Editing functions.php on WordPress.com

  • Unknown's avatar
    entecha · Member ·

    I need to edit the functions.php file on a WordPress.com hosted site. The site is currently on a free plan. The specific change I need to make is described here:

    https://webdesires.co.uk/blog/override-relcanonical-in-wordpress/

    I understand that this change can be implemented using the Appearance Editor–which is not available under the free plan. Is the Appearance Editor available on any paid WordPress.com plan? If so, which one(s)?

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    ravichahar · Member ·

    Hey entecha,

    At WordPress.com, the users aren’t allowed to add extra PHP code in any of the files and that’s why they don’t have the access to such files.

    The functions.php is one of the most important files and one wrong line of the code can break the whole website. To maintain a safe environment, the users are restricted to CSS.

    You can use custom CSS if you are under Premium or the Business plan.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    On the Business Plan you can use a custom functions plugin to add code to the functions.php file, but it is not possible on a regular WordPress.com site, as WordPress.com is a shared hosting environment where your site is sharing files with other sites, so making this change on your site will also make it on thousands of other sites.

    Even on the Business Plan editing files directly is not possible – it can only be done via a plugin.

    https://en.support.wordpress.com/ftp-access/

    If you need the ability to directly edit the files for your site, you’ll need to host your own installation of WordPress at a hosting provider that offers FTP access instead.

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