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It will be time for styling your WordPress Website once you have selected a domain name and hosting company and have uploaded the WordPress CMS platform to your hosting provider. At this point, you are ready to start working with the styling options available in the WordPress back office.
Though knowledge of CSS coding can be helpful to style your WordPress website, it is not necessary to know anything about CSS. Some themes and plugins do offer simple ways to add custom CSS in WordPress but this is something you can learn along the way and only after you are very comfortable working with code within your website. The fact that you do not have to know code is one of the best parts of using WordPress. You can build beautiful websites without knowing one line of code.
To access the back office, your hosting company will have sent you the login URL (yourdomain.com/wp – admin) and your username and password.
Styling your website is an exciting first step as you start to see the potential for what you can do come alive. Once you have created one website, repeating the process is not hard. Unfortunately, many promising online entrepreneurs never get past this step!
Styling Your WordPress Website
1 Log in to your WordPress website at: yourdomain.com/wp – admin
2 Once you are in the WordPress back office, select from the left side menu.
3 Click on, ‘appearance.’
4 Click on, ‘theme.’
5 Click on, ‘customize.’
6 You will now see various options for customization, click on these options depending on what you want to change. If you are using an upgraded pro theme, there will be a theme option button which will also take you to the customization page.
7 Click on, ‘change color‘ to change colors.
8 Click on ‘Menus’ and choose the menu you wish to edit, stylize, or work with. Menus can also be accessed if you go back to the left side and click menus from the dropdown under appearance. Some prefer to access widgets from this page.
9 Click on, ‘add tagline’ to determine which tagline for your website.
10 You may also change the background image of your WordPress website by clicking: ‘background image’ and choosing a stock image or uploading an image from your computer.
11 If you wish to add more code, click on ‘additional CSS’ and add custom CSS in WordPress. However, this is a more advanced way to work with the style of your website and should not be used unless you are familiar with CSS coding or have first learned about CSS coding. Fixing a code problem, if you are not comfortable with coding can be an involved process and could get costly and require a WordPress developer. If you are not familiar with CSS coding and want to learn about CSS you can use Google or YouTube to search for help. To get the information you need, use keyword phrases such as:
- How to add custom CSS in WordPress child theme
- WordPress CSS classes list
- WordPress custom CSS per page
- Custom CSS WordPress examples
- How to include CSS in WordPress header
12 Make sure that you understand the different costs and benefits associated with opting for a free, basic theme, and a paid, more advanced, or pro theme. Pro themes are often more aesthetically pleasing and have more bells and whistles, but their increased functionality can be overwhelming when first starting to use the WordPress back-office platform.
13 Also ensure that the theme you select and the different modifications it has are compatible with integrations you may select want in the future. Payment options, checkout carts, etc. This has to do with selecting the correct theme at the start based on the type of business you have. A service industry theme will be very different than an e-commerce theme.
14 Make sure that you correctly preview and test the new style or theme before you go live.
15 Try to make sure that this review is done by a third person who can analyze the entire website comprehensively to make sure you have not missed or overlooked anything that can be corrected.
***This is not a complete list when it comes to styling your WordPress website. However, it is a starting point and will help you get familiar with the WordPress back office. Ultimately the functions you will most often need in the back office will become second nature to you. Before using a function make sure you are aware of what it will do to your website. The most important function to be careful with is the Edit button under the Appearance dropdown menu. This can change the code on your website. WordPress gives a warning should you find yourself in this section of the back office.
(Always make sure you have backed up your site before making any major changes. Updraft plugin is a good option as you do not want to rely solely on your hosting provider. It is best to have at least two backup sources. Your website is an asset that over time can become extremely valuable. If the files get hacked or corrupted you can lose all the work you spent so much time and money to create!)