javascript anchor avoid scroll to top on click

Question

I created a function in javascript that i add to an anchor as such

javascript :

somefunction = function () {alert('foo')}

html :

<a href="#" onclick="return somefunction()">anchor</a>

everytime i click on the anchor the function executes but the screen scrolls to the top

I know i could do this

<a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="return somefunction()">anchor</a>

but I have seen the first option implemented without this hick up of scrolling up

is there any trick to it?

thank you

Answer 1

The onclick causes the page to resubmit, therefore scrolling to the top.

You need the onclick event to return a false in order to avoid the postback.

This can be done by changing your function to return a false:

somefunction = function () {alert('foo'); return false;}

Or to change the link and onClick event to do so:

<a href="javascript:void(0)" onclick="somefunction(); return false;">anchor</a>