| One of the great things about WordPress is the | | | | Just the other day a friend of mine had found the |
| number of themes that are available to change the | | | | perfect theme for his blog but the hyperlinks were |
| look of your blog. There are both free and paid | | | | not the standard blue and underlined but they were |
| versions available. Changing themes is quite easy but... | | | | just black and bold. |
| Finding just the right theme to fit your blog can be | | | | He loved the theme except for that and had spent |
| frustrating. And that is putting it mildly. | | | | hours finding just the right look. This problem was |
| You find one that you like just about everything but | | | | easily solved by making a minor change in the css |
| that one little thing. | | | | (cascading style sheet) file of his theme. |
| It may be... | | | | WordPress themes are run using style sheets and |
| * the way it displays hyperlinks | | | | you can change the attributes quite easily. In this |
| * the size of the sidebar | | | | case it was the hyperlinks so you needed to look on |
| * the header image | | | | the style sheet for the "a link" attributes. |
| * or any of numerous other problems | | | | It will look something like thisa {color: |
| Now short of hiring someone to create a custom | | | | #000000;text-decoration: none; |
| theme exactly the way you would like it there are a | | | | } |
| few easy changes you can make to take the almost | | | | Just change the color to the appropriate hexadecimal |
| perfect theme and make it much more YOURS. | | | | code in this case #0000ff and then the attribute |
| Here is how you can change three of the most | | | | from none to underline and you have a "standard" |
| common things to personalize your them and make it | | | | hyperlink. |
| your own. | | | | Changing sidebar size |
| Before we start though ALWAYS, ALWAYS, | | | | This takes two changes and they have to be the |
| ALWAYS have a back up of your files. And I do | | | | same amount of change. If your sidebar is a bit |
| mean always if you did not guess from the previous | | | | narrow say 120 pixels and you want to use |
| statement. | | | | 125×125 buttons you will have to change the |
| Change your header | | | | sidebar width and reduce the body width by the |
| In your theme folder you will find an img or images | | | | same amount. |
| folder depending on which one the theme author | | | | Here are the two entries |
| used. Inside that folder will be an image called | | | | #sidebar {position: relative;float: right;width: 237px; |
| header.jpg or header.gif. You can easily grab a copy | | | | #content {float: left;width: 676px; |
| of that image and check to see exactly what size it | | | | You need to subtract from one what you add to the |
| is. | | | | other but this will allow you to customize the size of |
| Either create a new image the same size your self or | | | | a sidebar if that is the feature that you don't like. |
| hire a graphic designer to create one for you if you | | | | WordPress themes can be easily customized to your |
| lack the skills. Name this new file the same as the | | | | needs so if you find most of the features you want |
| original one and replace the original one. You now | | | | try your hand at customizing them. Just make sure |
| have a personalized header. | | | | to have a backup before you start. |
| Hyperlink colors | | | | |