As we know, a website’s speed and security define its credibility, but there are other things that people see, like the site’s header when they first arrive on your website, and you should work on them as well.
If you want your site to be great, you need to know how to create your own WordPress custom header and edit the header in WordPress.
And to help you with this, we will discuss some of the best methods to edit the WordPress header. But before starting our guide, let us glance at what a header is in WordPress and where you can find it.
What Is a Header, and Where Can You Find It?
The header of your WordPress website is the element that appears at the upper part of your web page. Basically, the header appears on every page of your website, and it contains the logo of your site along with the main navigation bar.
You can also add additional elements in your site header, such as a search bar, contact information, videos, images, and more. Regardless of what page the visitors goes to, the header will be the same, and that is the reason which makes the header an essential part of your site design.
Now that you have got an idea of what actually is a header and where it is located, it is time you know how to edit a Header in WordPress. So, without wasting your time, how about we continue ahead with our guide on how to edit Header in WordPress.
Methods to Edit WordPress Header
There are lots of ways to edit the WordPress header, but most of them are very complicated. That is the reason we have assembled three of the easiest methods to edit a Header in WordPress for you.
Using the Built-in Customize Feature
The first method that we will discuss is how you can edit the WordPress header using your WordPress theme’s built-in feature. We are mentioning this method at the start because if your theme has that feature, then you should edit your site’s header through this instead of looking for other methods.
Depending on your site’s theme, you can get access to Customize tab by going into Appearance > Header. If there is no option like this, you can go to Appearance > Customize > header to change the header.
After you are in the Customize tab of your theme, you can change the image on your header and add other things like the Website title and tagline.
The most significant advantage of using the customize feature of your WordPress theme is that it excludes the use of any coding language by you and allows you to see every change in the live preview panel located on the right.
Edit the WordPress Theme’s Header.php Files
If you have a little bit of knowledge about coding, this might be the ideal method for editing the WordPress header. In case you are a newbie, you should skip this method and move on to the last on this list. So for those who are still reading, first log in to the admin of your WordPress website.
After you are logged in, go to your screen’s left side and click on the Appearance tab, then press on the theme editor button. Here you will be shown the current theme’s ”Style.css” files to make changes the way you want.
Now, on the right side of your screen, you will see all of your themes’ files, so scroll down until you find the “header.php”, it will probably be under the Theme Header option. Once you have found the header.php file, click on it and open it in your editor to add code in the file between <head> and</head> tags; at the end, click on the Update File button to save all of your edits.
By following these steps, you will be able to edit the WordPress header of your site, but you have to keep one thing in mind, that is every time you update the theme of your site, you will need to edit your theme’s “header.php” files over again.
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Install Plugins to Edit the WordPress Header
The last method on our list is installing a custom WordPress header plugin to edit your site’s header. As we know, WordPress is an open-source platform, meaning you can install plugins on your site to perform the functions that you can not.
For instance, you are editing the header of your site, but the problem is that your site’s theme does not have any built-in customize option, and you are bad at coding as well. In this situation, you can install a custom WordPress header plugin and let it do all the heavy coding work for you.
To start this process, you can download any free custom WordPress header plugin and install it on your site. And to do that, first, log in to the admin section of your site, then go to Plugins (It will be on the left of your screen) and click on the Add New button.
There you will see a search bar; in that bar, search for “Insert Headers and Footers” and click on the install button. After it is done installing, press the Activate button.
Once the plugin is activated, navigate your cursor to your WordPress site’s admin panel. Next, go to the settings tab and select the Insert Headers and Footers option. It will open some boxes such as Scripts in Header, Scripts in Body, and Scripts in Footer.
At this point, paste the code in the Scripts in the header column. Click on the Save button to get done with your process. The benefit of using a plugin isn’t just that it lets you edit the WordPress header without using code.
It also saves your changes in a place where you can edit them any time you want. Moreover, plugins also save your information. Every time you update your theme, you do not have to edit your header again and again.
Moreover, when you are in the middle of editing, it does not let you alter the code in the wrong place, which could eventually help you save your site from a huge mess.
Note: If you have followed all of the steps from this guide and still it does not work, make sure you have added the code in the right place and also you are editing the right file. If it still does not work, you need to optimize your site’s speed and performance by clearing the Cache; we hope this will fix your issues for sure.
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What You Can Add to Your Header
Now that you have learned different methods which can help you edit the header of your website, you should know what are the things that you can add to your site’s header.
When you are editing a WordPress header, you can add certain things to it. For example,
- Google Analytics Tracking Code
- Auto Ads Code, Verification Code
- Search Console Verification Code
- Mobile Bar Color Code
- Facebook Pixel
- Pinterest Verification Code
- Images
- Videos
- And a lot more
This suggests that you can add every type of verification through your header. You can also add widgets for your website into your site’s header, which helps you display ads, a CTA button, or anything you want.
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How You Can Add an Image to Your Site’s Header
Like we said before, you can add custom images in your website’s header, and to do that, you have to follow these steps.
Firstly, you need to go to your WordPress admin dashboard and log in, then navigate your cursor on your screen’s left side and click on the Customize button from appearance. Once you have clicked on the customize tab, go to the Header Image and click on the Add New Image.
After you are done uploading the picture, you can click on the publish button present on the top of your screen. And this is it; your image will be uploaded to the header of your site. In case you want to remove the image that you currently have on the site’s header.
Click on the Hide image button that you will find in the Header image section alongside the Add New Image button. After clicking on the Hide image, your previous header will be removed.
Tip: At the point when you are finished performing changes in the header, if it’s not too much trouble, click on the Save Changes button to save the entirety of the progressions you have made.
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How You can Add a Video to Your Site’s Header
Adding a video to your site’s header can be very beneficial for you because videos are the content that grabs the visitors’ attention faster than images or pictures. Below, we will talk about the two techniques to add a video to your site’s header.
Adding Video in a Local MP4 Format
The first way of uploading a video to your site’s header is done through your media library. But before going to that, you need to remember the video that you are uploading must be less than 8Mbs, and the resolution must be 2000 x 1200. If your video fulfills this criterion, then you can add them; otherwise, you can’t.
To add the video, you first need to go to Appearance > Header. Now, you will see the Header Media section in which you have to click on the Header video option, then press on the Select video button and upload the file that you want to add to your header in the Media Library.
Once you have upload your file, it is about time to click on the publish button, and your video will be added to the header of your site.
Add Video Through Youtube
The other way to add videos to your site’s header is through YouTube. To start this process, first, you will have to copy the link to the YouTube video that you desire to add to the header of your website.
Once you have copied the link, you have to log in to your WordPress admin dashboard and then go to Appearance > Header. Now you have to navigate yourself to the Header Media option and paste the YouTube video link in the Header Video tab.
After you have done pasting the link, click the publish button to place the desired video on the site’s header. The best thing about adding a video through Youtube is that it lets you choose any video you want regardless of its size, meaning you can choose a video over 8Mbs.
That is why we would advise you to upload a video to your site’s header through the Youtube method.
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Final Verdict
By now, you have learned the three most straightforward ways to edit WordPress Header. If you are still unsure what is ideal for you, let us advise you a little bit. If you are a newbie in the WordPress world and do not know a single thing about coding, then you can download a plugin to help you customize the header.
You can also edit through your theme built-in customizer. However, if you are a developer with knowledge about coding, then edit the theme “header.php file”. At the end of the day, all of this depends upon your expertise and preference.
But we are hopeful that this guide on how to edit header in WordPress has helped you make change header in WordPress. In case you have still not sure about the methods, then reread our guide and do the process by yourself to make your WordPress site header more attractive.