When a link is clicked it takes the user to the page specified in the URL of the HREF attribute. To prevent this from happening, use javascript:void(0) as the value of HREF.
<A HREF="javascript:void(0)"
onmouseover="document.bgColor='#EEEEEE'">
Dead link</A>
Link
You may wonder why we can't use HREF="" (a blank or no value) instead of HREF="javascript:void(0)". The reason is that a blank or null value for HREF is interpreted as the URL of the directory. Thus, in our case if we use HREF="", the browser actually sees it as http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tutorials/javascript/.
javascript:void(0) returns (not specifies!) a null value. Hence, whenever a link is clicked no page is loaded.
Mouse clicks and event handlers
So far we have only looked at event handlers that capture mouse movements over a link. JavaScript also provides event handlers for links that understand mouse button clicks; onclick and ondblclick. Their usage is similar to other event handlers.
<A HREF="javascript:void(0)"
onclick="alert('You clicked on the link')">
Dead link</A>
Dead link
<A HREF="javascript:void(0)"
ondblclick="alert('You double clicked on the link')">
Double click on me</A>
Double click on me
- Construct a link that changes the background color to light blue (#99CCFF) when clicked.
- Change the code so that clicking on the link also displays an alert box.
- How about a link that changes the background color to red when clicked and back to the original when the mouse pointer is moved off the link?
- The open() method of the window object is employed to open a new window. Construct a link that opens a new window when clicked.