Styling the Main Content

Styling the Main Content

Now let's style the main content area — the blog post cards, the two-column layout (content + sidebar), and the widget styling.

Section Title Styling

.section-title {
    font-size: 28px;
    font-weight: 700;
    color: #2c3e50;
    margin-bottom: 30px;
    padding-bottom: 12px;
    border-bottom: 3px solid #3498db;
    display: inline-block;
}

Two-Column Layout

#main-content {
    padding: 60px 0;
}

.content-wrapper {
    display: flex;
    gap: 30px;
}

.primary-content {
    flex: 2;
}

.sidebar {
    flex: 1;
    min-width: 260px;
}

Blog Post Cards

.post-grid {
    display: grid;
    grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(300px, 1fr));
    gap: 24px;
}

.post-card {
    background: #fff;
    border-radius: 8px;
    overflow: hidden;
    box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.08);
    transition: transform 0.3s ease, box-shadow 0.3s ease;
}

.post-card:hover {
    transform: translateY(-4px);
    box-shadow: 0 6px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.12);
}

.post-card img {
    width: 100%;
    height: 200px;
    object-fit: cover;
}

.post-card-body {
    padding: 20px;
}

.post-card-body h3 {
    font-size: 18px;
    margin-bottom: 8px;
}

.post-card-body h3 a {
    color: #2c3e50;
    transition: color 0.3s ease;
}

.post-card-body h3 a:hover {
    color: #3498db;
}

.post-meta {
    font-size: 13px;
    color: #999;
    margin-bottom: 10px;
}

.post-meta .date { margin-right: 12px; }

.post-card-body p {
    font-size: 14px;
    color: #666;
    line-height: 1.7;
    margin-bottom: 12px;
}

.read-more {
    font-size: 14px;
    font-weight: 600;
    color: #3498db;
    transition: color 0.3s ease;
}

.read-more:hover {
    color: #2c3e50;
}

Sidebar / Widget Styling

.widget {
    background: #fff;
    padding: 24px;
    border-radius: 8px;
    box-shadow: 0 2px 8px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06);
    margin-bottom: 24px;
}

.widget-title {
    font-size: 18px;
    font-weight: 700;
    color: #2c3e50;
    margin-bottom: 16px;
    padding-bottom: 10px;
    border-bottom: 2px solid #3498db;
}

.widget ul li {
    padding: 8px 0;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;
}

.widget ul li:last-child {
    border-bottom: none;
}

.widget ul li a {
    color: #555;
    font-size: 14px;
    transition: color 0.3s ease, padding-left 0.3s ease;
}

.widget ul li a:hover {
    color: #3498db;
    padding-left: 4px;
}

/* Search Form */
.search-form {
    display: flex;
}

.search-form input {
    flex: 1;
    padding: 10px 14px;
    border: 1px solid #ddd;
    border-radius: 4px 0 0 4px;
    font-size: 14px;
    outline: none;
}

.search-form input:focus {
    border-color: #3498db;
}

.search-form button {
    padding: 10px 18px;
    background: #3498db;
    color: #fff;
    border: none;
    border-radius: 0 4px 4px 0;
    cursor: pointer;
    font-size: 14px;
}

.search-form button:hover {
    background: #2980b9;
}

The Two-Column Pattern

This content + sidebar layout is the classic WordPress blog structure:

• flex: 2 on content and flex: 1 on sidebar creates a roughly 66%/33% split
• min-width: 260px on the sidebar prevents it from becoming too narrow
• On smaller screens, we'll stack them vertically with a media query

Key Takeaways

• Use Flexbox for the two-column layout with flex: 2 and flex: 1
• CSS Grid with auto-fill + minmax creates a responsive post card grid
• Card components use overflow: hidden, box-shadow, and hover transforms
• Widget styles mirror WordPress widget output — clean list-based design
• All these CSS styles will transfer directly to the WordPress theme's style.css