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      Methods

      Manage Payment Methods


      Payment Methods

      • Credit card: Pay using all popular credit (and debit) cards, including those issued by Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, and UnionPay.

      • Google Pay: Pay using a credit card, debit card, or PayPal through your Google Pay account. Paying with your Google Pay balance or any associated bank accounts are not supported at this time.

        Note

        To add a PayPal account to your Google Pay account, you currently must do so through the
        Google Play Store. PayPal cannot currently be added through the Google Pay website or mobile apps. When adding PayPal through Google Pay, it appears as a Discover Card within the Cloud Manager and the Linode API.
      • PayPal: Pay using your PayPal balance, a credit (or debit) card, or bank account through your PayPal account.

      • Check, ACH, or wire transfer: Please
        contact Support if you wish to pay through one of these methods.

      See
      Adding a New Payment Method for instructions on adding a new payment method to your account.

      Add a New Payment Method

      New payment methods can be added to an account through the Cloud Manager. Up to 6 payment methods can be active on an account at any given time, including multiple credit cards, Google Pay methods, and PayPal methods.

      1. Navigate to the Billing Info page in the
        Cloud Manager (see
        Accessing Billing Information).

      2. If adding a credit card directly (not through Google Pay or PayPal), it must match the account’s billing contact information and address. Review the Billing Contact section and edit it as necessary (see
        Update Billing Contact Information).

      3. In the Payment Method section, click the Add Payment Method link. This opens the Add Payment Method panel.

      4. Complete the form according to the payment method you wish to add.

        To pay with a credit card: Enter the credit card number, expiration date, and the security code (CVV) of the new card. Then click Add Credit Card.

        Form to add a credit card

        Note

        A $1.00 authorization hold may be placed on your credit card by your banking institution when our payment processor tests the validity of the card. This is normal behavior and does not result in a charge on your card.

        To pay with Google Pay: Click the Google Pay icon/button to open Google’s own Google Pay form. Log in to your Google account and select the payment method you wish to use. Press continue (or otherwise complete the form) to be taken back to the Cloud Manager.

        Button to add Google Pay

        To pay with PayPal: Click the PayPal icon/button to open PayPal’s own form. Log in to your PayPal account and select the credit card or bank account you wish to use. Optionally check or uncheck the Use balance first option to use any PayPal balance before the selected credit card or bank account. Press Save and Continue (or otherwise complete the form) to be taken back to the Cloud Manager.

        Button to add PayPal

      5. After the payment method is added, it will be assigned as the default payment method and will be used for future recurring payments. This can be changed by following the instructions within the
        Viewing and Changing the Default Payment Method section.

      Note

      This process does not immediately charge any past due balance on the account to the new card. If you have an outstanding balance, you need to make a manual payment to bring your account up to date. See the
      Making a One-Time Payment section for more information.

      Remove a Payment Method

      To delete a payment method from your account, follow the instructions below.

      1. Navigate to the Billing Info page in the
        Cloud Manager (see
        Accessing Billing Information).
      2. Under the Payment Methods section, locate the payment method you wish to remove.
      3. Click the corresponding ellipsis menu and select Delete from the dropdown menu. If the payment method is the default payment method on the account, the Delete button will be disabled and you will first need to change the default method.

      View and Change the Default Payment Method

      When an invoice is generated, the amount of that invoice (as well as any past due balance) will be charged to the default payment method on the account. The default payment method can be viewed and changed by following the instructions below.

      1. Navigate to the Billing Info page in the
        Cloud Manager (see
        Accessing Billing Information).
      2. Under the Payment Methods section, the payment method currently used by default has a label of default (located to the right of the last 4 digits and expiration date).
      3. To change the default payment method, click the ellipsis menu next to the payment method you wish to use and select Make Default from the dropdown menu.

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      How to Back Up Your WordPress Website (3 Methods)


      You’ve probably put a lot of hard work into your site, and if something were to happen to it, the results could be devastating. Hackers could lock you out of your website, data files could become corrupted, or you could even accidentally delete your site — what’s worse is that the results could be permanent.

      Maintaining regular backups could save you from ever finding yourself in this position. There are several different methods for backing up your WordPress website — most importantly, they can all help prevent the loss of your valuable site files and database.

      The Importance of Backing Up Your WordPress Website

      Let’s start with the basics. A WordPress backup is simply a copy of all your site’s files and database. Backups are used to restore sites that have been compromised through hacking or corrupted files or websites that have been purposely or accidentally deleted.

      How often you should back up your website depends on your niche and size. If you have a site that is constantly updated, such as a high-traffic blog or an e-commerce site, you may want to perform backups daily. Websites with mostly static content are usually fine with less frequent backups.

      It’s highly recommended that you make multiple backups and save them in different places. Just as your site can become compromised or lost, your backups could be destroyed or deleted too. Having several backups helps ensure that you’ll always have a fresh and current backup, even when another is unavailable.

      How to Back Up WordPress (3 Methods)

      There are a few different methods for backing up WordPress sites. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. The best approach will be up to you, but it’s wise to know about all three. Let’s take a look!

      1. Back Up WordPress Manually

      Backing up a WordPress site manually is the most difficult method, but it is sometimes necessary. If you’re locked out of your WordPress dashboard due to an error or security issue and need to make a backup, this may be the only way to do it.

      There are two stages to this: backing up your files and backing up your database. To start, you’ll need your Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) credentials. You’ll usually find them within your hosting account’s back end. If you can’t find them, just contact your host — they’ll be able to root them out for you.

      Once you have your SFTP credentials, you’ll want to download and launch a suitable client, such as FileZilla. This option is excellent because it’s free, open-source, and easy to use.

      Once it’s open, enter your credentials in the specified areas:

      FileZilla FTP connection

      After you’ve established a connection with your server, you’ll need a destination folder for your backup. You can create one without leaving FileZilla by right-clicking within the top-left quadrant, selecting Create Directory, and giving it a name.

      Next, drag the WordPress files from your server (found in the top-right quadrant) and drop them in your destination folder. The download may take a while — coffee time! — but once it’s done, you’ll have a backup of your site’s files saved to your computer.

      However, you’ll still need to back up your WordPress database. To do this, you’ll need to utilize the phpMyAdmin tool, which you can find within your host’s back end. Once you’re logged in, select your WordPress database from the sidebar:

      exporting your WordPress database

      Next, navigate to the top of the screen to the Export tab. Select the Quick export method, click on Go, and download the file when prompted. Again, the download may take some time and will save a backup of your database to your computer. That’s it!

      2. Install a WordPress Plugin to Run Automatic Backups

      Using a plugin is much easier and faster than backing up WordPress manually. Some plugins, such as UpdraftPlus, enable you to schedule automatic backups, giving you back much-needed headspace!

      To implement this backup method, you’ll first have to install and activate your chosen plugin. From here, you’ll be able to schedule your backups, determine where the plugin should save them, and select the files you want to back up:

      UpDraft Plus WordPress backup settings

      Many WordPress backup plugins (including UpdraftPlus) enable you to save backups locally or to the cloud. This is a great way to keep backups in multiple locations as an extra precaution.

      However, one downside to using a plugin is that it’s difficult to monitor whether backups are being created. Of course, backing up your site manually can help with this since you’ll be able to easily see if the backup is completed correctly. However, there is one way that can provide the best of both worlds.

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      3. Manage Backups Through Your Hosting Provider

      Some hosting providers, including us at DreamHost, offer a backup feature. How you access, schedule, save, and restore your backups will vary depending on your provider. We provide one-click backups to all customers and automated daily backups to customers with managed WordPress plans.

      Automated backups provide the highest level of convenience possible, running in the background without you having to do a thing. You can (of course) supplement them with on-demand backups outside of your normal schedule — for example, right before pushing changes to your live site.

      To access your backups as a DreamPress customer, log in to your account and select DreamPress from the WordPress drop-down in the sidebar. From here, find the domain you want to back up and click on the Manage button. You can then select the Backups tab, where all your backups will be listed, and also create or restore them with a single click:

      DreamHost create a backup in Panel

      Finally, letting your host automate backups on your behalf is usually a ‘set-and-forget’ setting. However, for extra security, you may still want to save multiple backups. It’s worth keeping in mind that if your site has a server issue and the backups are stored on the same server as your site (a ‘no-no’), you may run into trouble.

      Back Up Your WordPress Site Today

      Your website is important to you, so it’s vital to protect it from outside threats, simple human errors, or something else. Backing up your WordPress site regularly will ensure that you have a way to get your site back if the worst happens.

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      DreamPress Plus and Pro users get access to Jetpack Professional (and 200+ premium themes) at no added cost!

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      How to Create Anchor Links in WordPress (3 Methods)


      Google loves long-form content, and as a result, lengthy articles tend to rank higher on search results pages. The problem is that readers’ attention spans are getting shorter even as search algorithms favor longer content. This means that if you want visitors to find the information they need within your posts and pages, you have to make it easy for them.

      That’s where anchor links come in. With this feature, you can send readers toward specific sections (or subheadings) within the same page, often by using a table of contents. That way, visitors can find the exact answers they’re looking for instead of skimming through hundreds or thousands of words.

      In this article, we’ll show you how anchor links work and discuss the pros and cons of using them. Then we’ll go over some best practices for using anchor links in WordPress and show you three different ways to add them. Let’s get to work!

      What Anchor Links Are

      In theory, an anchor link is any link within a page that points to another section on that same page. In most cases, you’ll encounter anchor links within a table of contents at the start of a page or post.

      A table of contents.

      Above you’ll see an example taken from one of our own articles, which covers how to start a blog step by step. It’s a lengthy process, which makes a table of contents with anchor links an essential component.

      Other common examples of anchor links include buttons that return you to the top of the page when you reach the bottom. You can also use anchor links to help users navigate long landing pages. Whether there’s a page or post on your website that’s a bit too long for manual scrolling, anchor links can improve the user experience.

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      Our automatic updates and strong security defenses take server management off your hands so you can focus on creating a great website.

      The Pros and Cons of Using Anchor Links in WordPress

      There are very few downsides when it comes to using anchor text and links in WordPress. Overall, WordPress anchor links make your content easier to navigate. They also offer a host of other benefits. For example:

      • Readers can get a quick overview of your content.
      • Search engines love lists that sum up a post or page.
      • Anchor links can help reduce your website’s bounce rate.

      Let’s dig a bit deeper into those last two advantages. It’s important to note that anchor links don’t improve your search engine rankings directly. However, they do provide more context for search engines.

      For example, here’s what you’ll see if you Google “how to start a blog with DreamHost”:

      A featured snippet in Google.

      This is a “rich snippet” that includes part of the post’s table of contents, which is made up of anchor links. The snippet doesn’t include the links themselves, but this list helps the blog post demonstrate how comprehensive it is to both search engine bots and human searchers.

      In some cases, Google may actually include anchor links below the meta description within Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

      A search result including anchor links.

      Additionally, providing anchor links in the form of a table of contents can help reduce your website’s bounce rate. That’s because you’re making life easier for users who might access the page, assume that it’s not what they’re looking for because they don’t see what they want right away, and leave. Instead, you can keep them around much longer by telling them exactly what they can find within a post or page and linking them to specific sections.

      Overall, tables of contents are the best way to leverage anchor links on your website. However, it only makes sense to use anchor links for long pages or blog posts. There’s no hard-and-fast rule, but anything above 1,500 words or so can likely benefit from a table of contents and its corresponding anchor links.

      Adding anchor links to shorter content isn’t necessarily bad, but it can be less useful. If readers can scroll through the entirety of a page in one or two wheel turns, there’s little benefit in spending the time to add anchor links.

      How to Create Anchor Links in WordPress (3 Methods)

      Creating anchor links is remarkably simple. You can do so either manually or with the help of plugins. Let’s start by talking about how to add anchor links in WordPress using the Classic Editor.

      1. Manually Create an Anchor Link Using the Classic Editor

      If you’re still using the Classic Editor, you’ll be happy to know that it makes short work of creating anchor links.

      As we mentioned earlier, anchor links point toward specific sections on the same page. However, you can’t simply add a link in WordPress that points toward a phrase or a title and hope the editor knows how to interpret it. That’s because all of the text you see in the editor is powered by HTML.

      To create an anchor link, you first need to set an anchor. To do that, select a subheading that you want to link to, and switch to the Text view of the editor.

      A subheading within the WordPress code editor.

      In our example, we’ve selected the following H2 subheading:

      <h2>How to Fry a Fry</h2>

      What we need to do is add an HTML ID. That ID will be the “anchor” we’re going to link to later on and will be in the form id= “unique-anchor-name”. Here’s what that code should look like:

      <h2 id=“fry-a-fry”>How to Fry a Fry</h2>

      Once the ID is in place, you can add the anchor link to your table of contents (or wherever else you want to place it). In our example, we want to add the link to the first entry in our table of contents.

      You can do this within the Text view or the Visual tab. If you’re using the visual editor, simply add the link as normal. However, instead of an URL, you’ll need to specify the HTML ID you’re linking to, preceded by a “#”.

      Adding an anchor link in WordPress.

      That’s it! When users click on that link within the table of contents, their browser will jump to the corresponding section.

      In the Text view, here’s what the HTML for a table of contents full of anchor links will look like:

      Multiple anchor links in a table of contents.

      Manually creating HTML anchor links may seem intimidating if you’re not used to working with code. However, as you can see, adding anchor tags is remarkably simple. Once you know how the process works, adding these links manually should only take seconds.

      However, keep in mind that you can only point toward anchors on the same page. If you try to create a link toward an anchor ID located on another page or post, it simply will not work.

      2. Manually Create an Anchor Link Using the Block Editor

      Creating anchor links using the Block Editor is even easier than with its Classic counterpart. That’s because the Block Editor enables you to add HTML anchors or IDs without the need to switch over to the code view.

      As with the previous method, the first thing you need to do is add an HTML ID or anchor to the text you want to link to. Select the text in the Block Editor, and open the Advanced tab within the Block section to the right.

      Adding an HTML anchor using the Block Editor.

      You’ll see a field called HTML anchor. All you need to do is add some unique anchor text within that field, and you’re ready to create the link. Select the text where the anchor link will go, and click on the option to add a link.

      Adding a link using the Block Editor.

      Instead of a regular URL, add a link that looks like this:

      #anchor-text-goes-here

      The link won’t work if you forget to add the “#” sign before the anchor text. Confirm the link, and that’s it.

      Adding an anchor link using the Block Editor.

      The Block Editor can automatically recognize if a link points to an internal or external page. If it recognizes the anchor text you enter, it will automatically display it as an internal link, as shown in the screenshot above.

      All that’s left to do now is repeat the process as many times as you need, depending on how many sections you want to link to. The Block Editor allows you to do this in a matter of minutes, which is perfect if you deal with long-form content on a regular basis.

      3. Create an Anchor Link in WordPress Using a Plugin

      It shouldn’t come as a surprise that there’s more than one plugin you can use to add anchor links in WordPress. So instead of recommending a single option, we’ll show you how to use two plugins, one geared toward simple anchor links and the other designed for building tables of contents.

      Let’s start with the former. The Advanced Editor Tools plugin is a tool that adds a broad range of features to both the Classic and Block Editors.

      Add Anchor Links Using the Advanced Editor Tools Plugin

      The Advanced Editor Tools plugin.

      However, it’s worth noting that this plugin only offers an option for adding anchor links in the Classic Editor.

      To see that feature in action, open the Classic Editor and select the text you want to add an HTML anchor to. You’ll see a new menu on top of the default Classic Editor formatting options. Select Insert and click on Anchor.

      Using the Advanced Editor Tools to add an anchor ID.

      That option will open a simple pop-up, which you can use to specify the anchor ID you want to use.

      Adding an HTML anchor using a plugin.

      Click OK, and you just added an HTML ID in the Classic Editor without needing to tinker with code.

      Now, go ahead and add a link that points toward this anchor anywhere you want within the same page.

      Adding an anchor link in WordPress.

      Advanced Editor Tools adds plenty of other features to the Classic Editor. You can read about them on the plugin’s official page. For now, let’s explore a different approach to adding anchor links in WordPress using plugins.

      Create a Table of Contents Using the Easy Table of Contents Plugin

      Creating a table of contents for each of your posts can be a lot of work. You have to add multiple anchor IDs manually and create links one by one. Moreover, you might also want to style the table of contents so it doesn’t look like a regular list within a post.

      One way to tackle that process more efficiently is by using a plugin such as Easy Table of Contents. This plugin can help you automatically generate tables of contents for posts and pages within your website.

      The Easy Table of Contents plugin.

      After you activate the plugin, you’ll need to configure its settings. Go to Settings > Table of Contents, and look for the section that says Enable Support at the top of the page. By default, the plugin will only work for pages, so you may want to enable its functionality for posts as well.

      Configuring the Easy Table of Contents plugin.

      Now scroll down to the Position and Show when settings, which are right next to each other. The Position setting will enable you to decide where to display your tables of contents. By default, they’ll show up on posts and pages right before the first heading.

      Configuring where to display your table of contents.

      The Show when setting lets you decide how many headings a post or page needs for the plugin to display a table of contents. By default, the plugin sets that number to four, but you can change it.

      Deciding how many subheadings a post should include to display a table of contents.

      Once you configure those settings, save your changes and go to the post or page where you want to add the table of contents. Open the Block Editor and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you’ll see a new section called Table of Contents. There should be an option at the top to insert a table of contents for that post or page.

      Adding a table of contents to a post using the Easy Table of Contents plugin.

      The plugin will automatically set anchor IDs and generate a full table of contents leading to them. That table will include any subheadings within the post or page that you add it to unless you choose to exclude some of them.

      A table of contents generated using a plugin.

      Although the plugin includes an option for adding tables of contents automatically, we recommend that you decide which posts to use it for manually. This only takes a second, and you’ll avoid generating tables of content for posts or pages that don’t need them.

      Finally, if you’re not happy with the plugin’s default style for its tables of contents, you’re free to change it. The plugin’s Settings screen includes several options for modifying the appearance of its tables.

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      Check Out Our Other WordPress Tutorials

      If you want to learn more about improving the WordPress user experience and your site’s SEO, here are a few additional tutorials you may want to check out:

      Using anchor links is just one of the many tricks you can implement to improve your website’s search engine rankings. The more you understand SEO, the easier it will be to create search-engine-friendly content from the moment you publish it.

      Conclusion

      Anchor links are incredibly useful elements for helping users navigate complex pages and long-form content. You can use anchor links in tables of contents, navigation menus, footnotes, and more.

      Most importantly, WordPress makes it incredibly simple to add anchor links to your content. Let’s recap the three ways you can add anchor links in WordPress:

      1. Add anchor links manually using the Classic Editor.
      2. Add anchor links manually using the Block Editor.
      3. Create anchor links using plugins such as Advanced Editor Tools and Easy Table of Contents.

      Are you looking for a WordPress host that can help you serve long-form content to thousands of visitors without slowing down your site? DreamHost plans are designed to handle large amounts of traffic while keeping your website fast. Check out one of our WordPress hosting packages today!



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