Footers: how do you use them?

Webweaving
1

I just realised I don’t know really know what to put in a footer. What do you do with yours? Copyright notice? Little messages?

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2

oh!! I have several things in my footer (if you can’t tell i love brutalist maximalism):

  • links to most important pages
  • “about” blurb (i think this is good for SEO but idk)
  • notice about license (AGPL and creative commons)
  • land acknowledgement
  • indieweb buttons
  • a lil’ “powered by deflect.ca” watermark (my CDN and DDoS protection)
  • a dynamic link to the most recent commit
  • a toggle for the custom cursor I have
  • a little cute message that changes depending on the time of day, I wrote about the specific code for that.

wow it’s even more than i realized…

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3

Depending on the site, I have buttons, modification dates, support links, license text, and in one case wiki-related stuff like a search box. But it varies. On some pages I don’t even have a footer at all.

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4

I don’t think I’ve put a footer on any of my websites in a few years at this point and you’ve actually got me thinking about why that is.

… I’ve got nothing. It just doesn’t feel useful anymore, I guess.

I take that back. I do have a disclaimer in the footer of the fansite I’m working on to make sure that every page lets people know it’s a fansite and has nothing to do with the band its for! That’s a good use of a footer. Otherwise, yeah, I don’t think it’s necessary to have one if you don’t want/need one!

(EDIT: I lied. My personal site does technically have a footer for extra navigation, and my blog has a little fun message under the sidebar. But not a “standard” footer.)

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5

My site’s footer states that all my content is CC BY-SA, and also adds a message encouraging people who actually read the footer to read my blog. I expect most people to not read it.

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6

love a good footer. I usually add fake copyright stuff with the year I started my site and the current year, just for aesthetic reasons. otherwise I link some relevant buttons or sites (often those that served as inspiration for the specific page).

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7

excellent footer, I love the about section <3<3

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8

This is my footer code in full. It covers three different surfaces: desktop, mobile and command-line. And it works, even if the code itself is a bit… obtuse. :person_shrugging:

<footer>
    <center>
<?php
    if (!is_lynx()) {
        if (in_array($page, $glitch_pages)) {
            $foot_suffix = "-linux";
        } elseif ($is_batman) {
            $foot_suffix = "-batman";
        } else {
            $foot_suffix = "";
        }
        echo "\t\t<img src=\"/images/hv-lg{$foot_suffix}.png\" alt=\"Footer interface icon\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"15%\"><br>";
        echo "\n";
    }
?>
        <small>
            <?php if (is_lynx()) { echo "(C)"; } else { echo "©"; } ?> 2013-<?php echo date("Y"); ?> <strong>HisVirusness</strong>. <?php if (is_mobile()) { echo "<br>"; }?>All Rights Reserved.<br><?php if (is_mobile()) { echo "<br>"; }?>This site is a <?php if (is_mobile()) { echo "<br>"; }?>rolling-release neuro-zine.<?php if (is_mobile()) { echo "<br>"; }?>

<?php echo hv_support(1); ?>
        </small>
    </center>
</footer>
3 Likes
9

Tbh I only use it as a “copyright” text thing to further add character to the site/webpages. Like for example in Cosy Diner, I kinda take the piss on the phrases of “copyright blah blah” or “all rights reserved something” to make it clear to people that this is not a corporate entity nor trying to sell you something.

4 Likes
10

After some refinements, I arrived at,

Copyleft: all wrongs reserved; all rights reversed; AI slop reviled; “If you need to ask what license this site is under, you’re asking the wrong question.”

But yeah, good point. Though I do write “Nosy Cat Studios, 2026” in license files, e.g. on Codeberg.

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11

i never really thought about the footer. I only use it in my home page to display some 88x31 buttons and a little copyright notice, but in every other page I haven’t implemented any footer. I don’t know what I’d put there with how I designed my site, I don’t have information left to put there.

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12

Interesting topic!

I use the footer of my personal website as the ‘expanded’ menu. When you click on ‘More’ in the top menu, it just drops you down to the footer. So it’s the full menu / site map for the entire site.

This was inspired by Jim Nielsen. He has a dedicated page for the full menu, but I liked the idea of using the footer better.

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13

Thank you for all the replies! My design initially didn’t have a footer so I’ll probably just put one on the homepage with copyright stuff and leave it at that.

1 Like
14

I have a few different sites, and, when I use footers, I tend to use them for links to copyright stuff, the RSS feed, the sitemap, and the Neocities profile for the site.

Occasionally, for things like fanlistings, I’ll use it for linking to where I’m listed, and/or credits.

1 Like
15

i only have my singular website and a colour tcg activity site … for my primary site it’s like, quick links? rss feed, neoities profile, guestbook, credits, about me link, and contact

my colours tcg just has the credit for the template + other items

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16

I air on the side of no footer, especially with a sticky header, for service businesses I think it makes sense to have open-times and quick links, that sort of stuff. But on my personal site, everything is above-the-fold on desktop, and find that most footers repeat links from the header anyway and I wouldn’t want to break the desktop experience.

If I was to add a footer it would seem like the user is out of bounds… since my global site background is a grey-white checkerboard. I might consider in the future doing something fun and play up the transparency illusion.

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17

I originally did not have a footer on my site, but during my last major revision I wanted to add some pages about the site itself (such as colophon, site history, accessibility, and privacy) but avoid cluttering the sidebar with too many links that most probably won’t care about, nor do I feel like they need to. So a footer was convenient for that. While I was at it I decided to add a semi-silly copyright notice.

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18

I’ve got a cartoon on my footer (that I keep meaning to animate). I’ve a few buttons, a big old “Under Construction” button, webrings, some openweb stuff. Very simple stuff really.

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19

I’ve been working on an overhaul of my website and reading this thread made me realize I completely forgot about the footer lol

for the record, I’m now adding one and it’s mostly just a sitemap, copyright and other notices, and a few web buttons for the technologies I used while making the site

that said, I feel like my footer is really generic, and I want to see some weird, wacky ones so if anyone has one like that please show me

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20

I’m also in the camp of the fake copyright thing in my footer, I think it’s fun and silly. I also put my RSS button there as I don’t really like the look of it in my header lol.
Once I get my sitemap up I do plan to link it there. I used to have my other socials listed in my footer as well but I don’t really deem that too important as I’m not on my socials much anymore. Maybe I’ll add an email me button there at some point, I’m unsure.

3 Likes