How to Customize a Theme in WordPress

WordPress

There is a wide range of both free and premium themes to choose from, but achieving the ideal appearance may require some slight adjustments to your theme’s design. You might also need to update some content as well.

Here are the modifications that can be made to tailor a theme in WordPress.

1. Customize theme settings in WordPress

You can adjust the appearance and style of a theme directly in WordPress.

Prior to modifying a WordPress theme, set up a child theme to prevent losing your customizations when the theme is updated.

  1. Log in to WordPress.
  2. Click Appearance.
  3. Click Customize.
  4. From here, you can make changes to the following parts of the site:
    • Site Identity
    • Layout
    • Colors
    • Fonts
    • Header Image
    • Background Image
    • Menus
    • Widgets
    • Static Front Page

Note: The choices that are accessible will rely on what the theme’s creator has provided.

2. Change the theme CSS in WordPress

You can make changes to the CSS of your theme from within WordPress.

  1. Before making any changes to a WordPress theme, add a child theme
  2. Log in to WordPress.
  3. Go to Appearance > Editor.
  4. Make your CSS changes or additions.
  5. Click Update File.

3. Update a WordPress theme with FTP

To update a WordPress theme to the newest version using FTP, you may need to do this for certain premium and custom themes that don’t allow updates directly through WordPress. Before beginning this process, you must download the theme files to your local machine.

  1. Connect to your hosting with FTP.
  2. Navigate to the /wp-content/themes folder for your WordPress site.
  3. Upload your theme to this folder.
  4. If your theme is zipped, you will need to unzip it.

    Note: If you’re unable to unzip the file directly on your hosting account, you will have to extract it on your local computer and then upload the resulting folder of files.
  5. Repeat the procedure if your theme has a child theme, which is another name for a custom stylesheet.

4. Change the menu appearance in WordPress

The look of a WordPress menu can be changed by updating the CSS.

  1. Before making any changes to a WordPress theme, add a child theme
  2. Log in to WordPress.
  3. Go to Appearance > Editor.
  4. Enter the desired changes to the CSS.
  5. Example: This is sample code for changing the font size for a WordPress menu:

    .primary-navigation { font-size: XXpx; }
    • The XX is the new font size for your menu.
    • The px stands for pixel.
  6. Click Update File.

Your changes will now be visible across your entire site.

5. Change the footer in WordPress

The PHP code in the footer of your WordPress website is editable by hand. You may alter more than simply the text that shows at the bottom of your pages thanks to this.

To prevent losing your modifications when the theme is updated, make a child theme before making any changes to a WordPress theme.

  1. Connect to your site with FTP.
  2. Navigate to the /wp-content/themes directory.
  3. Open the directory containing the theme you wish to work with.
  4. Locate the footer.php file.
  5. Copy the file to the appropriate child theme directory.
  6. Edit and update the footer.php file in the child theme directory.

Any modifications made to the child theme directory’s footer.php file will instantly supersede the original footer.php file.

6. Change the header in WordPress

The PHP code in your WordPress site’s header can be altered by hand. You may alter more than simply the text that shows at the top of your pages thanks to this.

  1. Before making any changes to a WordPress theme, add a child theme.
  2. Connect to your site with FTP.
  3. Navigate to the /wp-content/themes directory.
  4. Open the directory containing the theme you wish to work with.
  5. Locate the header.php file.
  6. Copy the file to the appropriate child theme directory.
  7. Edit and update the header.php file in the child theme directory.

Any modifications made to the child theme directory’s header.php file will instantly supersede the original header.php file.

7. Change the theme background color in WordPress

By altering the CSS, a WordPress website’s background color can be altered.

  1. Before making any changes to a WordPress theme, add a child theme.
  2. Log in to WordPress.
  3. Go to Appearance > Editor.
  4. Enter the CSS to change the background color. Below is sample code:

    .site { background-color: #XXXXXX; }
    • .site is the css class for the whole site.
    • XXXXXX is the hex code for the color you want to use.
  5. Click Update File.

These methods allow you to modify a WordPress theme to meet the needs of any project.

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