String.prototype.anchor()

Deprecated: This feature is no longer recommended. Though some browsers might still support it, it may have already been removed from the relevant web standards, may be in the process of being dropped, or may only be kept for compatibility purposes. Avoid using it, and update existing code if possible; see the compatibility table at the bottom of this page to guide your decision. Be aware that this feature may cease to work at any time.

The anchor() method of String values creates a string that embeds this string in an <a> element with a name (<a name="...">str</a>).

Note: All HTML wrapper methods are deprecated and only standardized for compatibility purposes. Use DOM APIs such as document.createElement() instead.

The HTML specification no longer allows the <a> element to have a name attribute, so this method doesn't even create valid markup.

Syntax

js
anchor(name)

Parameters

name

A string representing a name value to put into the generated <a name="..."> start tag.

Return value

A string beginning with an <a name="name"> start tag (double quotes in name are replaced with &quot;), then the text str, and then an </a> end tag.

Examples

Using anchor()

The code below creates an HTML string and then replaces the document's body with it:

js
const contentString = "Hello, world";

document.body.innerHTML = contentString.anchor("hello");

This will create the following HTML:

html
<a name="hello">Hello, world</a>

Warning: This markup is invalid, because name is no longer a valid attribute of the <a> element.

Instead of using anchor() and creating HTML text directly, you should use DOM APIs such as document.createElement(). For example:

js
const contentString = "Hello, world";
const elem = document.createElement("a");
elem.innerText = contentString;
document.body.appendChild(elem);

Specifications

Specification
ECMAScript® 2025 Language Specification
# sec-string.prototype.anchor

Browser compatibility

Report problems with this compatibility data on GitHub
desktopmobileserver
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
Opera
Safari
Chrome Android
Firefox for Android
Opera Android
Safari on iOS
Samsung Internet
WebView Android
WebView on iOS
Deno
Node.js
anchor
Deprecated

Legend

Tip: you can click/tap on a cell for more information.

Full support
Full support
Deprecated. Not for use in new websites.
See implementation notes.

See also