Modern Footnotes
Add inline footnotes to your posts. On desktop, the footnotes will appear as tooltips. On mobile, the footnote will expand beneath the text.
4.8(32 reviews)
·6.0K+ active installs·Updated 9 months agoAs of April 2026, Modern Footnotes is a WordPress citations plugin with 6.0K+ active installations and a 4.8/5 rating from 32 reviews. It has been downloaded 113K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 4.6+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2017. Downloads are down 12% this week. Top alternative: EEAT WP.
4.8/532 reviews
6.0K+active installs
113K+total downloads
9 yearssince 2017
Overview
Footnotes optimized for desktop and mobile, inspired by the styles of Grantland and FiveThirtyEight.
Use a footnote in your post by using the footnote icon in the WordPress editor or by using the shortcode: [mfn]this will be a footnote[/mfn] The plugin will automatically associate sequential numbers with each plugin.
On desktop, footnotes will appear as a tooltip when the user clicks on the number. On mobile, footnotes will expand as a section below the current text.
You can also use the [mfn_list] shortcode to display a list of footnotes used in the article.
The official GitHub repository is at https://github.com/seankwilliams/modern-footnotes
Shortcode options
You can modify some behaviours or styles of your footnotes by using the following options within our shortcode.
[mfn referencenu…
Screenshots
Ratings & Reviews
4.832 reviews
5 ★
29
4 ★
1
3 ★
0
2 ★
2
1 ★
0
Recent Reviews
Good but incomplete
by andorel·6 months ago·3 replies
It’s make the job in a very (to much ?) simple way. The code [mfn_list class=modern-footnotes-list] is very usefull to print the footnote list wherever we want !!! also the compatibility with old editor is very appreciate. But the plugin is incomplete.
There is nothing to make note link with the list at bottom when clicking and nothing to go back in text after having read the note. Toolitip is very nice, but read in bottom and come back after is a very basic function of footnotes and it is not in the plugin. Some people asked for the functionality on the forum but get no answer.
Also, but it’s a detail, it is sad that the plugin hasn’t got any compatibility with the other plugin simple spoilers, for example, those code won’t work :
“[spoiler title="Print the spoilers"] at the end of Star Wars[mfn]Georges Lucas, Star Wars, Lucasfilms LTD, 2002[/mfn]anakin returns [/spoilers]“
:/ If you’ve got some solutions i’m listening…
Works very well
by efrap·7 months ago
This plugin works well and is easy to use. The footnote list shortcode is useful for custom templates.
Simple and Effective
by rene-michaels·1 year ago
Works perfectly on desktop and mobile.
so handy
by lorelore·2 years ago
Simple and useful
Thank you for this plugin!
by rfwrites·2 years ago·1 reply
Great plugin, very lightweight and provides the exact functionality I was looking for. Appreciate you making it!
Download Trends
Today: 44Yesterday: 25This week: 188Period total: 14K
Compatibility
| WordPress | 4.6+ requiredTested up to 6.8.5 |
| PHP | false+ required |
Version Adoption
v1.4
98.6%
v1.3
1.4%
Top Alternatives to Modern Footnotes
Frequently Asked Questions
Changelog
1.4.20
- Security fix for XSS issue. Thanks to muhammad yudha and Patchstack for identifying the issue.
Contributors
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.