We\u2019re here to tell you, yes, indeed it can.<\/p>\n The \u201cProudly powered by WordPress\u201d is a small message that lives in the footer section of several native WordPress themes, and not surprisingly gives a shout out to the WordPress project volunteers.<\/p>\n While this may not bother some people, others may find it misaligned to their vision. If you run a business website, or simply want to be the sole focus of your online presence, you will likely want to change or remove the WordPress footer credits.<\/p>\n So here you are, trying to figure out how to remove the \u201cproudly powered by WordPress” footer link from your site. Search no more! That\u2019s precisely what this post aims to help you achieve.<\/p>\n You will be pleased to know that removing the WordPress footer from your website won\u2019t get you into trouble.<\/p>\n WordPress, as an entity, is free and licensed under the GPL<\/a> (General Public License). This basically means you are well within your rights to use, modify, and even redistribute WordPress.<\/p>\n If that\u2019s not enough reassurance for you, any WordPress theme you download from the official WordPress.org theme directory is covered by the license. So, you\u2019re also free to make edits to those.<\/p>\n With legalities out of the way, the rest of this post will show you how to edit or even remove the WordPress copyright footer from your website, especially if you are using a WordPress default theme.<\/p>\n For more customization, check out Branda<\/a>, the plugin that lets you remove or replace the WordPress branding your theme can\u2019t\u2015without touching a line of code. Though Branda can’t change the “Powered By WordPress” section, this plugin will completely white-label everything else.<\/p>\n First things first. Before making any changes on your website, it is always a good idea to back up the contents of your site, so that if you accidentally break anything, you can quickly fix it by restoring your website to an earlier version. Many people have lost valuable information and even whole websites by failing to back them up, and we would hate that to happen to you.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a WPMU DEV member, you can schedule your site to backup automatically with Snapshot<\/a>. (Not a member yet? Become one today<\/a>!)<\/p>\n Now, let\u2019s delve in and explore the various ways in which you can remove the \u201cpowered by WordPress\u201d footer from your website.<\/p>\n This method comes up a fair amount in searches, so we\u2019re including it as a cautionary tale, one that is best avoided. It involves adding some CSS to the Theme Customizer, from the WP admin area.<\/p>\n While this is a quick & easy method, and does accomplish the task at hand, the potential detrimental effect on your website SEO is not worth the risk. Spammers use a similar technique to hide links from users, so your site is likely to be flagged.<\/p>\n Google<\/a>\u2019s stance on this is pretty clear (and we concur), so use it at your own peril.<\/p>\n We recommend the following methods.<\/p>\n To change the footer you will need:<\/p>\n Depending on what theme you are using, you may have the option to remove or edit the \u201cpowered by WordPress\u201d footer directly in your theme customizer.<\/p>\n This works best for most third-party themes. Sometimes, the native WordPress theme customizer may not be equipped to edit the footer in WordPress, so your best bet is to check in the theme settings first.<\/p>\n If you have been unable to locate the option to disable footer credits inside the theme customizer, you could also check the \u2018Widgets\u2019 section, or inside the individual theme\u2019s options.<\/p>\n Editing your theme\u2019s footer.php<\/em> file is another easy way to remove the WordPress footer credit link. The footer.php<\/em> file contains the information your site needs to display the footer of your site, including, you guessed it, the WordPress credit link.<\/p>\n The safest way to edit the WordPress footer code on your website is by using an SFTP file manager, such as Filezilla<\/a>, to access your core files. For security reasons, some web hosts disable the option to edit your theme code directly from inside your WordPress admin area.<\/p>\n If you notice that you are unable to locate your website\u2019s theme editor inside your WordPress admin area, it might have been disabled by your host. This means that you will need an SFTP file manager to access your files. But don\u2019t worry\u2015we have you covered on how to go about this.<\/p>\n Twenty Sixteen theme:![\"Proudly](\"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/proudly-powered-by-WP-footer-image-1050x479.png\")
Are There Any Legal Ramifications to Removing the WordPress Footer Credits?<\/h3>\n
Always Backup Before Making Changes<\/h3>\n
How to Hide the WordPress Copyright Footer<\/h3>\n
3 ways to Remove or Edit the WordPress Copyright Footer Link<\/h2>\n
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Method #1: via the WordPress Theme Customizer<\/h3>\n
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Method #2: via the Native Theme Options<\/h3>\n
Method #3: via Editing Footer.php<\/h3>\n
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