Title: Blank CSS for WordPress Last modified: August 19, 2016 --- # Blank CSS for WordPress * [stuntmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stuntmusic/) * (@stuntmusic) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/) * I am looking for a CSS file for WordPress that is basically blank. * It has all the proper pieces to control how WordPress is styled (I’m not going to use the fancy terms like ‘selectors’ etc here) * I’ve downloaded a few themes that are “blanks” but the CSS seems to be missing many elements. * One of the things I am trying to do is to make the links that appear in a UL tag (such as category links) different than the links that appear in an H2 tag( such as the article titles) * Anyone have any suggestions? Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) * [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/) * (@moshu) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679579) * #sidebar ul li a {something} * #sidebar h2 a {another thing} * .post-title {whatever} + in html

* You don’t need a blank CSS for that – you need to put your own classes and IDs in the HTML markup and define them in the stylesheet. * Thread Starter [stuntmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stuntmusic/) * (@stuntmusic) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679583) * moshu * Thanks, but the problem is that I don’t know all the classes or ID’s of the WordPress elements, so having the blank one would be a help so I can create the design I want, then edit the CSS so I see the results in the blog. * Perhaps I am not being completely clear in what I want to try and do. But it is a great learning experience * I’ve seen a post elsewhere for using a sandbox, saving a page from wordpress as an HTML file, creating a CSS file, then editing it so I can better see results in my browser, etc.. but having the “complete” CSS list of elements would be helpful. * – Marc * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679587) * I see what youre after, and its a little overkill. * WordPress doesnt wrap very much in CSS on its own. Its the theme authors that do that, and there’s no standard (there simply cant be). * What WP does is provide structure. * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679588) * a few things I recommend. * 1. Use FireFox as your browser. * 2. Install the web developer extension for FF. * 3. Install the slayeroffice DOM inspector @ [http://slayeroffice.com/tools/modi/v2.0/modi_help.html](http://slayeroffice.com/tools/modi/v2.0/modi_help.html) * Once you’re equipped with those 3 things, you dont need a sandbox, you just need eyes 🙂 * Thread Starter [stuntmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stuntmusic/) * (@stuntmusic) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679590) * whoami, * Thanks for the advice. I was going in that direction as well, using Firefox etc. * Granted, the theme authors stick a bunch of junk in the CSS to amke it all nice and cool… but that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t find, anywhere, a ‘list’ of the elements that WordPress uses. * I guess if I had that, that would be a good start. Maybe it is overkill, but I am trying to do some funky things with the designs I am coming up with, multiple sidebars, etc and I guess I like the pain 😉 * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679591) * you cant find one, because there isnt one, thats what I’m telling you — aside from the tag cloud, which I believe might include its own styling mechanism, there is no class=blah or id=blah outputted WP. * thats style, not structure. * the exception to that rule is widgets. widgets, for whatever reason DO include that crap. even the default widgets. * what you need to look at to familiarize yourself, and prove this out are the various template tags. * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags) * a wonderful example would be this one: * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/get_permalink](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/get_permalink) * structure structure structure. 🙂 * [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/) * (@moshu) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679593) * Actually, WordPress doesn’t use any “element” – with the exception of some lists that are displayed in the sidebar, usually: wp_list_pages, the categories list, blogroll list. * All the rest of the div classes and ID, or paragraph classes etc. are defined by the theme author. In this case – YOU. * Let me give you an example: according to the Codex this might be the sinplest Loop for an index.php file – * ``` ``` * OK, now disregard the call for header, sidebar, footer… and you end up with this: * ``` ``` * Everything you are going to add, i.e. [Template_Tags](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags) like the_title the_date the_permalink the_category * can and should be wrapped inside divs and/or other html tags. The name and the properties of those divs will be defined exclusively by you. It makes sense to call the div where the_content goes as div class=entry or “post” or “blogpost”… but you can call it “stuntmusic” or “moshu” as well. * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679596) * indeed I may very well be wrong about the widgets — I just recalling seeing multiple declarations of `div id="widget"` or something similar that didnt seem theme specific, it might just be poor coding by either the widget authors or the theme authors. * Not using widgets, I wouldnt know personally. 🙂 * — * and the tag cloud: * [http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/wp_tag_cloud](http://codex.wordpress.org/Template_Tags/wp_tag_cloud) * the default usage defines font sizes, which in my humble opine is in very poor taste – it ought to have been done the way my [zeitgeist](http://www.village-idiot.org/zeitgeist) is, so that it could be more user defined without editing the tag. * ``` .cloud_0 {font-size:1.0em;} .cloud_1 {font-size:1.0em;} .cloud_2 {font-size:1.2em;} .cloud_3 {font-size:1.2em;} .cloud_4 {font-size:1.4em;} .cloud_5 {font-size:1.4em;} .cloud_6 {font-size:1.6em;} .cloud_7 {font-size:1.6em;} .cloud_8 {font-size:1.8em;} .cloud_9 {font-size:1.8em;} .cloud_10 {font-size:2.0em;} ``` * That would have taken more lines of code though. but thats off topic ;P * Thread Starter [stuntmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stuntmusic/) * (@stuntmusic) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679603) * Ok, for the sake of being argumentative (since it really is the only way I learn) 🙂 * I have a blog I am working on… if I view the source for the page I have a couple of these * `div class="post"` * and * `div class="entry"` * So, are you saying that those two divs are something I put in? I’m pretty sure That’s WordPress, not me. * Granted, it’s all structure, but at some point, WordPress creates some of that stuff, like ‘comment’, ‘post’, ‘content’ correct? * I know enough to be dangerous and modify themes and have embarked on doing one of my own…. but am eager to learn more more more…. * And thanks for the help. I know it can be painful to watch guys like me struggle with this stuff. I know I get made when I am doing QA (my real job) and I have to go tell a developer to stop making the same damn mistakes 😀 * [whooami](https://wordpress.org/support/users/whooami/) * (@whooami) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679604) * yes, thats exactly what we are saying. * `div class="post"` and `div class="entry"` are theme specific. thats not something WP spits out. * YOU can prove this out yourself, by installing wordpress, taking your choice of themes, I would actually use the classic theme if it were me, and removing everything from the theme that is NOT a template tag. * What youre going to end up with is a white page with completely unstyled output. * Thread Starter [stuntmusic](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stuntmusic/) * (@stuntmusic) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679646) * Hmmmm. * Much experimenting to do here. * But I am learning and appreciative of what you have told me. * Maybe I’ll make a blank template with blanks CSS all mocked up and sell it 🙂 * [ektz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ektz/) * (@ektz) * [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679650) * What you ask for is already there. Take a look at this .. you’ll find your blank theme. i couldn’t find the link on author’s site so i uploaded it at my blog for people to download. * [http://falconerdesigns.com/2008/01/13/blank-wordpress-theme/](http://falconerdesigns.com/2008/01/13/blank-wordpress-theme/) Viewing 12 replies - 1 through 12 (of 12 total) The topic ‘Blank CSS for WordPress’ is closed to new replies. ## Tags * [css](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/css/) * [styling](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/styling/) * 12 replies * 4 participants * Last reply from: [ektz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ektz/) * Last activity: [18 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/blank-css-for-wordpress/#post-679650) * Status: not a support question ## Topics ### Topics with no replies ### Non-support topics ### Resolved topics ### Unresolved topics ### All topics