Add code to the head and footer

Many services ask you to “paste this code into the <head> of your website” or “just before </body>”: a Google Search Console verification tag, a live-chat widget, an advertising script, a cookie tool. Yclas has two boxes for exactly that, and whatever you put in them is added to every page of your site.

The boxes used to be in Settings › General › Advanced (as HTML in HEAD Element and HTML in Footer). They are now in Design › Custom code, next to your custom CSS. Code you saved before is still there and still works.

Where to paste the code

1. In the admin panel, go to Design › Custom code.
2. Scroll to Head and footer code and paste the code into the right box:
   • Code in the page head: when the service says head, or the code is a <meta> or <link> tag.
   • Code in the footer: when the service says before the closing body tag, footer or end of the page. Most chat widgets and many scripts go here.
3. Click Save changes in the bar at the bottom. You see Code saved.
4. Open your site, reload it, and check that the service now works (for example, click Verify in Search Console).

If the instructions don’t say, put <meta> and <link> tags in the head, and <script> tags in the footer. A script in the footer doesn’t slow down how quickly your page appears.

Only administrators see the head and footer boxes. Other roles with access to Design keep the CSS box only.

What it’s for

You want to…	Use
Verify your site with Google Search Console, Bing, Pinterest or Facebook (meta tag method)	Code in the page head
Add a live-chat or help-desk widget	Code in the footer
Add Google AdSense auto ads or another ad network’s script	Code in the page head (as AdSense asks)
Load a font or an extra stylesheet	Code in the page head
Add Google Analytics, a Meta (Facebook) pixel or another tracking code	See Tracking codes and analytics pixels first
Send listings, sign-ups or orders to another app	Webhooks, not code on the page
Show a banner on your pages	The banner fields in Theme options or an Image widget. See Banners and ad slots.
Change how the site looks	Custom CSS

Where the code ends up

Box	Position in the page
Code in the page head	At the end of the <head>, after the theme’s styles and your custom CSS.
Code in the footer	At the end of the page, after the theme’s scripts, just before </body>.

The code is added to every public page, to registration, and to your members’ own account pages (their listings, profile, messages, favourites and wallet), in every theme.

It is not added to:

• the admin panel;
• the sign-in pages: log in, forgotten password, two-step login, phone login, and the page where a member sets a new password from a reset link;
• pages you browse in safe mode (see below).

So however broken the code is, you can always sign in and fix it.

If your site uses a custom theme made just for you, the Custom code page says so: that theme adds the code to every page, the sign-in page included. Test your code carefully, and if it ever stops you signing in, contact support.

If the code breaks your site

Right after you save, your site checks your home page, your newest listing and the login page. If one of them no longer loads properly, it puts back the code your visitors had before. The next time you open Design › Custom code you see a message saying what went wrong. The code you typed is still in the box, so you can fix it and save again.

That check only sees what your server sends. A script that hides the page or sends visitors elsewhere once it runs in the browser can still get through, so always look at your site after saving.

To see your site without your custom code, add ?design=safe to any address while you’re signed in as an administrator, for example https://www.your-marketplace.com/?design=safe. Safe mode lasts while you browse; add ?design=off to leave it. Visitors are never affected.

Cookie consent

If your site asks visitors which cookies they accept (Ask for cookie consent in Settings › General, see Cookie consent and privacy), the Custom code page shows two more settings:

Setting	What it does
This code sets cookies (wait for consent)	On by default. The head and footer code is only added for visitors who accepted the category below. Turn it off only if your code sets no cookies, for example a site verification tag.
Cookie category	Analytics (the default) or Marketing: the category a visitor must accept for your code to load.

The setting applies to both boxes together. A visitor who accepts gets the code from the next page they open.

New sites ask for cookie consent from the start, so a verification tag in the head waits for consent too. If a service such as Search Console can’t find your tag, turn off This code sets cookies (wait for consent) while it checks, or for good if all your code is cookie-free.

Be careful with code you paste

Your code runs on every page, for every visitor, exactly as you pasted it.

• Only paste code from services you trust. A script can read anything on the page, including what members type.
• A broken or unfinished tag (for example a <div> that is never closed, or a <script> without </script>) can hide parts of your site. If the site looks wrong after saving, empty the box and save again.
• Remove codes for services you no longer use. Each extra script makes your pages slower.
• Ad and tracking scripts may need your visitors’ consent in the EU and UK. See Cookie consent above.

Ads.txt and robots.txt

These two stay in Settings › General, in the Advanced group:

• Ads.txt: the authorised sellers file ad networks such as AdSense ask for. See Banners and ad slots.
• Robots.txt: instructions for search engine crawlers. See Search engine visibility.

Related guides

• Tracking codes and analytics pixels — Google Analytics, Meta pixel and others.
• Custom CSS — style changes, on the same page.
• Cookie consent and privacy — the cookie banner and its categories.
• Banners and ad slots — make money with advertising.