How To Edit The Footer In WordPress
Do you want to know how to edit the footer in WordPress? Whether it's removing something that you don't want, adding a copyright statement, or even putting links to your website's policies, editing the footer is the way to solve these issues. In this article, I show you how to do just that.
Don't forget to check out our WordPress basics guide for the best tips and tricks.
How To Edit The Footer In WordPress
In order to change the footer in WordPress, there are three main ways that you can do this. Let's look at them in order of the most common solutions first.
Theme Settings
One of the most common places to find what's in your footer is within the Theme's settings that you have enabled on your website. Now, there is no set way of knowing how to find where your theme's settings are in the menu, so let's look at a few common spots. Here's a quick list of where to look:
- under the "Settings" menu to see if it's there
- under the Appearance, then Themes menu, to see if there is a button on your Theme
- as a main menu item by itself
- under a main menu item by the name of the Theme developer
- inside the Appearance, then Customize screen
That's quite a few places that it could be. It all depends on which theme that you are using. Once you find where your theme settings are located, you need to go through them and look for footer settings.
Typically, there is a text box that allows you to put a copyright statement or whatever you want in the footer. Chances are, the theme already has some sort of statement there that you can now edit. Also, many themes will give you other advanced options related to the footer like social media icons and other features that you can change.
Appearance Widgets
If you didn't have any luck finding the footer settings under your theme, then another place to check is in the widgets sections. Most themes offer a few columns that you can add widgets too at the bottom of the page, which is the footer area. To check widgets, do the following:
- In your WordPress admin panel, go to "Appearance", then "Widgets"
- Locate the footer sections on the right side of the screen
- Look for "Text" blocks inside the footer section by clicking the down arrow in the upper right corner of these boxes to expand them
- Next, expand the "Text" blocks by clicking the down arrow in the upper right corner of them as well
- Locate any text in the footer that you want to change, edit it, and then click the Save button for any text boxes
Theme's Footer.php
This is the trickiest and most risky of all 3 methods. If you edit your theme's footer.php file and make a mistake, it could damage your website. That's why it's best to only use this method if you know how to code in php and you know what you are doing.
Also keep in mind that when you update your theme the next time, that most likely your changes might get overwritten, and the footer will go back to the way it was before. Typically, advanced users create a child theme here so that they don't damage the original theme before making any changes.
Chances are that the two methods above should solve most of your problems. However, if your theme settings doesn't have a way for you to remove powered by wordpress from your site, you may have to use this method.
Warning: If you make a mistake here, it could damage your website. Always make backups before doing this kind of work.
- Go to "Appearance", then "Editor"
- Select your active theme from the "Select theme to edit" drop down box
- Browse the column on the right and find the file called "footer.php", then click on it
- Edit the code to change the footer
- Click "Update File" to save your changes
Check out how to insert code into the headers and footers next.