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How to manage cookies consent on WordPress

How do you manage cookies consents on WordPress? How can you create a cookie banner and a cookie policy?

Today, cookies rule the web, and these questions are on most website owners’ minds. Every website installs them to function better and get deeper insights into their audience. This post will show you how to make your WordPress website compliant and use cookies lawfully. 

wordpress cookies consent

How to manage cookies consent step by step

If you are based in the EU or target EU-based users, you need to comply with the Cookie Law

The Cookie Law – whose official name is ePrivacy Directive – establishes guidelines for protecting the electronic privacy of EU-based users. It requires that every website or app owner who uses any trackers should disclose it in a cookie policy and block trackers from running if users’ don’t grant their consent.  

Need help figuring out how to set up prior blocking? No worries, we’ve created a guide just for that! Click here for an Introduction to the Prior Blocking of Cookie Scripts.

Let’s take a closer look at what you need to make your WordPress website compliant. 

Step 1: Create a Cookie Banner and a Cookie Policy

💡 Let us begin by introducing you to our new All-in-one Compliance for GDPR / CPRA (CCPA amendment) Cookie Consent plugin specifically designed for WordPress. A totally revamped solution that allows you to manage all of the iubenda compliance solutions to give you access to everything you need! 

Want to learn more? See our iubenda All-in-one Compliance – WordPress plugin guide.

The first thing you have to do is create a legal document that validates your usage of cookies.

Users must be informed upon their first visit to your website; that’s why you need a cookie banner. The cookie banner must, at the very least:

  • inform users that your website/app (or any third-party service you use) uses cookies;
  • clearly state which action will signify consent;
  • be conspicuously visible;
  • link to a cookie policy.

The cookie policy is necessary because you must provide your users with all the details about your activity. Be sure to include: 

  • the type of cookies installed (both first-party and third-party);
  • all third-parties that install, manage, or access cookies via your site/app, with a link to their respective policies, and any opt-out forms (where available);
  • the purposes for which cookies are used;

Your cookie policy should also be available in all languages in which the service is provided.

You can use online generators to create a legally sound document and generate a cookie banner, like iubenda’s Privacy and Cookie Policy Generator and Cookie Solution. Our solutions allow you to manage all aspects of the Cookie Law and to create a fully customizable cookie banner. 

Step 2: Add cookie notice on your WordPress website

Now that you have your policy and banner, it’s time to add them to your WordPress website. 

If you haven’t done so already, you can simply use our plugin if you have generated our Cookie Solution. It will make the implementation a lot easier! Here’s how: 

If you don’t want to install our plugin, or if you’ve generated your cookie banner in another way, you can always add the cookie notice to your WordPress website by pasting the code of your banner to the head of your website.

Almost every WordPress theme allows you to modify the head of your website, so the implementation is pretty straightforward.  

Step 3: Block cookies from running prior consent

The last thing you need to do to be compliant is block cookies from running if you don’t have your user’s consent. 
The GDPR and the Cookie Law stress the importance of consent, and you’ve surely heard about GDPR fines. Well, many of those fines are issued because of consent.

You can enable the prior blocking of cookies directly from the Cookie Solution dashboard: 

Prior blocking of cookies

Moreover, installing our plugin for WordPress websites automatically detects and blocks cookie scripts from running. 

Be careful, though! 

The plugin doesn’t block all cookie scripts (here’s a list of those included), so you may need to block some of them manually

How iubenda can help

Managing cookies consent on your WordPress website can be challenging, but not with the right tools!

iubenda can help you manage all aspects of the Cookie Law: our Privacy and Cookie Policy Generator allows you to create a cookie policy. In addition, our Cookie Solution can fully customize the look of your cookie banner and block cookies prior to consent. 

Remember, using our WordPress plugin; you can manage this all in one place! Our WordPress plugin makes your life even easier: just install it on your website, and let it manage cookies for you. 

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