Issues managing backlinks and footer credits in Themler theme for university website

Hi everyone,

I’m managing the WordPress site for a private college in Kosovo (AAB College / Kolegji AAB – https://aab-edu.net) and we’re using a custom theme built with Themler.

I’ve noticed that:

The default Themler backlinks/credits still appear in the footer even after I try to disable them in Theme Settings.

When I edit the footer template, some of the backlinks seem hardcoded and reappear after updates.

My questions:

What is the correct/best-practice way in Themler to manage or remove the default “backward links”/backlinks without breaking the theme?

Is there a recommended method to add our own institutional footer links (about the college, accreditation, privacy policy, etc.) so they are update-safe?

Are there any SEO implications specific to Themler’s built‑in backlinks that I should be aware of for an educational institution site?

If anyone here has experience using Themler for university or college websites, I’d really appreciate some guidance or examples of how you’ve structured your footer and backlinks.

Thanks in advance!