How to Automatically Change the Copyright Date On Your WordPress Website

January 27, 2012 by Brian Bourn | 8 Comments

Automatically Change the Copyright Date on Your WordPress WebsiteWith 2012 officially off to a start, one thing to remember that many people forget to do at the beginning of a new year is to change the copyright date on their websites.

WordPress sites can be built in various ways, so depending on how your site is built, there are a few ways that copyright dates are handled.

If your website has the copyright date hard coded into WordPress theme files (most likely footer.php) you can replace the current year with and the copyright date will change to the current year and change again automatically next year.

Always remember to make a backup copy of your theme before making any changes to your theme files.

If your website copyright information is in a text widget, you will have to change it manually, but at least this article will hopefully remind you to do so.

Finally, if you are in luck and use a quality WordPress framework like Genesis by StudioPress the dynamic footer copyright date will be built into your WordPress theme and your website will already be up to the latest date.

Changing your website copyright date is a simple task that is often overlooked, but important; so either set a reminder for the first of every year or add a simple bit of code and set the annual task on autopilot.

FILED UNDER: Blogging & Blog Strategy, Website Design Tips & Strategy, Wordpress Tips & Resources
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    About the Authors: Jennifer and Brian Bourn owners of Bourn Creative, a Sacramento web design company, help established businesses build beautiful, feature-rich, custom WordPress websites and blogs, design powerful, personal brands, and help their clients learn to leverage their website and blog to attract more clients than they ever thought possible.


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    Feedback and Comments:

    1. Sue Painter

      Jan 27, 2012 at 05:14

      I’d bet half the websites out there have last year’s date on them still. Great tip, thanks, Jennifer.

      Reply

      • Jennifer Bourn

        Feb 06, 2012 at 04:28

        Ours was when Brian originally wrote this! Obviously I had him make that update right away :)

        Reply

    2. Jeff Brunson

      Jan 27, 2012 at 06:06

      Jennifer, I do this for my main website … task reminder and all. But I’ve not even thought about this for my two WP blogs. So now I end this comment and login to WP to remedy this!

      Reply

      • Jennifer Bourn

        Feb 06, 2012 at 04:24

        Great to hear – fast action :) Gotta love that!

        Reply

    3. Mary Ellen Miller

      Jan 27, 2012 at 07:00

      Thank you for this useful tip Jennifer.

      Reply

      • Jennifer Bourn

        Feb 06, 2012 at 04:27

        You’re welcome!

        Reply

    4. Tiffany deSilva

      Jan 28, 2012 at 07:09

      Thank you for the reminder, Jennifer. Also good to know that it’s automatically taken care of with the genesis framework.

      Reply

      • Jennifer Bourn

        Feb 06, 2012 at 04:07

        Tiffany – That’s one of the main reasons we build all of our custom WordPress sites and child themes on the Genesis Framework … it’s awesome!

        Reply

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