WPBeginner

Beginner's Guide for WordPress

  • Blog
    • Beginners Guide
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Showcase
    • Themes
    • Tutorials
    • WordPress Plugins
  • Start Here
    • How to Start a Blog
    • Create a Website
    • Start an Online Store
    • Best Website Builder
    • Email Marketing
    • WordPress Hosting
    • Business Name Ideas
  • Deals
    • Bluehost Coupon
    • SiteGround Coupon
    • WP Engine Coupon
    • HostGator Coupon
    • Domain.com Coupon
    • Constant Contact
    • View All Deals »
  • Glossary
  • Videos
  • Products
X
☰
Beginner's Guide for WordPress / Start your WordPress Blog in minutes
Choosing the Best
WordPress Hosting
How to Easily
Install WordPress
Recommended
WordPress Plugins
View all Guides

WPBeginner» Blog» Plugins» How to Add Simple and Elegant Footnotes in Your WordPress Blog Posts

How to Add Simple and Elegant Footnotes in Your WordPress Blog Posts

Last updated on April 11th, 2012 by Editorial Staff
43 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Free WordPress Video Tutorials on YouTube by WPBeginner
How to Add Simple and Elegant Footnotes in Your WordPress Blog Posts

We have never considered ourselves a journalist nor do we have any professional experience in writing. We are just a group of WordPress fanatics who love sharing what we know. However, if you are a journalist or someone who fancies professional writing, then you probably have found yourself in a need for the ability to add footnotes to your WordPress posts. Recently, we received a question from an aspiring new writer and WordPress user asking us if there was a way to add footnotes in WordPress blog posts. Well as we say it, “There’s a plugin for that”. In this article, we will show you how to create simple and elegant footnotes in your WordPress blog posts.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the plugin called Simple Footnotes.

Once you have activated simply go to your Post Edit screen, and use the shortcode [ref] where you want to enter the footnotes. An example usage would be:

Your Sentence will go here. [ref]Your Footnote[/ref]

The end result for this would look something like this:

Simple Footnotes Example

Just like footnotes work in any other software (Word, Pages etc), in WordPress it will automatically increment the count. All notes will be automatically added at the bottom of your post.

If you have split your WordPress posts in multiple pages, then you can optionally move your footnotes below your page links or leave it to appear below content (like normal). You can do this by going to Settings » Reading. It is important to note that footnotes will appear as normal for posts that are unpaginated.

Get Simple Footnotes

43 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share
Pin
Popular on WPBeginner Right Now!
  • How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

    How to Start Your Own Podcast (Step by Step)

  • Checklist

    Checklist: 15 Things You MUST DO Before Changing WordPress Themes

  • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

    How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress

  • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org

About the Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WPBeginner is a team of WordPress experts led by Syed Balkhi. Trusted by over 1.3 million readers worldwide.

The Ultimate WordPress Toolkit

14 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Ciprian says:
    Aug 26, 2019 at 5:20 pm

    Hi,

    Thanks for this info, I`ve tried it and it`s working fine, but now I have a curiosity:

    – the link for this notes are dofollow, from seo point of view, is this ok or we should make them nofollow?

    – if we need them nofollow, how can we do that?

    Thanks a lot.

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Aug 27, 2019 at 9:27 am

      For nofollowing links, you would want to take a look at our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-add-nofollow-links-in-wordpress/

      Reply
  2. Didier Van Bogget says:
    Aug 12, 2014 at 5:33 pm

    Work fine ! Really simple. Thank you.

    Reply
  3. David says:
    Aug 2, 2013 at 3:46 am

    Hey, forgive my ignorance, but I can’t figure out how to activate this, or any other plugin. What am I missing?

    Reply
    • Editorial Staff says:
      Aug 26, 2013 at 1:41 pm

      Are you using WordPress.com or self-hosted WordPress.org?

      https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/self-hosted-wordpress-org-vs-free-wordpress-com-infograph/

      Reply
  4. Hank says:
    Mar 14, 2013 at 6:11 pm

    I added the plugin and tried some footnotes. When I click on the little number that should link to the footnote, it takes me below the comment box on the WordPress page and doesn’t display the footnote. I have to scroll up to see the footnote.

    Does anyone know how I can get it to land on the actual footnote?

    Reply
    • Editorial Staff says:
      Mar 17, 2013 at 11:57 pm

      It sounds like a CSS issue in your theme which causing this.

      Reply
      • Hank DeBey says:
        Mar 18, 2013 at 11:57 am

        I had some remnants of earlier footnote attempts in the code. I removed those and things are better. Thanks for your help.

        Reply
    • Evan Lowry says:
      Mar 18, 2013 at 7:53 am

      Does it still do this when you view the page when you are signed out of the Dashboard? For me, when the dashboard menu is up top (when I am signed in), it makes it appear that the FN links are taking me too low–but then when I view the same page logged out, as a reader would, the FNs work properly.

      Reply
  5. Evan Lowry says:
    Feb 18, 2013 at 9:22 am

    This is a great plugin, but in the version I downloaded for 3.5.1, the footnotes reset after ten, back to zero, in the footer. Does anyone know how to fix this? I just want it to continue: 11, 12, etc…

    Reply
    • Editorial Staff says:
      Feb 21, 2013 at 10:02 am

      Did you try contacting the author?

      Reply
  6. Kiesha Michelle says:
    Oct 16, 2012 at 7:31 am

    Thanks for this!! I was trying to figure out how to add footnotes…. :)

    Reply
  7. fatihtoprak says:
    Apr 19, 2012 at 4:14 am

    Great plugin thanks for that.

    Reply
  8. retlkpr says:
    Apr 12, 2012 at 12:51 am

    Now that is one I did not know about. Thanks!  It works great.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Thanks for choosing to leave a comment. Please keep in mind that all comments are moderated according to our comment policy, and your email address will NOT be published. Please Do NOT use keywords in the name field. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation.

Over 1,320,000+ Readers

Get fresh content from WPBeginner

Featured WordPress Plugin
All in One SEO logo
All in One SEO
Improve website SEO rankings with AIOSEO plugin. Learn More »
How to Start a Blog How to Start a Blog
I need help with ...
Starting a
Blog
WordPress
Performance
WordPress
Security
WordPress
SEO
WordPress
Errors
Building an
Online Store
Useful WordPress Guides
    • 7 Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (Pros and Cons)
    • How to Fix the Error Establishing a Database Connection in WordPress
    • Why You Need a CDN for your WordPress Blog? [Infographic]
    • 30 Legit Ways to Make Money Online Blogging with WordPress
    • Self Hosted WordPress.org vs. Free WordPress.com [Infograph]
    • Free Recording: WordPress Workshop for Beginners
    • 24 Must Have WordPress Plugins for Business Websites
    • How to Properly Move Your Blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
    • 5 Best Contact Form Plugins for WordPress Compared
    • Which is the Best WordPress Popup Plugin? (Comparison)
    • Best WooCommerce Hosting in 2020 (Comparison)
    • How to Fix the Internal Server Error in WordPress
    • How to Install WordPress - Complete WordPress Installation Tutorial
    • Why You Should Start Building an Email List Right Away
    • How to Properly Move WordPress to a New Domain Without Losing SEO
    • How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting for Your Website
    • How to Choose the Best Blogging Platform (Comparison)
    • WordPress Tutorials - 200+ Step by Step WordPress Tutorials
    • 5 Best WordPress Ecommerce Plugins Compared
    • 5 Best WordPress Membership Plugins (Compared)
    • 7 Best Email Marketing Services for Small Business (2020)
    • How to Choose the Best Domain Registrar (Compared)
    • The Truth About Shared WordPress Web Hosting
    • When Do You Really Need Managed WordPress Hosting?
    • 5 Best Drag and Drop WordPress Page Builders Compared
    • How to Switch from Blogger to WordPress without Losing Google Rankings
    • How to Properly Switch From Wix to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • How to Properly Move from Weebly to WordPress (Step by Step)
    • Do You Really Need a VPS? Best WordPress VPS Hosting Compared
    • How to Properly Move from Squarespace to WordPress
    • How to Register a Domain Name (+ tip to get it for FREE)
    • HostGator Review - An Honest Look at Speed & Uptime (2020)
    • SiteGround Reviews from 4196 Users & Our Experts (2020)
    • Bluehost Review from Real Users + Performance Stats (2020)
    • How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
    • How to Create an Email Newsletter the RIGHT WAY (Step by Step)
    • Free Business Name Generator (A.I Powered)
    • How to Create a Free Business Email Address in 5 Minutes (Step by Step)
    • How to Install Google Analytics in WordPress for Beginners
    • How to Move WordPress to a New Host or Server With No Downtime
    • Why is WordPress Free? What are the Costs? What is the Catch?
    • How to Make a Website in 2020 – Step by Step Guide
Deals & Coupons (view all)
MainWP
MainWP Coupon
Get 15% OFF on MainWP WordPress multisite manager plugin.
Sprout Invoices
Sprout Invoices Coupon
Get 50% OFF on Sprout Invoices WordPress invoicing plugin.
Featured In
About WPBeginner®

WPBeginner is a free WordPress resource site for Beginners. WPBeginner was founded in July 2009 by Syed Balkhi. The main goal of this site is to provide quality tips, tricks, hacks, and other WordPress resources that allows WordPress beginners to improve their site(s).
Join our team: We are Hiring!

Site Links
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • FTC Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Free Blog Setup
  • Free Business Tools
Our Sites
  • OptinMonster
  • MonsterInsights
  • WPForms
  • SeedProd
  • Nameboy
  • RafflePress
  • Smash Balloon

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 WPBeginner LLC. All Rights Reserved. WPBeginner® is a registered trademark.

Managed by Awesome Motive | WordPress hosting by SiteGround | WordPress CDN by MaxCDN | WordPress Security by Sucuri.