Let visitors change their cookie choice: add a “Cookie settings” link in WordPress

A cookie banner asks once and then disappears. That is fine until a visitor changes their mind: they accepted analytics on Monday and want to turn it off on Friday. If there is no way back, you have made it easy to say yes and hard to say no. Under GDPR, withdrawing consent must be as easy as giving it. This is general information, not legal advice, so check your own situation with a qualified professional.

What a good “Cookie settings” link does

• Is always available. A text link in the footer of every page, not only on the home page.
• Reopens the real preferences. The same categories as the banner, not a separate page.
• Shows the saved choice. If the visitor accepted analytics, that box is already ticked.
• Applies the change right away. Switching a category off should stop that tracking, not just save a setting.
• Works with the keyboard. It is a real button or link, the dialog traps focus, Escape closes it, and focus returns to the link afterwards.

Step by step

1. Add the link to your footer. Use your consent plugin’s own link or shortcode so it opens the same dialog. In block themes, add it to the footer template part.
2. Name it clearly. “Cookie settings” or “Manage cookies” is understood by everyone. Avoid clever wording.
3. Link to it from your privacy policy in the section that explains cookies.
4. Test the full loop. Open a private window, accept all, click the link, switch analytics off, save. Then check the Network tab: no analytics requests should appear after the reload.
5. Test on a phone and with the keyboard. Tab to the link, press Enter, change a box, press Escape.

Why the page should reload after a withdrawal

If analytics already ran on this page, turning it off cannot undo that. Reloading the page lets your tag manager and scripts start again with the new settings, so nothing runs that the visitor has just refused.

Common mistakes

• The link exists only inside the banner, which vanishes after the first choice.
• It opens a long privacy page instead of the preferences.
• The dialog opens with every box empty, hiding what the visitor chose earlier.
• The change is saved but scripts keep running until the next visit.

With Consentaro

Consentaro 1.7.0 adds the shortcode [consentaro_settings]. Put it in a footer or menu and it shows a “Cookie settings” button (change the text with label="Manage cookies"). It reopens the preferences with the saved choice ticked, and reloads the page if a category is switched off. For the wider picture of what a banner must do, see Do you need a cookie banner? A plain-English guide, and to check what really loads before consent, How to block Google Analytics and Meta Pixel until visitors consent.