How to add Cookie & Consents Banner Widget Guidelines A-Z

Cookie & Consents Banner Widget

When browsing sites hosted on WordPress.com, you may see a privacy banner appear across the bottom of the screen:

The banner links by default to a page with details on the information we at WordPress.com collect and may store, including an explanation of personalized advertisements. For visitors from the European Union, we will not show you ads that have been personalized to your interests (as determined by an individual cookie) until you click “Close and accept”.

The privacy banner will automatically display on sites utilizing our no-cost hosting plan, since they display advertisements in order to keep that part of the service free.

If you are a site owner with an upgraded hosting plan, both advertising and this banner are optional. You can customize the banner to fit your needs and add your own privacy disclosures, as explained below. This can be useful for following the EU Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or other local laws.

Cookie Information

Sites hosted on WordPress.com make use of cookies for a variety of different purposes. Some cookies are only set for registered WordPress.com users, whereas others are set for all visitors. We aim to collect the minimal amount of data necessary to provide our services. For more detailed information, see our dedicated Cookie Policy page and Privacy Policy.

The Widget

How to enable the widget

On upgrade hosting plans, enable the widget by adding it to the Widgets section in your site’s Customizer. Simply click ‘Add a Widget’ and search for “Cookies & Consent Banner”. (For more information on widgets, check this support page.) Place it in any widget position, display the banner will display across the bottom of the screen when the site is loaded.

Note: The banner will only appear on posts or pages on your site that display the widget area where you add the widget. To display the banner on the front page of your site, be sure to add the widget to a widget area that appears there.

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Features

• Hiding the banner – The banner can be set to be dismissed in one of three ways: when a visitor specifically clicks the button, when a visitor scrolls, or after a specific time. The minimum length of time is 3 seconds, and the maximum 1000. Once the banner is hidden, a technical cookie named eucookielaw is set, which prevents it from being displayed to the same user again for 30 days.
  For members of the WordAds program, EU visitors must click the “Close and accept” button in order for their ads to be personalized on your site. Such ads return a higher revenue rate to be shared with you. Keep this in mind when deciding how to hide the banner.  
• Banner text – The banner will display a default cookie notification message, which can be customized if required.
• Color scheme – Display the banner using a dark or light palette. This can be further customized if you have Custom Design, which is a feature of the WordPress.com Premium and WordPress.com Business plans. The relevant CSS selector is #eu-cookie-law.
• Policy URL – By default this creates a link to the WordPress.com cookies policy. Should you wish to link to your own policy, you can do so by adding a page to your site, and inserting the link in the field below “Custom:”. After inserting the link you will be able to select the custom option.
• Policy Link Text – By default this is ‘Our Cookie Policy’, which can be customized as needed.
• Button Text – The text of the button that users will click to accept, or dismiss the cookie notice.

In addition to the widget, you may wish to add a link to the WordPress.com cookies policy. This can be achieved by inserting a custom link into your menu.

Important Notice

Please note that it is your responsibility to ensure that you comply with the relevant applicable laws in your jurisdiction. This widget is designed to help you take steps towards this, but is not offered as a guaranteed or complete solution for compliance with the GDPR or other laws applicable to you.