Change footer in wordpress theme permanently

[Jakob]

I’m running the Wordpress theme Twenty Fifteen and would like to change the footer permanently - meaning I would like my changes not to be overwritten when I upload a newer version of the theme.

Is there a way around this?

Thanks in advance.

[rsavant]

You can use a child theme…

1. Go to your web files wp-content > themes > YOUR-THEME folder
2. Copy the theme’s footer.php file
3. Now create a child theme (video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbU12Tw7Q4U)
4. Activate Child theme in Appearance > Themes
5. Go back to your web files wp-content > themes > YOUR-CHILD-THEME folder
6. Paste the copy of the parent theme’s footer.php file into your child theme’s folder

Go back to Wordpress Editor with your Child Theme activated and you should see 3 files; your CSS file, functions.php file, and the footer.php file that you just added to your child theme folder.

Any edits that you make to your Child Theme footer.php, will override any updates that are made to your parent theme.

And you’re done!