In this technical blog, we will explore a method to programmatically set the value of the fragment portion of a URL. The fragment, which appears after the # hash symbol, can be modified to navigate within a web page or create bookmarkable URLs.
Introduction
There are situations where we might encounter the need to change the fragment part of a URL dynamically. For instance, let’s consider a scenario where we have a table of contents with anchor links that do not function as expected. In such cases, we can use JavaScript to manipulate the fragment portion of the URL and redirect the user to the desired section of the webpage.
Solution
To set the fragment part of a URL, we can utilize the window.location.hash property in JavaScript. The window.location object provides information about the current URL and allows us to modify certain aspects, including the fragment.
For example, if we are on the index.html page and want to change the URL to index.html#second, we can achieve this by assigning the desired value to the window.location.hash property.
Here’s an example code snippet:
window.location.hash = 'second';
This code will update the URL by appending the #second fragment to it. As a result, the page will scroll to the section with the corresponding id or name attribute matching “second”.
Conclusion
By using the window.location.hash property in JavaScript, we can easily modify the fragment part of a URL. This allows us to create better navigation within web pages or even generate bookmarkable URLs for specific sections.
Tags: URL fragment, JavaScript, web development, navigation