Editing your footer & widget areas

Learn how to edit your WordPress website footer, update widget areas, and add or remove content like links, text, and contact details.

Your website's footer appears at the bottom of every page. It typically contains contact information, quick links, copyright text, and sometimes social media icons. Keeping it accurate is important — many visitors scroll down looking for this information.

Quick summary

How you edit your footer depends on your theme type. Classic themes use widget areas, edited at Appearance → Widgets, where you add blocks (or widgets) to footer areas. Block themes use the Site Editor (Appearance → Editor), where the footer is a template part you edit like any other block layout. Both approaches are covered here.

What are widgets?

A widget (a self-contained piece of content) is a small block you can place in specific areas of your site called widget areas. Many classic themes include several widget areas in the footer — for example, three or four columns side by side.

Since WordPress 5.8, the Widgets screen works with blocks, so you mostly add blocks to widget areas. Common choices (with the older widget name in brackets) include:

Paragraph (Text) — for free-form text like an address or a tagline
Navigation Menu — for a column of links
Latest Posts (Recent Posts) — for a list of your latest blog posts
Search — for a search bar
Image — for your logo or a promotional image

Using Appearance → Widgets

Go to Appearance → Widgets in your dashboard. The widgets editor opens, showing your theme's widget areas (such as footer columns) as separate sections.

Find the footer widget areas. These are usually labeled "Footer 1," "Footer 2," "Footer 3," or similar. Click one to open it and see what's currently inside.

To add content: Click the + button inside the footer area, then search for the block you want or choose Browse all.

To edit content: Click the block and change the text or links. Its other options appear in the block toolbar and the settings panel.

To remove content: Select the block, open its options menu (⋮) in the block toolbar, and choose Delete. To move it instead, drag it to another area.

Click "Update" at the top of the screen to save all your changes. Visit your site to review how the footer looks.

If your site uses the Classic Widgets plugin, you'll see the older screen instead: a list of available widgets that you drag into widget areas, with a Save button inside each widget and a Delete link to remove it.

Using the Customizer

Some themes also let you edit widgets via Appearance → Customize → Widgets — this gives you a live preview as you work.

Go to Appearance → Customize.

Click "Widgets." You'll see your widget areas listed.

Click the footer area you want to edit. Make your changes.

Click "Publish" to save changes. They go live immediately.

Block themes — newer themes that use the WordPress Site Editor — usually don't use widgets. Instead, the footer is a template part you edit visually with blocks.

Go to Appearance → Editor in your dashboard. The Site Editor opens.

In the left sidebar, click "Patterns." Template parts are listed there, and your footer is usually a template part called "Footer."

Open "Footer" from the template parts list, then click the pencil (edit) icon to start editing it.

Click any element in the footer to select and edit it. Text, links, images, and other blocks all work the same way as in the main page editor.

To add new content: Click the + icon to insert a new block in the footer layout.

Click "Save" when you're done. The change updates the footer on every page that uses this footer template part.

Not sure which type of theme you have?

Go to Appearance in your dashboard. If you see "Editor," you're on a block theme. If you see "Widgets," "Customize," "Design," or "Patterns" instead, you're on a classic theme. See WordPress themes explained for more background.

Common footer content to update

Here are the most common things clients update in their footer:

What to update	Where to find it
Phone number or address	Paragraph block (Text widget on the classic screen)
Footer navigation links	Navigation Menu widget / Navigation block
Copyright year	Paragraph block or Text widget — update manually each year if it's typed in
Social media links	Social Icons block or Custom HTML block
Business hours	Paragraph block (Text widget on the classic screen)

If the copyright year in your footer is typed in as text, it won't update by itself. It's a good habit to check it at the start of each new year. Some sites use a plugin or code snippet to display the current year automatically — ask us if you'd like that set up.

Editing footer text in a page builder

If your site was built with Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, or another page builder, your footer may be a designed template that lives inside the page builder. In that case:

Elementor users: The footer is usually an Elementor Pro Theme Builder footer. Go to Elementor → Theme Builder, click the Footer card, then click Edit. See the Elementor section of our guides.
Other builders: The footer editing location varies. Contact us if you can't find where to edit it.

Common questions

Make sure you clicked Save, Update or Publish after your changes. Also try a hard browser refresh: in Chrome or Edge, press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+R (Mac); other browsers may use a different shortcut. If you have a caching plugin, clear its cache from your dashboard.

I don't see Appearance → Widgets in my dashboard.

You're likely on a block theme. Use Appearance → Editor to edit your footer as a template part. If you don't see Editor either, your theme may not have widget areas, or your user role may not include design access (by default, only Administrators can use these screens) — contact us for help.

This depends on your theme. WordPress includes a Social Icons block, and some themes add their own social icons option. You can also use a plugin that provides a social icons widget. If you're not sure, ask us — it's a common request and usually takes just a few minutes.

The number of footer columns is usually controlled by your theme settings. Some themes let you change the column count in Appearance → Customize. Others require code changes. Tell us what you'd like, and we'll make it happen.

Most themes use the same footer on every page by default. Custom per-page footers are possible with a page builder, a plugin, or (on a block theme) a separate template, but it's an advanced customization. Let us know what you need.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.

Editing your footer & widget areas

What are widgets?

Editing the footer on a classic theme

Using Appearance → Widgets

Using the Customizer

Editing the footer on a block theme

Common footer content to update

Editing footer text in a page builder

Common questions

I edited the footer but the changes aren't showing up on my site.

I don't see Appearance → Widgets in my dashboard.

My footer has too many columns and looks crowded. Can I change it?

Can I have a different footer on different pages?

Learn more

On this page