the title for a section",
    "class": "grav-o-full-bleed__content",
    "content": [
      {
        "paragraph": "Paragraph lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua."
      },
      {
        "blockquote": "Blockquote lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit"
      },
      {
        "twoColumnsList": [
          {
            "htmlContent": "Vestibulum auctor dapibus neque."
          },
          {
            "htmlContent": "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit."
          },
          {
            "htmlContent": "Aliquam tincidunt mauris eu risus."
          },
          {
            "htmlContent": "Labore et dolore magna aliqua."
          },
          {
            "htmlContent": "Phasellus tempus, orci non mattis sagittis."
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "inlineRow": [
          {
            "text": "First link",
            "url": "#"
          },
          {
            "text": "Second link",
            "url": "#"
          },
          {
            "text": "Third link",
            "url": "#"
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "imgCards": [
          {
            "title": "Some fascinating, attention-grabbing headling",
            "content": "Ideally, with a click-baity tagline that entices to you to visit!",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-1.png",
              "alt": "Brief description of this fascinating image"
            }
          },
          {
            "title": "Labore et dolore magna aliqua",
            "content": "Vestibulum pharetra arcu enim, nec porttitor quam ullamcorper et. Phasellus tempus, orci non mattis sagittis, lectus erat fringilla odio, nec auctor erat augue quis eros.",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-1.png",
              "alt": "Phasellus tempus, orci non mattis"
            }
          },
          {
            "title": "Nanotechnology immersion along the information highway",
            "content": "Leverage agile frameworks to provide a robust synopsis for high level overviews.",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-1.png",
              "alt": "Bring to the table win-win survival strategies"
            }
          }
        ]
      },
      {
        "imgLinks": [
          {
            "url": "#",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-1.png",
              "alt": "Image linke #1"
            }
          },
          {
            "url": "#",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-2.png",
              "alt": "Image linke #2"
            }
          },
          {
            "url": "#",
            "image": {
              "src": "/images/img-random-3.png",
              "alt": "Image linke #3"
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Purpose

Hyperlinks (<a> - short for “hypertext anchor“), create clickable links to other URLs. They are labelled by their content which is usually text.

It is also possible to create a placeholder link by omitting the href attribute. These are useful to indicate text that would normally be a clickable link if it had been relevant. A typical use for this is a website’s main navigation menu - the item that corresponds to the current page can be represented by a placeholder to avoid the page linking to itself.

Best practice

Links that open new windows or tabs without warning (e.g. by using the target="_blank" attribute) are bad for usability, as takes away control from the user. Furthermore, if they don’t notice that a link opened in a new tab / window, it can appear to break the back button which will confuse and frustrate users. Finally, if not used together with rel="noopener noreferrer", such links additionally pose a security risk and performace problem! In short, just don’t do it!

The text of a link provides a valuable clue to users about what to expect when they click it. Link text may also be presented to users out of context (screen readers often have a facility to read out a list of links on a page), so ensuring that it is meaningful aids accessibility. Finally, good link text can benefit SEO performance as well.

You should therefore avoid meaningless link text like “Click here”, “On the next page”, etc.

  • GOOD: “The Nielsen Norman Group published a great article about writing links.”
  • BAD: “he Nielsen Norman Group published a great article about writing links. Click here to read it.”

Further reading:

See also