# Credentials

Credentials is where your license numbers, your insurance and your trust badges
live. It is one of the [one-of-a-kind entries](/start-here/admin-panel/). There
is exactly one, it is already there, and you open it and edit it.

Go to **Content**, then **Credentials**. One row is waiting. Click its title.

:::caution[Warning]
Leave **Add New** alone on this screen. It makes a second entry, and your
website then has to guess which one is real. The [tour of the admin
panel](/start-here/admin-panel/) explains why.
:::

## Where they show up

**In the footer of every page.** They sit in a small box near the bottom of
your website, under the words you put in **Heading**.

**In a Credentials block.** The same list can also show partway down a page, as
a row of badges above a set of cards. [Pages](/content/pages/) shows how a
block is added.

![A Credentials section on the live home page: a heading, three rounded badges, and two cards holding a license number and an insurer.](../../../assets/screenshots/credentials-live.png)

*The block on a page. It reads the same entry the footer does.*

Both places read this one entry. Change a number here and it changes in both.
There is only ever one copy.

## The entry holds two lists

**Licenses & registrations** is for a thing with a number: a trade license, a
registration, a policy.

**Trust badges** is for a short claim with no number: "Bonded", "Free
estimates".

**Heading**, at the top, is the words above both lists.

## Before you add anything

:::caution[Warning]
This list is a public claim about your business. Anyone can read it, and a
customer may act on it.

Only list what you actually hold, with the number you actually have. Take a row
out the day a license lapses.
:::

## Adding a license

![The Licenses and registrations list open, with four numbered marks: 1 on Add Item, 2 on License / registration, 3 on Number, 4 on Issued by.](../../../assets/screenshots/credentials-edit.png)

*One row is one license.*

**1. Add Item.** Adds an empty row at the bottom of the list.

**2. License / registration.** What it is called, such as "Licensed general
contractor". This is the only box you have to fill in.

**3. Number.** The number on the license. Your website prints it after the
name, as "No. 000000".

**4. Issued by.** Who granted it, such as a state board or an insurer. It
prints under the name, but only in a block on a page. The footer leaves it out
to save room.

**State / region** sits between them. Type the short code, such as `MT`. Your
website prints it in brackets at the end of the line.

**Verification link**, the last box, is a web address where someone can look
the license up. Fill it in and a small **Verify** link shows next to the row.
Leave it empty and no link shows.

Put together, one row prints as: Licensed general contractor No. 000000 (MT).

## Adding a trust badge

![The Trust badges list open, with four numbered marks: 1 on Add Item, 2 on Badge text, 3 on the Logo picker, 4 on Link.](../../../assets/screenshots/credentials-badges.png)

*One row is one badge.*

**1. Add Item.** Adds an empty row at the bottom of the list.

**2. Badge text.** The words in the badge, such as "Bonded". Keep it to a few
words. This is the only box you have to fill in.

**3. Logo.** A small picture next to the words, for a scheme that gave you one.
Click **Select image** and pick it. [Media](/content/media/) walks through the
picker.

**4. Link.** A web address the badge points at. Fill it in and the whole badge
becomes a link that opens in a new tab. Leave it empty and it is plain words.

:::caution[Warning]
Removing a row takes it off every page of your website as soon as you publish.
That is what you want for a lapsed license, and a surprise for anything else.
:::

The six dots on the left of a row move it up or down. The red trash icon on the right
takes it out.

## Publishing your changes

1. Open the entry and make your change.
2. Click **Publish**.
3. Click **Live View** and scroll to the bottom of the page.
4. Read the line back. Check the number digit by digit.

Nothing you type here reaches your website until you click **Publish**. See
[Saving and publishing](/start-here/saving-and-publishing/).