How to Change the Footer In WordPress (2024)
Learn how to extensively change the footer in WordPress by using several methods, plugins, and no plugins.
The Basics
WordPress is one of the most highly regarded platforms for many reasons. Hundreds of thousands of people around the globe use WordPress every day. It’s simply because WordPress offers unmatched customizability, control, accessibility, pricing, and reliability.
One of the most important things they offer is a high degree of control that you don’t see anywhere else. The sheer number of options and features WordPress lets you customize can be overwhelming. This unsurpassed level of control is what makes WordPress truly unique.
Some of the main things you can change about your website are the design, layout, and aesthetic. Your site’s footer is a vital part of this because it displays at the bottom of every single page on your website. The footer usually will look something like this:
The footer is an area at the bottom of your website that is displayed on every page, though many beginners often neglect it. Not changing your footer can lead to poor website design and can make your website look extremely unprofessional.
The footer is heavily underused by most WordPress users, even though it is seen by most people who visit your site. Most people leave it as default and keep the “Powered by WordPress” text. Removing credits and adding links to your footer is a crucial step when designing your site.
The footer of your site can affect your SEO and attract users when they visit your site. Most people do not realize this because they think no one will see the bottom of their site. Footers not only improve SEO linking but are also known to help improve traffic.
Fortunately, making changes to your site’s footer isn’t arduous whatsoever. It is easy to get started and will take no time to perfect. However, before we start. I recommend backing up your WordPress site for safety. You might also want to put your site on Maintenance Mode, which you can read more about in this article.
If you want the best way to have your footer or the entire website edited, I would highly recommend Labinator’s WordPress Solutions. Their web-experts can do all of the work for you and help you make your dream website, all for some of the best prices.
In this ultimate guide for all WordPress users, I will explain how to change your footer in several ways and show what makes a perfect footer. You will learn how to easily change your footer, both with and without plugins. By the end of this guide, you will have a gorgeous and professional footer with little to no effort.
Using the Customizer
The first and most common way to edit your footer is using the WordPress Customizer. This built-in tool is mostly used for changing your WordPress theme, but it can also edit the footer. I would highly recommend this method because it is easy and does not require any plugins.
To edit your footer using the Customizer, follow these steps:
- Log into your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Customize under the Appearance tab.
- Open up the Customizer and find the Footer section.
- It should look something like this:
After finding that section, you can make any changes you want to your footer. Just make sure to save your changes and remove the credits using the next section. You can also repeat this process by using a page-builder like Elementor or a theme framework if you want.
Page-builders are also great for editing the footer in your website. You need a compatible theme for this, which is why I highly recommend NanoSpace by Labinator for this. Just open your page-builder section on the WordPress dashboard. Then find the footer section and edit it from there.
Editing the Widgets
The next way to change the looks of your theme is by editing the widgets in it. Widgets provide functions like social media icons, email functions, calendars, galleries, and other things to your footers. These widgets can help create beautiful and interactive footers that look stunning.
To start the process, follow these steps:
- Start by going to your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Customize under Appearance.
- Find the Widgets section on the left.
- You edit, remove, and add widgets from that menu.
There are many different types of widgets in WordPress ranging from archives to reviews. Just make sure to properly rearrange them when you add or delete them. Your theme also comes with some pre-existing ones that you may want to delete. Here are some examples of the different types of widgets:
Editing the Footer Code
The last way to make changes to your footer is by editing the code directly. I wouldn’t recommend this route to most people, especially beginners, because it can cause technical problems on your site. You need to know what you’re doing with code if you want to choose this route.
However, before you do this, I would highly recommend you safely back up your website. Changing code can cause serious issues, so you have to take the right precautions. You need to create a child theme if you want to keep changes. Making a child theme is easy, so I recommend following the section in this article.
To start, you need to find the footer file in your WordPress directory using an FTP client. The file for the footer is called footer.php and is located in your theme’s folder. You can edit this file using an FTP client and add any code you want. The rest is self-explanatory because it’s all up to you to change everything.
Removing the Credits
The last thing I will be covering is a simple process that can help when editing your footer. The default footer in WordPress contains the text “Powered by WordPress” and you should remove it. Credits from other plugins can also appear, though there is an easy fix to this.
You can either install a plugin or delete it by changing the code of your WordPress site. If you want a plugin to use, then install and activate Remove Footer Credit. Then go to the page for the plugin under tools in your dashboard. Everything else you will need will be on that page.
The other way to do this is by changing the code of your site directly. To do this, follow the previous section’s instructions on accessing the footer file. Then find the part containing the code that is creating the credit text. All you have to do is delete it and any other credit texts.
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