<base/> Tag Syntax

<head>
   <title>Example Only</title>
   <base href="http://www.ExampleOnly.com/articles/" target="_blank"/>
   ...
</head>
Rules for coding the HTML base element

Make sure you understand the difference between a tag and element and are familiar with the definitions of namespace and other HTML terms.

  1. Code a single optional base element in the <head> section of the HTML document where metadata content is expected. It is best to put the <base> tag near the beginning of the head section, since it must come before other HTML tags, such as a <link> tag that may have any attributes with URLs (even if those attributes are not coded, since those attribute values could be added dynamically). The one exception is the <html manifest> attribute, which the base URL does not apply to. The <title> tag and other tags with no URL attributes such as href= can be coded either before or after the <base> tag.
  2. The base element consists of a standalone <base/> tag. The element name uses lower case letters and should be in the HTML namespace, which it will pick up automatically from the xmlns attribute on the <html> tag.
  3. Include at least an href attribute or a target= attribute, possibly both, within the <base> tag.
  4. The value of the href attribute, which is enclosed in double quotes, is the base URL for other URLs in the document, which otherwise would default to the actual location of the document.
  5. The value of the target attribute, enclosed in double quotes, is a name or keyword for the default browsing context for all of the hypertext links in the document. This can be used to open all links in a new window or browser tab, for example.
  6. Include any other HTML attributes on the <base> tag as necessary.
  7. Since the base element is a void element, it should always be coded as a self-closing tag terminated with the delimiter string />.

<base/> Content Model

Contents of the base element

Content: Empty. All properties are coded using attributes.

Since the <base/> tag is a void element, it is not allowed to have any content, even HTML comments and therefore should always be coded as a self-closing standalone tag, ending with the delimiter string /> rather than just > (<base .../>).