How to Add Custom CSS Styles for WPForms

Introduction

Would you like to add custom CSS styles to your site? This tutorial will give you multiple options on how to add these snippets to your site with step-by-step instructions for each optional way you choose to add your CSS.

Implementation Options

CSS is a powerful tool for styling your site, as well as your forms. There are 3 main approaches to adding custom CSS to your site:

Using the WordPress Customizer

Since WordPress version 4.5, WordPress has given us a built-in tool to add any custom CSS styles to your theme or any plugin you have installed which makes this a popular choice for adding your CSS.

To learn more about the WordPress Customizer, check out their documentation.

You can find the WordPress customizer by navigating to Appearance » Customize » Additional CSS.

Just remember after you add your CSS to click the Publish button to save your changes. As long as the theme remains active, your custom CSS will be applied.

Using a specific plugin for adding CSS

Using a specific plugin created solely for this purpose is an extremely easy way to add custom CSS to your site.

We recommend using the WPCode plugin.

Once the plugin is installed, navigate to the Code Snippets menu from the left-hand side menu on your WordPress dashboard and select + Add Snippet. Next, simply click the Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet), then click the blue Use Snippet button to create a new CSS snippet.

When your new snippet screen appears, give the snippet a name that will make sense to you so you and your site admins will understand it’s purpose. From the Code Type dropdown, select CSS as we’ll be only adding CSS to this snippet.

In the Code Preview section, add your CSS. Here is an example to use for the purpose of this documentation.

/* write your CSS code here */
	ul#wpforms-999-field_27 li label, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_26 li label {
    padding: 10px;
    transition: all ease 0.3s;
    background: linear-gradient(to right, #e27730 50%, #cd631d 50%);
    background-size: 200% 100%;
    background-position: left bottom;
    color: white;
	}
	
	ul#wpforms-999-field_27 li.wpforms-selected label, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_27 li label:hover, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_26 li.wpforms-selected label, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_26 li label:hover {
		cursor: pointer;
		border-radius: 2px;
		background-position: right top;
	}
	
	ul#wpforms-999-field_27 li input, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_26 li input {
		display: none;
	}
	
	ul#wpforms-999-field_27 li, 
	ul#wpforms-999-field_26 li {
		float: left;
		width: auto;
		display: inline-block;
		padding: 10px 10px 10px 0!important;
	}

Next, you’ll see the Insertion section. Since we’re adding CSS, we’ll select Auto-Insert for the Insert Method and Site Wide Header for the Location.

Once you’ve added your snippet, click Save Snippet. This will save the snippet, but doesn’t automatically activate it. Once you’ve initially saved, you’ll notice that the status of the snippet is set to Inactive by default. Simply toggle the switch from Inactive to Active and click Update to set the snippet is Active.

Using CSS Hero

If you’d prefer to not touch any code, WPForms has a complete tutorial on how to use CSS Hero. To find out more about this, please follow this tutorial.

Creating a child theme

Child themes are recommended for more advanced development. You can find out how to create a child theme by following this tutorial.

In each child theme is the required style.css, in this file is where you would add your custom CSS.

Notes

When adding any kind of custom code to your site, it’s important to make sure you protect your code. So no matter what approach you choose, it’s a good idea to always back up your site first. That way, you’ll have access to older versions of site files and the database if needed.

Additional Links

For additional information on custom CSS for WPForms, check out these reference links:

• Styling documentation for WPForms
• A complete list of docs for styling WPForms using CSS

FAQ

Q: How does this help me with adding custom CSS for WPForms?

A: This tutorial isn’t specifically for WPForms custom CSS, but for any custom CSS you may want to add to your site.

Simply find which option above is easier for you to add any code snippets, including the WPForms code snippets mentioned in the Tutorials and Snippets section.