Managing Cookies in WordPress

Cookies are small files that are stored on user devices when visiting a website. These files contain information that can be retrieved by the website in future visits, allowing the site to remember user actions and preferences. Cookies can be used for a variety of purposes such as user login, tracking user browsing behavior, and personalizing the user’s experience on the website.

Cookies serve several essential functions in WordPress:

1. User authentication: Cookies allow users to navigate the site without having to constantly enter their login credentials.
2. Interface customization: Cookies help customize the administration and main site interface according to user preferences.
3. Feedback management: Cookies store basic information about visitors who leave comments, such as name and email, for future convenience.
4. Plugins and themes: Several WordPress plugins and themes use cookies to enable specific functions and enhance the user experience.

The EU has established strict rules for the use of cookies, mainly through the ePrivacy Directive and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The “Cookies Directive” requires websites to inform users about cookies and obtain their consent before using them, usually through a “cookie banner”.

The GDPR requires consent for cookies to be free, informed, specific and unambiguous, giving users the option to accept or refuse cookies and the right to withdraw their consent at any time.

These rules are applied to all websites that interact with EU users. Therefore, if your WordPress site has users in the EU, you must comply with these regulations by implementing a cookie consent banner, allowing the users to refuse cookies and providing a transparent cookie policy. WordPress plugins can be helpful in achieving compliance.

Consent is not always mandatory for all cookies, its necessity depends on the type and purpose of the cookie in question.

1. Essential cookies: These are absolutely necessary for the website to function properly and do not require consent. Cookies that enable basic functionalities such as website navigation and access to secure areas are classified as essential.
2. Non-essential cookies: These enhance the user experience but are not critical to the basic operation of the website. They include tracking cookies, advertising cookies, analytics cookies and personalization cookies, such as those that remember the language selected by the user. These cookies require the user’s consent prior to use.

Therefore, it is not always necessary to ask for consent for the use of cookies. If a website only uses essential cookies, consent is not required. However, if it uses non-essential cookies, it must obtain the user’s consent.
In addition, regardless of the type of cookies used, it is recommended to inform users about the website’s cookie policy to maintain transparency.

Informing users about your cookie policy is an essential aspect of transparency and compliance with privacy laws. Here is where you can place information about your cookie policy:

1. Legal Notice: you can include details about the use of cookies in your website’s Legal Notice. This is a common place to provide legal information about the site and its use, including terms and conditions, privacy policy and details about the use of cookies.
2. Cookie Policy: Some websites have a separate cookie policy that provides specific details about how cookies are used, what types of cookies are used, why they are used, and how users can control their cookie preferences. This policy can be linked from the Legal Notice or from the footer of the website so that it is easily accessible from any page.
3. Banner or Cookie Notice: Many websites display a banner or cookie notice when users first visit the site. This notice usually informs users that the site uses cookies and provides a link to the Legal Notice or cookie policy for more details. In many cases, the banner also allows users to accept or reject non-essential cookies.

1. Multilingual plugins: Plugins such as WPML or Polylang may use cookies to remember a user’s choice of language. These cookies are generally considered non-essential, unless they are necessary for the basic functionality of the site.
2. Analytics plugins: Google Analytics is a common example of an analytics plugin that uses cookies. Google Analytics cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use a website, which helps website owners understand and improve their site. These cookies are considered non-essential and require consent.
3. Social media plugins: Social media plugins, such as Facebook or Twitter share buttons, often use cookies to track user interaction with these buttons and other social media features. These cookies are considered non-essential and require consent.
4. Advertising plugins: Advertising plugins, such as Google AdSense, use cookies to display relevant ads to users, track interactions with these ads, and perform other advertising-related tasks. These cookies are considered non-essential and require consent.
5. WooCommerce: This e-commerce plugin uses cookies for functions such as tracking shopping cart items, processing transactions and managing payment status. These cookies are considered non-essential and require user consent.

Managing cookies in WordPress can be done in several ways, but here we provide you with some common methods:

1. Using Cookie Management Plugins: There are numerous WordPress plugins designed to help you manage cookies on your website and comply with privacy laws. Some examples include Cookie Notice for GDPR & CCPA, Complianz Privacy Suite, and GDPR Cookie Consent. These plugins allow you to configure your cookie consent notices, categorize the cookies your site uses, and give users the option to accept or reject non-essential cookies.
2. Specific Plugin Settings: Many plugins that use cookies allow some degree of customization of how and when cookies are used. For example, you can adjust Google Analytics settings to reduce the amount of data it collects, or you can configure a social media plugin, not to use cookies unless the user interacts with the plugin.
3. Modifying your site’s code: You can manage cookies directly by modifying your website’s code. This gives you full control over cookies, but it also requires a higher degree of knowledge and can be risky if you are not sure what you are doing.