<a href="javascript:{}">

JavaScript
1

I was just exploring a template and saw that they have empty javascript:{} in href attribute. It didn’t seem to do much. Is this is just a place holder or some kind of comment that this nav works with javascript?
Please note that it was found in vav links that had unordered lists like below.



 <li class="current"><a href="javascript:{}">Home</a>
                                <ul>
                                    <li class="current"><a href="index-2.html">Simple slider</a></li>
                                    <li><a href="home_full_slider.html">Fullwidth slider</a></li>
                                </ul>
                            </li>
2

It is used instead of #. If # is used when clicked you go to top of window. javascript:; does not suffer from that

3

yeah it looks like it doesn’t do anything. I was wondering why putting this (javascript:{}) or even a # is better than keeping it empty? is it Just to make it readable?

4

Delete it and forget you ever saw it. Inline JS is junk anyway, and has no business sitting in place of a proper URL.

5

That isn’t even proper inline JavaScript. Placing JavaScript there doesn’t give it any access to information about the event that triggered the code.

It also provides a broken link for anyone without JavaScript enabled.

6

Thanks guys, but can you guys tell me keeping empty href is better or href with # ? Or doesn’t matter!?

7

If you click a link with an empty href you get an error, while clicking a link with # as the href value just jumps you to the top of the page, so the latter is better.

Edit:

Hm, I thought that was the case, but thought I’d better test it, and it wasn’t so—no error message when the href is empty. But still …

… the real question is—why have a link on your page with either of these? If the link has nowhere to go, it shouldn’t be a link. :slight_smile:

8

Just for temporary use. For demo templates. You know that.

9

I always use #, because I’ve gotten errors in the past having nothing in there.

You know that.

I don’t know how you go about designing. :stuck_out_tongue: A lot of people do have hrefs with just # in them—because the link bahavoir is controlled by JavaScript. However, that’s lousy coding, as those links are useless with JS off—which is an indication of poor coding methodology.

10

No, I meant you know why people use # .

11

Yes, but not just for demo purposes. Too often it ends up in the finished code, for the reason I mentioned.

12

In that case there shouldn’t be empty links… I’m with you on that.