CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is an important formatting language that helps you flexibly customize and change the look and feel of your WordPress website. With CSS, you can adjust colors, fonts, spacing, size and many other interface elements. In this article, we will show you how to use CSS to customize the WordPress interface to your own style.
Step 1: Add Custom CSS Via WordPress Customizer
The easiest way to add custom CSS to your WordPress site is through a tool WordPress Customizer. Customizer allows you to preview CSS changes instantly before saving.
How to Add CSS Through Customizer
- Go to the WordPress dashboard and go to Interface -> Customization (Appearance -> Customize).
- Select item Additional CSS (Additional CSS) from the options list.
- Add your custom CSS code to the input box and preview changes in real time.
- Click Save & Publish (Publish) when you’re done.
Step 2: Use Developer Tools to Check and Edit CSS
Before editing CSS, you can use the tool Developer Tools in the browser to inspect and test CSS changes on your site without editing the code directly.
How to Use Developer Tools
- Go to your website and right-click the element you want to customize, then select Inspect (Inspect element).
- A panel will appear, allowing you to view the HTML and CSS code of that element.
- You can test CSS changes directly in this panel and see the results immediately on the page.
- Once you find the right change, copy the CSS code and add it to the section Additional CSS in WordPress Customizer.
Step 3: Use Child Theme to Preserve CSS Changes
If you want to add deeper CSS customizations and don’t want to lose changes after updating the theme, using Child Theme is the best way. Child Theme helps you add and edit CSS without affecting the parent theme.
How to Create Child Theme
- Create a new folder within the folder wp-content/themes and name it after the name of the child theme (eg:
theme-con
). - Create a file style.css in the child theme’s folder and add the following code:
/* Theme Name: Theme Con Template: theme-goc */
- In file style.css of your child theme, you can add custom CSS snippets.
- Activate the child theme in your WordPress dashboard.
When using Child Theme, you can customize CSS or add other features without worrying about losing them after updating the original theme.
Step 4: Basic CSS Customization Example
Here are some examples of basic CSS customizations so you can change the look and feel of your WordPress:
Change Header Background Color
.site-header {
background-color: #3498db;
}
Change Title Font
h1, h2, h3 {
font-family: 'Arial', sans-serif;
color: #2c3e50;
}
Change Text Size
p {
font-size: 16px;
line-height: 1.8;
}
Change Button Style
button, .button {
background-color: #e74c3c;
color: #fff;
border-radius: 5px;
padding: 10px 20px;
}
Tips for Effective CSS Customization
- Learn basic CSS structure: Get familiar with basic concepts like selectors, properties, and values in CSS to easily customize your interface.
- Backup before editing: Always back up your site before making any changes to CSS or source code.
- Use support tools: You can use tools like CSSLint to check your CSS code for errors and optimize performance.
Interface design
Using CSS to customize your WordPress theme gives you more control over the design and gives your website its own style. Using the WordPress Customizer, Developer Tools, and Child Theme, you can easily make basic to advanced changes. Start exploring CSS and customize your website today to create a more beautiful and professional look!