This page is part of the WebCom Web Publishing Guide. It provides a brief overview of the what a hotlink is, and why the ability to embed hotlinks in HTML document has revolutionized the way people use the Internet. For the technical details, see Syntax for a Hotlink.

A hotlink tells the browser what type of server is being used to present the file, the address of the machine the file is located on, and where it is on that machine. It also includes a label with which to select the hotlink.

Links to other documents and files appear as highlighted text in a unique style when a page is viewed. When the person using the browser selects the link, the browser is automatically transferred to the file the link points to; they don't need to know where the file is, or how it should be retrieved. The file can be located anywhere in the world, and it makes no difference.

This is the power of the World Wide Web: transparent linking of information resources to one another across the planet. The person viewing a document doesn't need to know how or where a resource is stored or what server is used to present it, they just select a hotlink and the file is automatically transferred to their machine. Three things can happen at this point:

1. The browser itself will display the file (if it is a text file, another HTML document, or a type of image the browser is capable of displaying).
2. If the browser is configured properly, and recognizes what type of file is being sent to it, a program capable of viewing the file will be launched and the incoming file will be automatically loaded into it (for example, a video or sound clip).
3. If the browser does not recognize what type of file is being sent to it, or it has not been told what type of program to use to view the incoming file, the user will be told this, and asked whether or not they want to download the file.