footer

A = header; B = footer

The footer (not to be confused with a footnote ) is detached from the main text at the bottom (the foot ) of text pages and is used for quick orientation and navigation within a written work. For example, the footer text can name the author and title of the work, the paragraph number and title of the opened chapter or the page numbering and the title of the opened section in abbreviated form - in technical language this is referred to as the running title . Usually footnotes or endnotes are placed in close proximity above it.

At the same orientation or navigation purposes footer - as a running headline - can be a header serve only is this the upper edge (the head ) of text pages. Whether a text is provided with a header, a footer or both, and which purpose information is distributed between them, is decided by the author or the editor.

Due to the use of Anglicisms in German, the English equivalent footer or page-footer is also circulating, especially in the IT sector .

Web design

The ways in which footers are used in web design are manifold and discussed controversially. Some websites use the footer as their main navigation, others use it as a sitemap. Other websites often only show the copyright notice or an imprint link. Further typical contents of the footer of a website are contact information of the site operator such as B. Address, telephone number, e-mail address or opening times. Links to "About Us" pages or other important internal pages can often be found in the footer.

Accordingly, an appealing footer is viewed by some web designers as an effective means of capturing customer interest.

However, other web designers assume that an overloaded footer does not make sense due to the loss of loading time and the reluctance of users to scroll to the end of the website. However, this can be countered by the fact that most users are now used to finding certain information such as e-mail addresses in the footer and accordingly scroll down when they are looking for it.