How to Customize Colors on Your WordPress Website

Do you want to customize colors on your WordPress website?

Colors play a vital role in making your website aesthetically pleasing and establishing its brand identity. Luckily, WordPress makes it super easy to customize colors across your entire site.

In this article, we will show you how to easily customize colors on your WordPress website, including background, header, text, and link colors.

Customizing colors on WordPress website

What Is Color Theory?

Before you can start customizing colors on your WordPress website, it is important to understand color theory.

Color theory is the study of colors and how they work together. It helps designers create color combinations that complement each other.

When designing a website, you need to choose colors that look good together. This will make your website look more attractive to your visitors, which can improve user experience and increase engagement.

Different colors can create different emotions and feelings in people, and color theory can help you choose the right combination for your website.

For instance, red is often used to represent food and restaurants. On the other hand, blue is usually used on banking and financial websites.

That is because red can create feelings of warmth, energy, and passion, whereas blue signifies trust, security, and calmness.

Color theory

Apart from complementing colors, you can also use color contrast to draw attention to important areas of your WordPress blog.

This allows you to make your content more readable, establish a strong brand identity, and create a specific mood on the website.

What Are WordPress Themes, and Can You Change Theme Colors?

WordPress themes control how your website looks to the user. A typical WordPress theme is a set of pre-designed templates you install on your website to change its appearance and layout.

Themes make your website more attractive, easier to use, and increase engagement.

Themes

You can also create your own themes from scratch using plugins like SeedProd and the Thrive Theme Builder.

With WordPress, you can easily customize themes and change their background, font, button, and link colors.

However, keep in mind that some themes come with pre-defined color choices, while others offer more flexibility to choose your own.

That being said, let’s see how you can easily customize colors in WordPress.

How to Customize Colors in WordPress

You can customize colors in WordPress using many different methods, including the theme customizer, the full site editor, custom CSS, page builder plugins, and more.

Change Colors Using the Theme Customizer

It is super easy to change colors using the built-in WordPress theme customizer.

First, visit the Appearance » Customize page from the admin sidebar.

Note: If you cannot find the ‘Customize’ tab in your WordPress dashboard, then this means that you are using a block theme. Scroll down to the next section of this tutorial to find out how to change colors in a block theme.

For this tutorial, we will be using the default Twenty Twenty-One theme.

Remember that the theme customizer may look different depending on the theme you are currently using.

Click on the Color and dark mode panel in the theme customizer

For example, the Twenty Twenty-One theme comes with a ‘Colors and Dark Mode’ panel that allows users to select a background color and customize dark mode.

After opening the panel, simply click on the ‘Select Color’ option. This will open up the Color Picker, where you can choose your preferred background color.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button at the top to save your changes and make them live on your website.

Change the bacground color in the theme customizer

Change Colors in the Full Site Editor

If you are using a block-based theme, then you won’t have access to the theme customizer. However, you can use the full site editor (FSE) to change colors on your website.

First, head to the Appearance » Editor screen from the admin sidebar to launch the full site editor.

Now, you have to click on the ‘Styles’ icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

Click on the Styles icon and choose the Colors panel

This will open the ‘Styles’ column, where you need to click on the ‘Colors’ panel.

You can change the theme’s background, text, link, heading, and button colors from here.

Open Styles panel to save changes

Once you are done, click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

Change Colors Using Custom CSS

CSS is a language that you can use to change the visual appearance of your website, including its colors. You can save custom CSS in your theme settings to apply your customizations to your entire site.

However, the custom CSS code will no longer apply if you switch themes on your website or update your existing theme.

That’s why we recommend using the WPCode plugin, which is the best WordPress code snippets plugin on the market. It is the easiest way to add custom CSS code, and it will allow you to safely customize colors on your WordPress website.

First, you will need to install and activate the WPCode plugin. For more instructions, please see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: There is also a free version of WPCode that you can use. However, we recommend upgrading to a paid plan to unlock the full potential of the plugin.

Once you have activated WPCode, you need to visit the Code Snippets » + Add Snippets page from the admin sidebar.

Simply click the ‘Use snippet’ button under the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ heading.

Add new snippet

Once you are on the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, you can start by typing a name for your code.

After that, just select ‘CSS Snippet’ as the ‘Code Type’ from the dropdown menu.

Choose CSS Snippet as the code type

Next, you must add the custom CSS code in the ‘Code Preview’ box.

For this section, we are adding custom CSS code that changes the text color on the website:

p   { color:#990000;  }
Add CSS code

Once you have done that, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section.

Here, you can choose the ‘Auto Insert’ option if you want the code to be executed automatically upon activation.

You can also add a shortcode to specific WordPress pages or posts.

Choose an insertion method

Once you are done, simply scroll back to the top of the page and toggle the ‘Inactive’ switch to ‘Active’.

Finally, you need to click the ‘Save Snippet’ button to apply the CSS code to your website.

Activate and save the CSS Snippet

Change Colors Using SeedProd

You can also customize colors using the SeedProd plugin.

It is the best WordPress page builder on the market that allows you to create themes from scratch without using any code.

First, you need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For more details, you can read our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head to the SeedProd » Theme Builder page from the WordPress admin sidebar.

From here, click on the ‘Theme Template Kits’ button at the top.

Note: If you want to create your own theme from scratch, then you will need to click on the ‘+ Add New Theme Template’ button instead.

Click the Theme Template Kit button to create a theme

This will take you to the ‘Theme Template Kit Chooser’ page. Here, you can choose from any of the pre-made theme templates offered by SeedProd.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to easily create a WordPress theme without any code.

Choose a theme template

After choosing a theme, you will be redirected to the ‘Theme Templates’ page.

Here, you need to toggle the ‘Enable SeedProd Theme’ switch to ‘Yes’ to activate the theme.

Now, you must click the ‘Edit Design’ link under any theme page to open up the drag-and-drop editor.

Toggle the switch to enable the theme and click on Edit Design link to open editor

Once you are there, click the gear icon at the bottom of the left column.

This will direct you to the ‘Global CSS’ settings.

Click the gear icon to open up the Global CSS page

From here, you can customize the colors of your website background, text, buttons, links, and more.

Once you are happy with your choices, click on the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

Customize colors on the Global Settings page

How to Change the Background Color in WordPress

All WordPress themes come with a default background color. However, you can easily change it to personalize your website and improve its readability.

If you are using a block theme, then you will have to change the background color using the full site editor.

First, you must head to the Appearance » Editor screen from the admin sidebar.

Once the full site editor has launched, click on the ‘Styles’ icon in the top-right corner of the screen.

After that, simply click on the ‘Colors’ panel to open up additional settings

Click on the Styles icon and choose the Colors panel

In the ‘Colors’ panel, you can now manage the default color of different elements on your website.

Here, you need to click on the ‘Background’ option under the ‘Elements’ section.

Choose the Background option in the Colors panel

Once the ‘Background’ panel has expanded, you can choose your website background color from here.

All WordPress themes offer a number of default website colors that you can choose from.

However, if you want to use a custom color, then you need to click on the Custom Color tool.

This will open up the Color Picker, where you can select a color of your choice.

Choose a background color from the Color Picker

You can also use gradient colors for your website background.

For this, you will first need to switch to the ‘Gradient’ tab at the top.

Next, you can choose a default gradient from the theme or select your own gradient colors with the help of the Color Picker tool.

Create a gradient background color

Once you are done, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

You can also change your website’s background using the theme customizer, SeedProd, and custom CSS.

For more detailed instructions, you may want to see our guide on how to change the background color in WordPress.

How to Change the Header Color in WordPress

Many WordPress themes come with a built-in header at the top of the page. It usually contains important page links, social icons, CTAs, and more.

The WPBeginner Header

If you are using a block theme, then you can easily customize the WordPress header using the full site editor.

First, you need to visit the Appearance » Editor screen from the admin sidebar to launch the full site editor. Once there, select the ‘Header’ template at the top by double-clicking on it.

From here, simply scroll down to the ‘Color’ section and click on the ‘Background’ option.

Double click the Header block to open up its settings in the right column

This will open a popup where you can choose a default color for your header.

You can also select a custom color by opening the Color Picker tool.

Choose a header color

To customize your header using a color gradient, you need to switch to the ‘Gradient’ tab.

After that, you can choose a default gradient option or customize your own using the Color Picker.

Create a gradient header

Finally, click on the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

If you want to change the header color using the theme customizer or additional CSS, then you may want to read our beginner’s guide on how to customize your WordPress header.

How to Change the Text Color in WordPress

Changing the text color can help improve the readability of your WordPress blog.

If you are using a block theme, then you will have to change the text color using the full site editor.

You can start by visiting the Appearance » Editor screen from the admin sidebar. This will launch the full site editor, where you must click the ‘Styles’ icon in the top-right corner.

Go to the Colors panel from the full site editor

Next, you need to click on the ‘Colors’ panel to access the additional settings.

Once you are there, go ahead and click on the ‘Text’ option under the ‘Elements’ section.

Click on the text option in the Colors panel

Once the text color settings have opened, you will be able to see a number of text colors under the ‘Default’ section.

Alternatively, you can also use a custom text color by clicking on the Custom Color tool and opening up the Color Picker.

Change text color using color picker

Once you have made your choice, simply click on the ‘Save’ button to store the changes.

Bonus Tip: You can use the WebAIM Contrast Checker tool to check if your background and text color work together. The tool can help you improve text readability on your website.

Check text and background color contrast

To customize text color using CSS, the theme customizer, or SeedProd, you may want to see our guide on how to change the text color in WordPress.

How to Change the Text Selection Color in WordPress

When a visitor selects text on your website, it will show a background color. The default color is blue.

Text selection color

However, sometimes the color may not blend well with your WordPress theme, and you might want to change it.

Adding CSS code to your theme files can easily change the text selection color. However, keep in mind that switching to another theme or updating your current theme will make the CSS code disappear.

That’s why we recommend using the WPCode plugin, which is the best WordPress code snippets plugin on the market.

First, you need to install and activate the WPCode plugin. For more instructions, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, head over to the Code Snippets » + Add Snippets page from the admin sidebar.

Then, simply click the ‘Use Snippet’ button under the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ heading.

Add new snippet

Once you are on the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, you can start by typing a name for your code snippet.

After that, you must choose ‘CSS Snippet’ as the ‘Code Type’ from the dropdown menu on the right.

Choose CSS Snippet as code type for the text selection color snippet

Now, go ahead and copy and paste the following CSS code into the ‘Code Preview’ box.

::-moz-selection {
    background-color: #ff6200;
    color: #fff;
}
 
::selection {
    background-color: #ff6200;
    color: #fff;
}

You can change the text selection color by substituting the hex code next to the ‘background-color’ in the CSS snippet.

Copy and paste the text color selection code snippet

Once you have added the code, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section.

Here, you need to choose the ‘Auto Insert’ method to execute the code automatically upon activation.

Choose an insertion method

After that, scroll back to the top and toggle the ‘Inactive’ switch to ‘Active’.

Finally, go ahead and click the ‘Save Snippet’ button to store your changes.

Activate and save the text selection color snippet

Now, you can visit your website to check the text selection color.

You can also change the text selection color using the theme customizer or a plugin. For more details, please see our tutorial on how to change the default text selection color in WordPress.

Text selection color preview

You can easily change the link color in WordPress using the full site editor or custom CSS.

If you are using a block theme, then head to the Appearance » Editor screen from the admin sidebar.

Once the full site editor has launched, you must click on the ‘Styles’ icon in the top-right corner.

Go to the Colors panel from the full site editor

Next, click on the ‘Colors’ panel in the right column to see additional settings.

Once you are there, simply click on the ‘Links’ panel.

Click on the Links panel

This will launch the link color settings, and you will see multiple default link colors displayed in the right column.

However, you can also use a custom link color by clicking on the Custom Color tool to open the Color Picker.

Use the color picker for link color

You can also change the hover link color using the FSE. This means the link color will change when someone hovers their mouse over it.

First, you will need to switch to the ‘Hover’ tab from the top.

Once there, you can choose a default or custom color to change the hover link color.

Change the hover link color

Finally, click on the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.

For more detailed instructions, you may want to see our guide on how to change the link color in WordPress.

How to Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress

You can also change the admin color scheme in WordPress if you want. This method can be helpful if you want the admin dashboard to match your website’s branding or use your favorite colors.

However, keep in mind that changing the color scheme of the WordPress dashboard will not affect the visible part of your website.

To change the admin color scheme, simply visit the Users » Profile page from the admin sidebar.

You will see multiple color schemes next to the ‘Admin Color Scheme’ option.

Choose the one you prefer and then click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page to save your changes.

Change the color scheme of the admin dashboard

For more detailed instructions, please see our beginner’s guide on how to change the admin color scheme in WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to customize colors on your WordPress website. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide and our article on how to choose a perfect color scheme for your WordPress website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Customize Colors on Your WordPress Website first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Change Background Color in WordPress (Beginner’s Guide)

Are you looking for an easy way to change the background color of your WordPress website?

The background color of your website plays an important role in your design and branding, and in making your content more readable.

In this article, we will show you how to easily change the background color of your WordPress site.

How to Change Background Color in WordPress

Why Change the Background Color in WordPress?

A WordPress theme comes with a default background color. Changing the background color can help personalize your website design and improve readability.

For instance, you can make a specific section of a page prominent using a different background color. This helps in highlighting your call to action (CTA) and increase conversions.

You can use different background colors for different posts on your WordPress blog based on authors, comments, or categories. This helps in differentiating articles from other content on your website.

There is also a way to add videos backgrounds to instantly capture your visitors’ attention and boost engagement.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to change background color in WordPress. We’ll show you different ways to customize the background color, so you can jump ahead to any section you prefer:

Change Background Color using WordPress Theme Customizer

Depending on your theme, you may be able to change the background color using the WordPress Theme Customizer. It lets you edit the appearance of your site in real-time and without the need to edit code.

To access the WordPress Theme Customizer, you can log in to your website and then go to Appearance » Customize.

This will open the Theme Customizer, where you’ll find multiple options to modify your theme. This includes the menus, colors, homepage, widgets, background image, and more.

The specific options available will depend on which WordPress theme your site is using. For this tutorial, we’re using the default Twenty Twenty-One theme.

To change the background color of your website, go ahead and click on the ‘Colors & Dark Mode’ settings tab from the menu on your left.

Go to Colors and Dark Mode settings

Next, you’ll need to click the ‘Background Color’ option and choose a color for your website. You can use the color picker tool or enter a Hex color code for your background.

Choose a background color

When you’re done with the changes, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button. You can now visit your website to see the new background color in action.

New background color example

Your theme may not have this option available in the Theme Customizer. In that case, you can try one of the methods below.

Change Background Color by Adding Custom CSS

Another way you can change the background color of your WordPress website is by adding custom CSS in the WordPress Theme Customizer.

To start, head over to Appearance » Customize and then go to ‘Additional CSS’ tab.

Add custom CSS in WordPress Theme Customizer

Next, you can enter the following code:

body {
 background-color: #FFFFFF;
}

All you have to do is replace the background color code with the color code that you want to use on your website. Next, go ahead and enter the code in the Additional CSS tab.

Enter background color custom CSS

When you’re done, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ button. You can now visit your website to view the new background color.

For more details, please refer to our guide on how to easily add custom CSS to your WordPress site.

Randomly Change Background Colors in WordPress

Now, are you looking for a way to randomly change the background color in WordPress?

You can add a smooth background color change effect to transition between different background colors automatically. The effect goes through multiple colors until it reaches the final color.

To add the effect, you’ll need to add code to your WordPress website. We’ll walk you through the process below.

The first thing you’ll need to do is find out the CSS class of the area where you’d like to add the smooth background color change effect.

You can do this by using the Inspect tool in your browser. All you have to do is take your mouse to the area you want to change the color and right-click to select the Inspect tool.

Find CSS class

After that, you’ll need to write down the CSS class you want to target. For example, in the screenshot above, we want to target the area with a CSS class ‘page-header.’

Next, you need to open a plain text editor on your computer like a notepad and create a new file. You’ll have to save the file as ‘wpb-background-tutorial.js’ on your desktop.

Once that’s done, you can add the following code to the JS file you just created:

jQuery(function($){
        $('.page-header').each(function(){
            var $this = $(this),
            colors = ['#ec008c', '#00bcc3', '#5fb26a', '#fc7331'];
 
            setInterval(function(){
                var color = colors.shift();
                colors.push(color);
                $this.animate({backgroundColor: color}, 2000);
            },4000);
        });
        }); 

If you study the code, then you’ll notice that we used the ‘page-header’ CSS class as it’s the area we want to target on our website.

You’ll also see that we used four colors using the hex color code. You can add as many colors as you want for your background. All you have to do is enter the color codes in the snippet and separate them using a comma and single quotes, like the other colors.

Now that your JS file is ready, you’ll need to upload it to your WordPress theme’s JS folder using a file transfer protocol (FTP) service.

For this tutorial, we’re using FileZilla. It’s a free FTP client for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and it’s very easy to use.

To start, you’ll need to log in to your website’s FTP server. You can find the login credentials in the email from your host provider or in your hosting account’s cPanel dashboard.

After you’re logged in, you’ll see a list of folders and files of your website under the ‘Remote site’ column. Go ahead and navigate to the JS folder in your site’s theme.

Upload JS file using a FTP service

If your theme doesn’t have a js folder, then you can create one. Simply right-click your theme’s folder in the FTP client and click the ‘Create directory’ option.

Create a directory and name it

Next, you’ll need to open the location of your JS file under the ‘Local site’ column. Then right-click the file and click the ‘Upload’ option to add the file to your theme.

Click the Upload option

For more details, you can follow our tutorial on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

Next, you’ll need to enter the following code into your theme’s funtions.php file. This code properly loads the JavaScript file and the dependent jQuery script that you need for this code to work.

function wpb_bg_color_scripts() {    
wp_enqueue_script( 'wpb-background-tutorial',  get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/js/wpb-background-tutorial.js', array( 'jquery-color' ), '1.0.0', true ); 
 } 
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'wpb_bg_color_scripts' ); 

We recommend using the Code Snippets plugin to safely add the code to your site. For more details, see our guide on how to paste snippets from the web into WordPress.

You can now visit your website to see the randomly changing colors in action in the area you targeted.

Color change effect animation

Change Background Color for Individual Posts

You can also change the background color of each individual blog post in WordPress instead of using a single color throughout your website using custom CSS.

It allows you to change the appearance of specific posts and personalize their backgrounds. For example, you can customize the style of each post based on authors or show a different background color for your most commented post.

You can even change the background color for posts in a particular category. For example, news posts can have different background colors compared to tutorials.

The first thing you’ll need to do is find the post ID class in your theme’s CSS. You can do that by viewing any blog post and then right-click to use the Inspect tool in your browser.

Default CSS for specific post in WordPress

Here is an example of what it would look like:

<article id="post-104" class="post-104 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-uncategorized"> 

Once you have your post ID, you can change the background color of an individual post by using the following custom CSS. Just replace the post ID to match your own and the background color code that you want.

.post-104 { 
background-color: #D7DEB5;
color:#FFFFFF; 
} 

To add the custom CSS, you can use the WordPress Theme Customizer. First, make sure that you’re logged in to your WordPress website. Then, visit your blog post and click the ‘Customize’ option at the top.

After that, head over to the Additional CSS tab from the menu on your left.

Go to Additional CSS option

Next, enter the custom CSS and then click the ‘Publish’ button.

Enter custom CSS for individual post color

You can now visit your blog post to see the new background color.

If you want to change the background color based on author, comments, or category, then check out our detailed tutorial on how to style each WordPress post differently.

Use a Video in the Background

Using videos as your website background is a great way to capture your visitors’ attention and increase user engagement.

The easiest way to add a video in the background is by using a WordPress plugin. For this tutorial, we’ll use mb.YTPlayer for background videos.

It’s a free plugin that lets you play YouTube videos in the background of your WordPress website. There is also a premium version available that lets you remove the mb.YTPlayer watermark and offers more customization features.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin on your website. For more details, you can follow our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can head over to mb.ideas » YTPlayer from your WordPress admin area.

On the next screen, you’ll need to enter the URL of your YouTube video and activate the background video.

Enter your YouTube video URL

Besides that, the plugin lets you select the location to show your background video. You can choose a static homepage, blog index homepage, or both. There is also an option to show the video on your entire site if you select ‘All.’

Once you’ve entered the video URL and activated the background, go ahead and visit your website to see the video background in action.

Video background preview

Create a Custom Landing Page

Creating custom landing pages in WordPress allows you to generate leads and boost sales for your business. You have complete control over the background color and design of the page.

The easiest way to create a highly engaging custom landing page is by using SeedProd. It’s the best landing page plugin for WordPress and offers an easy-to-use drag and drop page builder to create pages without editing code.

The first thing you’ll need to do is install and activate SeedProd on your website. You can refer to our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: We’ll be using the SeedProd Pro version as it offers more powerful features, templates, and customization options. However, there is also a free version available on WordPress.org.

Once the plugin is active, you’ll be asked to enter your license key. You can find the key in your SeedProd account area. After entering the key, click the ‘Verify Key’ button.

SeedProd license key

Next, you can head over to SeedProd » Pages and click on the ‘Add New Landing Page’ button.

Add new SeedProd landing page

After that, you’ll need to select a theme for your landing page. SeedProd offers lots of beautiful landing page templates to get started.

You can also use a blank template to start from scratch. However, we suggest using a template as it’s an easier and faster way to create a landing page.

Choose a template for your page

When you select a template, you’ll be asked to enter a Page Name and choose a URL.

Enter a Page Name and Page URL

On the next screen, you’ll see the SeedProd page builder. Here you can use the drag and drop builder to add blocks from the menu on your left. You can add a headline, video, image, button, etc.

When you scroll down, there are more blocks under the Advanced section. For example, you can add a countdown timer to create urgency, show social profiles to increase followers, add an option form to collect leads, and more.

SeedProd landing page builder

Using the drag and drop builder, it’s effortless to change the position of each block on your landing page. You can even change the layout, size, color, and font of the text.

To change the background color of your landing page, simply select any section of the page. You’ll now see options in the menu on your left to edit the background style, color, and add an image.

Change background color of landing page

After you’re done editing your landing page, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.

Next, you can head over to the ‘Connect’ tab and integrate the page with different email marketing services. For example, you can connect to Constant Contact, SendinBlue, and others.

Connect email marketing services

After that, go ahead and click on the ‘Page Settings’ tab. Here you can change the Page Status from Draft to Publish to take your page live.

SeedProd page settings

Other than that, you can also change the SEO settings of the page, view the analytics, add custom code under Scripts, and enter a custom domain.

Once you’re done, you can exit the SeedProd page builder and visit your custom landing page.

Custom landing page preview

We hope this article helped you learn how to change the background color in WordPress. You may also want to check out our guide on how to choose the best website builder, or our comparison of the best web design software.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Change Background Color in WordPress (Beginner’s Guide) appeared first on WPBeginner.