customize wordpress admin panel

Do you want to change the footer message in your WordPress admin panel?

The default footer in the WordPress dashboard simply states that the site has been made with WordPress and displays the version number. You may want to change that so you can credit yourself for developing the theme, advertise a pro version of a plugin, or even add support links for your clients.

In this article, we will show you how to change the footer in the WordPress admin panel.

How to change the footer in WordPress admin

Why Change the Admin Panel Footer?

The default footer in your WordPress website‘s admin area is basic and doesn’t really serve a purpose for most users.

It has a link to the WordPress home page and displays the version of WordPress you’re currently running. If there’s an update available, the footer link will change to let you get it and update your site.

That’s it, though. You can change it to have links back to your own site, provide some helpful links for your users, or just remove it entirely since the space isn’t seen all that often anyway.

With that in mind, let’s dig in and see how to change the WordPress admin footer two different ways.

Method 1. Changing the Footer in the WordPress Admin with WPCode
Method 2. Changing the Footer in the WordPress Admin Manually

To change the footer in the admin dashboard, we’re going to insert a code snippet into our theme’s functions.php file.

Normally, we only recommend pasting code snippets into your WordPress core files for advanced users because even a slight mistake can break your site. Plus, if you update your theme, any changes to the functions.php file will be erased.

That’s why we will be using the free WPCode plugin, which makes it safe for anyone to add code snippets into WordPress files.

First, you will need to install and activate WPCode. For detailed instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once that’s done, go to Code Snippets » Add Snippet in the admin dashboard’s left-hand menu.

Simply search for ‘footer’ and hover your mouse over the entry titled ‘Change Admin Panel Footer Text.’

Then, all you need to do is click the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Use snippet in WPCode to change the footer

Next, you’ll be taken to the Edit Snippet screen. WPCode automatically configures settings for snippets that you add from the library.

Next, you just need to change the footer text on Line 5 to whatever you want the new content to say. You will need to use HTML if you intend to include links or anything other than plain text.

WPCode edit snippet to change footer text

When you’ve changed the footer text to your liking, just toggle the switch to ‘Active’ and click the ‘Update’ button.

The new admin panel footer will now be live on your site. It will vary based on your specific changes, but the default WPCode snippet looks like this:

The example admin panel footer for the WPCode snippet

If you like how this code snippet works, you can take a look at the WPCode snippet library found at Code Snippets » Library to see everything that comes included for free with the plugin.

WPCode’s built-in library has dozens of pre-configured snippets. You can probably replace single-use plugins you have on your site. For example, WPCode can disable the WordPress REST API, WP Admin Bar, or media attachment pages.

Another method to change the footer in the WordPress admin is by adding code to your theme’s functions.php file. We recommend this for advanced users only, as even a small mistake can break your site.

For more information, see our detailed guide on how to paste code snippets from the web into WordPress.

First, you will need to connect to your site via FTP or through your WordPress hosting provider’s file manager. Then, head to your site’s /wp-content/themes/your_theme/ directory.

Where to find functions.php — Then you just need to edit the file. You can open it in a plain-text editor like Notepad, or you can use the built-in editor if your host provides one.

Simply copy and paste this code into the functions.php file.

add_filter(
	'admin_footer_text',
	function ( $footer_text ) {
		// Edit the line below to customize the footer text.
		$footer_text = 'Powered by <a href="https://www.wordpress.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WordPress</a> | WordPress Tutorials: <a href="https://www.wpbeginner.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WPBeginner</a>';
		
		return $footer_text;
	}
);

The code after it was pasted into functions.php

Be sure to change the HTML in the starts with $footer_text in the sample code to whatever you want as your new admin footer.

Finally, save your file. You should see the new footer in your admin right away.

We hope this article helped you change the footer in your WordPress admin area. You may also want to see our guide on how much does it cost to build a WordPress site, or our expert comparison of the best virtual business phone number apps for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Change the Footer in Your WordPress Admin Panel first appeared on WPBeginner.

Are you looking for a way to add and customize admin columns on your website?

WordPress shows built-in columns by default for posts, pages, comments, users, and more. However, you can make your editorial workflow faster and smoother by adding more admin columns.

In this article, we will show you how to add and customize admin columns in WordPress.

Why Add Admin Columns in WordPress?

By default, WordPress only shows a few built-in columns. For instance, in the posts section, you can only view the post’s title, author, categories, tags, and date.

Managing a WordPress site with lots of content or multiple authors means more tasks for admins to perform.

Admins of growing WordPress sites are always looking for tools and plugins to improve their editorial workflow.

A lot of the tasks that need to be performed can be done quicker if you can see all the useful information on one screen.

That’s when admin columns come in handy.

You can display additional columns in the WordPress admin area and have complete control over all columns for pages, posts, media, comments, and users.

Let’s look at how you can add and customize admin columns in WordPress.

Adding and Customizing Admin Columns in WordPress

The easiest way to add more columns in the admin area is by using the Admin Columns plugin.

It’s a free WordPress plugin that lets you manage and organize columns in the WordPress admin panel and get a clear overview of your editorial workflows.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the Admin Columns plugin on your website. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After activation, you can navigate to Settings » Admin Columns to configure admin columns.

You can customize existing admin columns by simply using the drag and drop interface and rearranging items in the order you want.

The plugin also lets you edit existing columns. For instance, you can click the ‘Edit’ button for any column and then change its type, label, and width.

In addition to the default columns, you can add more admin columns by clicking the ‘+ Add Column’ button.

For example, we added the featured image admin column for the posts screen. Admins will now see the featured images of all the blog posts in the admin panel and won’t have to view each article individually.

It’s important to note that if your thumbnails appear too big or in the wrong size, then you will need to regenerate thumbnails for new image sizes in WordPress.

After adding columns for the posts section, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button.

You can now do the same for other sections on your WordPress website. Simply click on the dropdown menu at the top and select a section for your site.

Add columns to other sections in WordPress

For example, on the media screen, you can add image dimensions, EXIF data, Alt text, and caption.

After adding these columns in the plugin, you can now head over to the WordPress admin panel to see them in action.

Here’s a preview of how a featured image column will look like in the posts section on our demo website.

Customize Other Admin Columns in WordPress

Certain popular WordPress plugins All in One SEO for WordPress and others will also automatically add columns in the admin area.

This can help you bulk edit SEO titles, meta descriptions, and more right from the post edit screen.

All in One SEO Bulk Edit Meta Description

If you see any plugin that’s adding an admin column that you do not want, then you can easily hide it by clicking on the Screen Options menu on the top right.

This will slide down a menu where you can simply uncheck the column that you don’t want to see.

Hide admin columns in WordPress using Screen Options

We hope this article helped you customize and add admin columns in WordPress. You may also check out our guide on how to choose the best web design software and the best WooCommerce plugin.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add and Customize Admin Columns in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.