Welcome to Day 10 of our HTML series!
It is Saturday, January 10th, 2026. You have survived the first week back at work. You have checked your emails. You have drunk the coffee. But take a moment to scroll to the very bottom of your website. Right down to the footer.
Does it say: © 2025 My Business Ltd?
Or worse: © 2023?
Nothing screams “This business is abandoned” quite like an out-of-date copyright notice. It is a tiny detail, but it destroys trust. It makes customers wonder: “If they can’t be bothered to update the date, are they still shipping orders?”
For many business owners, fixing this is a yearly ritual. You log in, hunt for the setting, change the 5 to a 6, and forget about it for 12 months.
Today, in this Weekend Workshop, we are going to fix this. We will explain the HTML Entity behind the copyright symbol, and we will teach you a simple line of code that will update the date automatically forever, so you never have to do this chore again.
The “Static” Trap: Why It Doesn’t Update 🛑
You might assume that because computers are smart, they know what year it is, but most WordPress themes (especially older ones) treat the footer as a Static HTML Widget. When the developer built the site, they didn’t write “Insert Current Year.” They literally typed the numbers “2 0 2 5”.
To the browser, that isn’t a date. It is just text. It is no different from the word “Sausage.” It won’t change unless you change it. To fix this, we need to locate the widget and edit the HTML.
Part 1: The “Manual” Fix (And the Magic Symbol) ✍️
First, let’s look at how to change it manually. This introduces a key HTML concept: Entities.
The Problem with Symbols
In HTML, some characters are reserved.
<starts a tag.>ends a tag.&starts a special code.
If you just type (c) on your keyboard, it looks tacky. You want the professional symbol: ©.
To ensure this displays correctly on every browser in the world, we use an HTML Entity.
- The Code:
© - The Translation: “Browser, please render the Copyright Symbol.”
How to Edit It in WordPress
- Log In to your dashboard.
- Go to Appearance > Widgets (or Appearance > Customize > Footer in newer themes).
- Look for a “Footer Bar” or “Copyright” widget.
- You will likely see a “Custom HTML” block or a text box.
The Code You Will See:
<p>© 2025 Bob's Plumbing Ltd. All Rights Reserved.</p>
The Fix:
Simply delete 2025 and type 2026.
Hit “Publish.”
Time taken: 2 minutes.
Annoyance factor: You have to remember to do it again next January.
Part 2: The “Automatic” Fix (The JavaScript Trick) ⚡
We are learning code this month, so let’s be smarter. Let’s make the browser do the work.
We can’t use HTML to calculate the date (HTML is just a skeleton, remember?). But we can use a tiny snippet of JavaScript (The Muscle) inside our HTML.
The Magic Script:
<script>document.write(new Date().getFullYear())</script>
What this does:
<script>: Tells the browser “Here comes some JavaScript.”new Date(): Get the current date from the user’s computer..getFullYear(): Extract just the year (e.g., 2026).document.write(...): Print that number right here on the page.
How to Install It
Go back to that same Footer Widget where you found the static text.
Old Code:
<p>© 2025 Bob's Plumbing Ltd.</p>
New Code:
<p>
© <script>document.write(new Date().getFullYear())</script> Bob's Plumbing Ltd.
</p>
The Result:
Next year, on January 1st, 2027, this number will flip over automatically. You are free.
(Note: Some security plugins block <script> tags in widgets. If this doesn’t work, don’t panic—see Part 3).
Part 3: The “Professional” Fix (GeneratePress & Shortcodes) 🎨
If putting JavaScript in a widget feels a bit scary, or if your host blocks it, modern themes have a better way.
If you use GeneratePress Premium (our recommended theme), they use Template Tags or Shortcodes. These are dynamic placeholders that the server replaces before sending the page to the browser.
In GeneratePress:
- Go to Customize > Layout > Footer.
- In the Copyright box, type:
%current_year% - Full text:
© %current_year% My Business Name
In Other Themes (Shortcodes):
Many themes support a shortcode like [current_year].
- Try typing
[current_year]in your footer widget. - Save and view the site.
- If it shows “2026”, great! If it literally shows “[current_year]”, your theme doesn’t support it.
The “Link” Dilemma: Privacy Policy & Credits 🔗
While you are in the footer, look at what else is there.
This is the <footer> container we discussed yesterday. It usually contains other vital elements, as as The Legal Links
You legally require a link to your Privacy Policy (GDPR), so make sure you haven’t accidentally deleted this while editing the date.
The HTML Code:
<a href="/privacy-policy/">Privacy Policy</a>
Summary Checklist: The Footer Polish
- [ ] Check: Scroll down. What year does it say?
- [ ] Symbol: Are you using
©or a messy(c)? - [ ] Update: Change the year to 2026.
- [ ] Automate: Try the JavaScript snippet or your theme’s shortcode (
%current_year%) to fix it forever. - [ ] Verify: Click your Privacy Policy link. Does it still work?
You have now mastered the Footer. It is accurate, professional, and maintenance-free.
📅 Coming Up Tomorrow…
It is Sunday. We are going to take a break from coding and look at a sneaky trick used by developers and competitors.
Have you ever seen a website and thought: “I wonder what theme they are using?” or “How did they make that button?”
Join us for our Sunday Special: The “View Source” Trick (Spying on Competitors). We will teach you how to look under the bonnet of other people’s cars.