A webpage is not always broken because of a large mistake. Small details can produce exactly this problem: debugging: broken relative link. This guide shows you what to look for, a concrete fix, and how to check that it worked.
The Idea in Plain English
A relative href is resolved against the current page location (or a base URL). A link that works from the homepage may fail from a nested page.
You can test this using a small local HTML file. Change one part at a time and check the result in the browser before adding more code.
A Working Example
The first part shows a problem. The second part shows a safer or more accurate version. Compare them before reading the explanation.
<!-- Problem -->
<!-- File: /lessons/day1.html -->
<a href="about.html">About us</a>
<!-- Corrected example -->
<!-- File: /lessons/day1.html -->
<a href="../about.html">About us</a>What Each Part Does
- The anchor is a link when its href points to a destination.
- href is the URL or fragment destination of a link.
Before the fix, the browser can behave incorrectly or report a warning. After the change, test the exact failure rather than assuming the page is fixed.
Try It Yourself
Check the browser address after clicking; ../ moves one folder up from /lessons/.
Common Beginner Mistakes
- Check the underlying cause before changing unrelated tags.
- Changing several parts of the example at once, making it difficult to see which part caused a different result.
- Choosing a tag only because its default appearance looks right, without checking whether it describes the content correctly.
Key Takeaways
- A relative href is resolved against the current page location (or a base URL). A link that works from the homepage may fail from a nested page.
- Before the fix, the browser can behave incorrectly or report a warning. After the change, test the exact failure rather than assuming the page is fixed.
- Test the markup in a browser, and check accessibility and real-world behavior where relevant.