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Magento Basics – Change Default Footer Links

by | Mar 29, 2015 | Magento Advice | 13 comments

The default footer links are not always relevant or needed. Although it is not difficult to alter them, it is not possible without altering XML template files first.

This guide is for use on Magento 1.9.1

Change Default Footer Links

Editing your XML file

1.Find & open app/design/frontend/rwd/YOUR THEME/layout/page.xml

(If this does not exist make a copy
from rwd/default)

2.Locate the following code:

<block type="page/template_links" name="footer_links" as="footer_links" template="page/template/links.phtml">
<action method="setTitle"><title>Quick Links</title></action>
</block>
<block type="page/template_links" name="footer_links2" as="footer_links2" template="page/template/links.phtml">
<action method="setTitle"><title>Account</title></action>
</block>

3. Comment out this code with <!--          -->

4.Locate the following code:

<!--<block type="cms/block" name="footer_social_links">
<action method="setBlockId"><block_id>footer_social_links</block_id></action>
</block>-->

5. Remove the comments on this section. This will now activate the static block named footer_links_social in the backend.

6. Now refresh your cache.

Editing your static block

You should now be able to configure the links displayed in your footer via your Magento backend.

CMS -> Static Blocks -> footer_social_links

Use the following code as a template, it uses class names which use existing styling & social media sprites.

<div class="links">
<div class="block-title">
<strong><span>Company</span></strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/about-magento-demo-store/">About Us</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/contacts/">Contact Us</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/customer-service/">Customer Service</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/privacy-policy-cookie-restriction-mode/">Privacy Policy</a></li>
</ul>
</div><div class="links">
<div class="block-title"><strong><span>Quick Links</span></strong></div>
<ul>
<li class="first"><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/catalog/seo_sitemap/category/" title="Site Map">Site Map</a></li>
<li><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/catalogsearch/term/popular/" title="Search Terms">Search Terms</a></li>
<li class=" last"><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/catalogsearch/advanced/" title="Advanced Search">Advanced Search</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="links">
<div class="block-title"><strong><span>Account</span></strong></div>
<ul>
<li class="first"><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/customer/account/" title="My Account">My Account</a></li>
<li class=" last"><a href="http://yourdomain.com/newstore/sales/guest/form/" title="Orders and Returns">Orders and Returns</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="links social-media">
<div class="block-title">
<strong><span>Connect With Us</span></strong>
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="#"><em class="facebook"></em>Facebook</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><em class="twitter"></em>Twitter</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><em class="youtube"></em>YouTube</a></li>
<li><a href="#"><em class="pinterest"></em>Pinterest</a></li>
<li class="last"><a href="#"><em class="rss"></em>RSS</a></li>
</ul>
</div>

Finally, ensure you clear your cache each time the footer static block is changed. It will be required for the changes to take effect on your store.

Magento 1.9 footer links

Magento 1.9 footer links

Conor Tomkins

Conor Tomkins

Senior PHP Developer

Working with PHP applications since the age of 17. I have a wide range of knowledge on most PHP open source platforms. I must admit, my favorites are Magento & Wordpress!

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