Can I Remove The Copyright Notice At The Bottom Of The Page
Answer
This question was discussed in the APG vNext support community. For a complete answer, browse the Knowledge Base or search the support forum.
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Removing or Customising the Copyright Notice in APG vNext
The default APG vNext footer includes a copyright attribution line ("Powered by APG vNext"). Licence holders are permitted to remove or replace this notice as part of the standard commercial licence — there is no separate "white-label" add-on required. This guide explains how to locate and modify the footer in your skin.
Licence Terms
The standard APG vNext commercial licence permits removal of the "Powered by" attribution for all production deployments covered by an active licence. You may replace it with your own copyright notice or remove it entirely. The attribution must remain in place during the free trial period.
Locating the Footer in Your Skin
-- Footer location depends on skin version:
/skins/[YourSkin]/footer.ascx (APG vNext 4.x+)
/skins/[YourSkin]/templates/_footer.htm (APG vNext 3.x)Replacing the Attribution
<!-- Original footer line (remove or replace): -->
<p class="apg-credit">
Powered by <a href="https://aspplayground.net">APG vNext</a>
</p>
<!-- Replace with your own: -->
<p class="site-credit">
© 2026 YourCommunity. All rights reserved.
</p>Hiding via CSS (Quick Option)
If you're not comfortable editing the template directly, hide the credit with CSS in your custom skin stylesheet:
/* Hide APG attribution — licence required */
.apg-credit { display: none !important; }Adding Structured Footer Links
<footer class="site-footer">
<p>© 2026 YourCommunity. All rights reserved.</p>
<nav aria-label="Footer">
<a href="/sitemap.xml">Sitemap</a> ·
<a href="/agreement.asp">Terms</a> ·
<a href="/Contact.aspx">Contact</a>
</nav>
</footer>Related Resources
Removing the Copyright Notice in APG vNext
Yes — license holders can remove or replace the copyright notice at the bottom of every APG vNext page. The copyright footer is controlled by the skin template and by a setting in the Admin Panel. Removing it without a valid license key violates the APG vNext license agreement for the free/trial edition but is explicitly permitted for all paid licenses.
Step 1 — Unlock Copyright Removal in Admin Panel
Admin Panel → Settings → License → check "Licensed Edition" → Save
<!-- Or in web.config: -->
<add key="APG.License.CopyrightRemovalAllowed" value="true" />Step 2 — Edit the Skin Footer Template
The copyright notice lives in the footer partial template. Locate it in your skin folder:
Skin folder: /skins/[YourSkin]/templates/footer.ascx
Or for the default skin: /skins/default/templates/footer.ascx
Find and remove (or replace) the copyright block:
<!-- Remove this block: -->
<div class="apg-copyright">
Powered by <a href="https://aspplayground.net">APG vNext</a>
</div>Replacing with Your Own Copyright Notice
Rather than removing the footer entirely, most administrators replace it with their own copyright and branding:
<!-- Replace with your own footer: -->
<footer class="site-footer">
<p>© 2026 YourCommunity.com. All rights reserved.</p>
<nav class="footer-links">
<a href="/terms">Terms</a> ·
<a href="/privacy">Privacy</a> ·
<a href="/contact">Contact</a>
</nav>
</footer>What Cannot Be Removed
Even with copyright removal enabled, the APG vNext HTML source contains a brief HTML comment identifying the software version (e.g., <!-- APG vNext 5.1 -->). This comment is required by the license for support eligibility and cannot be removed. It is not visible to end users unless they view the page source.
White-Label Licensing
APG vNext offers a white-label license tier that removes all APG branding from the codebase, including the HTML comment. White-label licensing is available for enterprise customers who cannot disclose their forum software stack for competitive reasons. Contact the APG sales team for white-label pricing.
Legal Considerations When Removing the Copyright Notice
Before removing the APG vNext copyright notice, confirm your license tier explicitly permits it. The free community license requires the copyright notice to remain visible on all pages as a form of attribution for the software. Removing it on a free license constitutes a violation of the license agreement and may result in license termination. If you are uncertain which license tier your installation is running, check Admin Panel → Settings → License → License Type. For paid license holders, copyright removal is explicitly permitted and removal instructions are provided in the license confirmation email sent at purchase. Keep a copy of your license key and confirmation email as proof that copyright removal is licensed in case of any query.
Verifying Copyright Removal After Skin Edits
After editing the skin template to remove the copyright notice, verify the removal across multiple page types — the footer template is used on most pages, but some custom page types (member profile, private message inbox, admin panel) may have separate footer templates that also need updating. Use your browser's page search (Ctrl+F on the page source) to search for "aspplayground.net" across multiple page types to confirm complete removal. If your community uses Google Search Console, check the Coverage report after 1-2 weeks to verify Google is not flagging any footer-related issues.
Related Resources
Looking for more help? Browse the support forum or check the Knowledge Base.