In order to allow others to download files from your downloads page, it is necessary to create a download link. Thedownload link is coded exactly the same way as a regular hyperlink.
Caution: Clicking a link that points to a PDF file will not cause it to download to your hard drive directly. It will only downloadand open the file in your web browser.
Tip: Users of 1st Page 2000 free HTML editor, can simply click on the Anchor - Local button to create relative links without mistakes. This button is located on the Tabbed Palette in Expert mode.
- HTML Code For Download Link
- The PDF Download Link
- Relative Links
- The HTML Download Button
- Additionl Tips
HTML Code For Download Link
The destination URL points to the file you want downloaded. In this case it is a Zip file calledaff-masters.zip.
Source
<a href="http://www.goldcoastwebdesigns.com/dl/aff-masters.zip"target="_blank">Download Link</a>
Output
You will notice that the link is set to open in a new browser window. The reason for this is because if the link is not set to open in a new browser window, when the link is clicked, the page where the download link is located will sometimes disappear.
The only drawback to setting these links to open in a new browser window is that pop-up blocking software might block the new browser opening. In this case, it is suggested to instruct visitors to turn pop-up blocking programs off while downloading from your page.
A regular hyperlink can be coded instead of the one above but the visitor should be instructed to right-mouse-click/alternate-mouse-click on the link and select "Save Target As" from the menu.
The PDF Download Link
Source<a href="http://www.goldcoastwebdesigns.com/dl/aff-masters.pdf">Download Link</a>
Output
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Right-Click Menu
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It's true you can save a copy of the PDF from the browser, but most people do not know this. For this reason, it is best to instruct people to right-mouse click the link and save the file to their hard drive.
Tip: How do you know in advance if the link you are going to click on is a normal web page, a PDF (.pdf) file, a Zip (.zip) file or an executable (.exe) program? Check the status bar before clicking.
Relative Links
The example HTML codes above illustrate hyperlinks with an absolute path. The path is absolute because the full URL is given as the value.
It is however possible to give a relative value like this:
Source
<a href="dl/aff-masters.pdf">Download Link</a>
Output
You will notice that the value given above is relative to two things:
1. The location of the file being downloaded.
2. The location of the page where the link to the download resides.
2. The location of the page where the link to the download resides.
So, if this page you are reading right now was located in the dl directory, in order for thedownload link to work, the HTML would need to look like this:
<a href="aff-masters.pdf">Download Link</a>
In other words, if the download page is located in the same directory as the file to be downloaded, the above code would be used.
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Anchor - Local Button
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Obviously, to use this feature, the directory structure on your web site should be the same as it is on your hard drive in order for the links to work.
The HTML Download Button
HTML buttons can also be used to download files. Visit to-3gp.com to see these exact buttons in action across the entire website.
Source
<form><input type="button" value="Download Now"onClick="window.location.href='/dl/aff-masters.exe'"></form>
Output
Additionl Tips
About Zip (.zip) Files
Not everybody knows how to unzip .zip files because additional software needs to be installed on the users computer in order to unzip the file. For this reason, it can be a good idea to supply a self extracting zip file so that the user can unzip the file without installing additional software.
If you would like to see a demonstration of a self extracting zip file in action, use the download link below:
Download Demo File - aff-masters.exe - 1.23 MB
After the file has downloaded, just double click the file to start unzipping. By default, the file will unzip to C:\Aff-Masters. But you can set it to unzip anywhere you want. After the file is unzipped, you will own an excellent marketing book in PDF format.
Image Hyperlinks
Image hyperlinks can also be used to point to a download file. Craft the link the same as a regular download link and add an image to it.
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