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HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard language used to create and design web pages. Among the various elements in HTML, the <base>
tag plays a crucial, yet often overlooked role. This article aims to demystify the <base>
tag, explaining its purpose, functionality, and providing a practical example to illustrate its use.
<base>
Tag?The <base>
tag in HTML specifies the base URL/target for all relative URLs in a document. There are two attributes that can be used with the <base>
tag:
This tag must be placed inside the <head>
element of an HTML document. It’s important to note that a document can have only one <base>
element, and if it’s used, it must have either an href
attribute, a target
attribute, or both.
<base>
TagThe <base>
tag is particularly useful in scenarios where a web page contains many relative links. Without the <base>
tag, the relative links would be resolved using the URL of the current page as the base URL. By using the <base>
tag, you can redefine the base URL, which can be very helpful in managing links, especially in large websites or web applications.
<base>
TagLet’s consider a practical example to understand how the <base>
tag works.
Imagine you have a webpage located at https://www.example.com/folder/page.html
, and this page contains several relative links. Without a <base>
tag, these links would be resolved relative to the current page URL. However, suppose you want all these links to be resolved relative to the root of the domain https://www.example.com/
. You can achieve this using the <base>
tag as follows:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Example Page</title>
<base href="https://www.example.com/" target="_blank">
</head>
<body>
<p>This is an example page.</p>
<a href="folder/another-page.html">Another Page</a>
</body>
</html>
In this example, the <base>
tag has an href
attribute set to https://www.example.com/
. This means that the relative link in the <a>
tag (folder/another-page.html
) will be resolved as https://www.example.com/folder/another-page.html
instead of https://www.example.com/folder/folder/another-page.html
.
Additionally, the target="_blank"
attribute in the <base>
tag means that all hyperlinks on the page will open in a new browser tab or window by default.
The <base>
tag is a powerful HTML element that helps in managing the base URL and target for all relative URLs in a web document. Its proper use can significantly simplify the maintenance of hyperlinks in large websites and web applications. As with any HTML element, it’s important to use the <base>
tag judiciously to ensure it aligns with your web development goals and strategies.