The HTML5 Specification introduces many new semantic elements, as well as specifications for existing elements; one of which is the <base> Tag, which allows for specifying a root URL from which all linkable elements in a document (hyperlinks, images etc.) are based, as well as a default target for all linkable elements.
Overview
- The
<base>Tag provides two attributes;href(Hyper-text Reference) andtarget, respectively, which have the same semantic meaning as that of ahyperlink. - Only a single
<base>Tag is to be defined per page and, must be defined before any elements which except aURLare defined (other than thehtmlelement).
Note: While the <base> Tag is not new to HTML5, the changes to the a Tag implies a difference (albeit, marginal) as, a Tags are always hyperlinks, or placeholders for hyperlinks.
Example
Like all HTML markup, usage of the <base> Tag is easy and straightforward: Simply add a single <base> Tag in the <head> element of the document and define either a base URL and / or default target attribute.
Defining a default base URL and target:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <base href="http://somedomain/app" target="_blank" /> </head> <body> <nav> <a href="index.php">Home</a> <a href="aboutus.php">About Us</a> <a href="contactus.php">Contact Us</a> </nav> </body> </html> |
The above links will all default to a blank target (new page), with each link’s base URL defaulting to “http://somedomain/app”. Individual links can override the base URL as well as the default target.
Support
The <base> Tag is currently supported by all major browsers.
html5, html5 attributes, html5 elements, html5 semantics, mobile web, touchscreen, web
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