How To Edit The WordPress Footer

May 15. 2020

When it comes to making a website design look good, one cannot fail to address the footer. As a matter of fact, integrating the footer well is just as important as integrating the header is. In order to be able to make changes to the footer, you first ought to master the techniques of intervening into the right section, and further adjust just the right elements. Although this sounds rather complicated, with the help of the following article, you will learn just how to edit the WordPress footer with fair ease.

Learning how to edit the WordPress footer

There are four methods you can apply in order to access the process of editing the footer area in the backend.

1. Editing the WordPress footer code

Taking this route means applying changes to the footer.php file. To start, make sure that you are logged in to the WordPress Admin dashboard. Once there, take a look at the left-hand menu. Click on the Appearance tab, and than Editor. In the list of theme files, you will see on the right side, look for the file named Theme Footer (footer.php), and click on it. What you will then see are coding lines. Now, it is important noting that making any modifications directly in the footer.php code lines is strongly unadvisable. Instead of doing so, here are some better options for you to consider:

• Create a child theme and apply changes to the code of the corresponding footer file (in that child theme)
• Create a backup of your theme files. In a case where the theme breaks, you only need to revert to the previous theme version you have stored as a backup.
• Comment the code in the footer.php file. Doing so will allow you to avoid removing any existing lines of code.

Truth be told, this technique of editing the footer in WordPress does require some previously earned coding skills. So, make sure that you use it cautiously, or opt for some other of the following methods.

2. Changing footer content in the theme Customizer

Here we have a much simpler option that will help you edit the WordPress footer. Simply log in to the WordPress Admin Dashboard, then go to Appearance and then Customize. This will take you to the Customizer of the WordPress theme you have previously installed and activated. Whilst in the Customizer, you should be able to find a section that is dedicated to the Footer Settings. Depending on the theme you have, the Footer Settings section will have multiple various options, all of which should allow for changes both to content and to the design of the footer. As you can see, this option will make it easier for you to adjust the settings for the website footer, without the need of having any coding skills.

3. Adding WordPress footer CSS

The previous method, however, might not have all of the options you want in order to change your footer exactly to your liking. For example, you might want to remove “Proudly Powered by WordPress”, and simply hide the footer content in your website pages. In order to do so, you will have to add some custom CSS to your theme. The process of achieving this starts with login in to your WordPress Admin dashboard. When there, go to Appearance, followed by Customize. This will further take you to the active theme Customizer. Depending on the one you have, the looks of it will change. Now, while in the Customizer, you should be able to find a section that is dedicated to Additional CSS. As you can see, this is much like the previous step, however, this is where they part. You might find the Additional CSS as a separate section, or as a subsection in General Settings. So, don’t let that confuse you. You want to fill in the blank space for additional CSS with the following lines:

.site-info{

display:none;

}

After doing so, make sure to press “Publish”. From there, you can open your website, or refresh the page, if the website is already open in your browser, and check for results. The “Proudly powered by WordPress” should no longer be visible in your website pages.

4. Editing the footer widget in WordPress

Finally, the last way to edit the WordPress footer, as well as the footer contents, is from widgets. To locate a WordPress footer widget, you will have to log in to your WordPress Admin dashboard. Click on the Appearance you will see in the left-hand menu, and then go to Widgets. You will be directed to a dashboard that will show you various widgets. On the left, you will find a list of all the available ones, and on the right will be the footer widget sections you need to fill in with the selected widgets. What you need to do from there is rather easy. Simply drag and drop the widgets you want from the list on the left to the “Footer 1”, and “Footer 2”. As you can see, this allows you to customize the appearance of your footer exactly to your liking, all with little effort.

As you can see, there are various ways you can go about editing the footer in your WordPress. Before meddling with code, make sure that you are completely aware of what you are doing. If you have no knowledge of it, go for any other option. After all, you don’t want to risk making a mistake, as it can lead to some serious consequences. So be smart, and stay safe when you set out to edit the WordPress footer. Good luck!