GabrielSoft - How to use Anchors

Want to direct your visitors to a specific spot on a really long page of your site? You can create an anchor, then set a link to the anchor using tools in the WYSIWYG editor to get the job done. Here are the steps:

1

Create an anchor

The first step is to create an anchor.

  1. Click to place your cursor at the exact spot where you'd like your visitors to be directed after they click the link.
  2. Select the Anchor button in the WYSIWYG toolbar (highlighted above).
  3. Enter an Anchor Name in the Anchor Properties dialog (pictured below).

A small red flag will appear in the spot where the anchor was created ( illustrated below).

NOTE: Do not use spaces or special characters in your Anchor Name

2

Create a link to the anchor

The next step is to create a link as you normally would.

  1. Use your cursor to highlight the text you would like to become the link to the anchor.
  2. Click the link icon in the WYSIWYG editor to open the Link dialog (highlighted above).
  3. Select <other> from the Protocol drop-down menu (illustrated below).
  4. In the URL field, enter the hashtag symbol (#) followed by the Anchor Name you defined in Step 1.
  5. Click the green OK button.

Example Anchor Link URL

If you set your Anchor Name to be section1, then enter #section1 in the URL field when creating the link.

3

Test your anchor link

Don't forget to log out of your site and test the anchor link to make sure it is functioning as you'd expect. Clicking on the link should send visitors to the spot of the anchor on the page ( illustrated below).

Two considerations for anchors

Keep these things in mind when creating anchors:

1
Have your anchor open in the same window

It is most common for anchor links to open in the same window (as opposed to a new browser window). To achieve this behavior with your anchor links, be sure to click into the Target tab in the Link dialog and select Same Window/Tab from the Target drop-down menu.

2
Make sure the page is long enough for anchors

Anchors are only effective if the page is long enough to warrant an anchor. If it seems that your anchor links aren't sending visitors to the exact location of the anchor, it may be that the anchor has reached the end of the page and cannot possibly move any further down the page.