Full site editing is one of those WordPress things that sounds fancy and then makes you feel a bit lost when you open it. You click around, colours are everywhere, and nothing feels where you expect it to be. You’re not thick. It’s just different.
Here’s how you actually change colours without wrecking the whole site.
First, go to your WordPress dashboard. Click Appearance → Editor. This only shows up if you’re using a block theme. If you don’t see “Editor”, you’re not on full site editing. Simple as that.
Once the editor opens, look to the top right. There’s a half-filled circle icon. That’s Styles. Click it. This is where WordPress hides all the colour controls.
Now the steps, straight up.
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Click Styles (top right)
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Click Colours
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You’ll see options like Text, Background, Links, Buttons
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Click the colour you want to change
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Pick a new colour
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Hit Save
That change applies across the whole site. Pages, posts, headers, footers. Everything. That’s the whole point of full site editing.
If you only want to change colours for something specific, like the header or footer, you do it slightly differently.
Go back to the main editor screen. Click Templates or Template Parts. Open Header or Footer. Click on the block you want, then look to the right-hand panel. Colour settings live there too. Change it, save it, move on with your life.
Now, a quick word of warning. It’s very easy to go mad here. Changing every block to a different colour will make your site look like a children’s play centre. Don’t do it. Most decent Irish sites stick to two or three colours, max. Background, text, accent. Done.
Cost-wise, this part is free. No plugins needed. No paid add-ons. But the catch is the theme. Some block themes give you loads of colour control. Others barely give you anything. If you bought a premium block theme, usually in the €40–€70 range, you’ll get better defaults and fewer headaches. Cheap or free ones can feel half-finished.
If you change colours and nothing happens, that’s usually caching. Refresh hard. Clear cache. Or your theme has locked certain colours. Yes, themes still do that. Annoying, but common.
Full site editing isn’t worse than the old way. It’s just unfamiliar. Once you get used to the Styles panel, changing colours stops feeling scary and starts feeling obvious. Like realising the immersion switch has been beside the cooker the whole time.