Method: ActionView::Helpers::UrlHelper#link_to

Defined in:
actionview/lib/action_view/helpers/url_helper.rb

Creates an anchor element of the given name using a URL created by the set of options. See the valid options in the documentation for url_for. It’s also possible to pass a String instead of an options hash, which generates an anchor element that uses the value of the String as the href for the link. Using a :back Symbol instead of an options hash will generate a link to the referrer (a JavaScript back link will be used in place of a referrer if none exists). If nil is passed as the name the value of the link itself will become the name.

Signatures

link_to(body, url, html_options = {})
  # url is a String; you can use URL helpers like
  # posts_path

link_to(body, url_options = {}, html_options = {})
  # url_options, except :method, is passed to url_for

link_to(options = {}, html_options = {}) do
  # name
end

link_to(url, html_options = {}) do
  # name
end

link_to(active_record_model)

Options

  • :data - This option can be used to add custom data attributes.

Examples

Because it relies on url_for, link_to supports both older-style controller/action/id arguments and newer RESTful routes. Current Rails style favors RESTful routes whenever possible, so base your application on resources and use

link_to "Profile", profile_path(@profile)
# => <a href="/profiles/1">Profile</a>

or the even pithier

link_to "Profile", @profile
# => <a href="/profiles/1">Profile</a>

in place of the older more verbose, non-resource-oriented

link_to "Profile", controller: "profiles", action: "show", id: @profile
# => <a href="/profiles/show/1">Profile</a>

Similarly,

link_to "Profiles", profiles_path
# => <a href="/profiles">Profiles</a>

is better than

link_to "Profiles", controller: "profiles"
# => <a href="/profiles">Profiles</a>

When name is nil the href is presented instead

link_to nil, "http://example.com"
# => <a href="http://www.example.com">http://www.example.com</a>

More concise yet, when name is an Active Record model that defines a to_s method returning a default value or a model instance attribute

link_to @profile
# => <a href="http://www.example.com/profiles/1">Eileen</a>

You can use a block as well if your link target is hard to fit into the name parameter. ERB example:

<%= link_to(@profile) do %>
  <strong><%= @profile.name %></strong> -- <span>Check it out!</span>
<% end %>
# => <a href="/profiles/1">
       <strong>David</strong> -- <span>Check it out!</span>
     </a>

Classes and ids for CSS are easy to produce:

link_to "Articles", articles_path, id: "news", class: "article"
# => <a href="/articles" class="article" id="news">Articles</a>

Be careful when using the older argument style, as an extra literal hash is needed:

link_to "Articles", { controller: "articles" }, id: "news", class: "article"
# => <a href="/articles" class="article" id="news">Articles</a>

Leaving the hash off gives the wrong link:

link_to "WRONG!", controller: "articles", id: "news", class: "article"
# => <a href="/articles/index/news?class=article">WRONG!</a>

link_to can also produce links with anchors or query strings:

link_to "Comment wall", profile_path(@profile, anchor: "wall")
# => <a href="/profiles/1#wall">Comment wall</a>

link_to "Ruby on Rails search", controller: "searches", query: "ruby on rails"
# => <a href="/searches?query=ruby+on+rails">Ruby on Rails search</a>

link_to "Nonsense search", searches_path(foo: "bar", baz: "quux")
# => <a href="/searches?foo=bar&baz=quux">Nonsense search</a>

You can set any link attributes such as target, rel, type:

link_to "External link", "http://www.rubyonrails.org/", target: "_blank", rel: "nofollow"
# => <a href="http://www.rubyonrails.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">External link</a>

Turbo

Rails 7 ships with Turbo enabled by default. Turbo provides the following :data options:

  • turbo_method: symbol of HTTP verb - Performs a Turbo link visit with the given HTTP verb. Forms are recommended when performing non-GET requests. Only use data-turbo-method where a form is not possible.

  • turbo_confirm: "question?" - Adds a confirmation dialog to the link with the given value.

Consult the Turbo Handbook for more information on the options above.

Examples
link_to "Delete profile", @profile, data: { turbo_method: :delete }
# => <a href="/profiles/1" data-turbo-method="delete">Delete profile</a>

link_to "Visit Other Site", "https://rubyonrails.org/", data: { turbo_confirm: "Are you sure?" }
# => <a href="https://rubyonrails.org/" data-turbo-confirm="Are you sure?">Visit Other Site</a>



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# File 'actionview/lib/action_view/helpers/url_helper.rb', line 198

def link_to(name = nil, options = nil, html_options = nil, &block)
  html_options, options, name = options, name, block if block_given?
  options ||= {}

  html_options = convert_options_to_data_attributes(options, html_options)

  url = url_target(name, options)
  html_options["href"] ||= url

  content_tag("a", name || url, html_options, &block)
end