Styling the Header

Styling the Header

Let's bring the header to life with CSS. We'll style the navigation bar, logo, hero section, and add smooth hover effects.

CSS Reset & Base Styles

/* === Reset === */
* {
    margin: 0;
    padding: 0;
    box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
    font-family: 'Segoe UI', Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;
    line-height: 1.6;
    color: #444;
    background: #f9f9f9;
}

a {
    text-decoration: none;
    color: inherit;
}

ul { list-style: none; }

img {
    max-width: 100%;
    height: auto;
}

/* === Container === */
.container {
    max-width: 1100px;
    margin: 0 auto;
    padding: 0 20px;
}

Header Styles

#main-header {
    background: #2c3e50;
    color: #fff;
    padding: 15px 0;
    position: sticky;
    top: 0;
    z-index: 1000;
    box-shadow: 0 2px 10px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
}

.header-inner {
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    justify-content: space-between;
}

.logo img {
    width: 160px;
}

Navigation Styles

#main-nav ul {
    display: flex;
    align-items: center;
    gap: 8px;
}

#main-nav ul li a {
    color: #ccc;
    font-size: 15px;
    font-weight: 500;
    padding: 8px 14px;
    border-radius: 4px;
    transition: all 0.3s ease;
}

#main-nav ul li a:hover,
#main-nav ul li a.current {
    color: #fff;
    background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1);
}

Hero Section

#hero {
    background: linear-gradient(rgba(44, 62, 80, 0.85), rgba(44, 62, 80, 0.85)),
                url('../img/hero.jpg') no-repeat center center/cover;
    color: #fff;
    padding: 100px 0;
    text-align: center;
}

.hero-content {
    max-width: 650px;
    margin: 0 auto;
}

.hero-content h1 {
    font-size: 42px;
    font-weight: 700;
    margin-bottom: 20px;
    line-height: 1.2;
}

.hero-content p {
    font-size: 18px;
    color: #ddd;
    margin-bottom: 30px;
    line-height: 1.7;
}

/* === Buttons === */
.btn {
    display: inline-block;
    padding: 12px 32px;
    background: #3498db;
    color: #fff;
    font-size: 16px;
    font-weight: 600;
    border: none;
    border-radius: 4px;
    cursor: pointer;
    transition: background 0.3s ease, transform 0.2s ease;
}

.btn:hover {
    background: #2980b9;
    transform: translateY(-2px);
}

CSS Techniques Explained

Technique	What It Does
position: sticky	Header sticks to top when scrolling
display: flex + justify-content: space-between	Logo left, nav right
linear-gradient over url()	Dark overlay on hero background image
transition	Smooth hover effects on links and buttons
box-shadow	Subtle depth under the sticky header
rgba()	Semi-transparent colors for overlays and hover states

Key Takeaways

• Start with a CSS reset and base styles for consistency
• Use Flexbox for header layout — logo on the left, nav on the right
• position: sticky with top: 0 creates a modern fixed header
• Combine linear-gradient with url() for an image overlay in one line
• Add transition to links and buttons for smooth hover effects
• These same styles will carry into the WordPress theme's style.css