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Understanding and Managing Custom CSS in the Neve Theme

24 threads Sep 16, 2025 Theme → Neve

Content

Many users of the Neve theme want to add custom CSS to deeply personalize their website's appearance. A common point of confusion is the difference between using the WordPress Customizer's "Additional CSS" option and editing a theme's core stylesheet files directly. This guide explains the standard methods and why one approach is highly recommended over the other.

The Problem: Where to Add Custom CSS

Users often report that they cannot find the main style.css file for editing, or that their changes to files like style-main-new.css do not take effect. This is because directly editing a parent theme's files is not a standard WordPress practice. Any changes made to the parent theme (like Neve) will be completely overwritten the next time the theme receives an update from its developers.

The Recommended Solution: Use a Child Theme

The universally recommended method for adding persistent custom CSS (or any code changes) is to create a child theme. A child theme inherits all the functionality and styling of its parent theme but allows you to make modifications safely. When the parent theme updates, your customizations in the child theme remain intact.

To add CSS via a child theme:

  1. Create and activate a Neve child theme.
  2. Open the child theme's style.css file.
  3. Add your custom CSS rules to this file.

Your styles will now be loaded on the site and will not be lost during updates.

An Alternative: The Customizer's Additional CSS Option

For smaller, quicker CSS tweaks, the built-in "Additional CSS" section in the WordPress Customizer is a valid and convenient tool. There is a misconception that this method slows down a website; however, for typical use, the performance impact is negligible. The significant advantage is that these styles are stored in the database and are also preserved through theme updates.

Important Note: As noted in the community threads, there can be a rare issue where switching between a parent and child theme in the dashboard may cause the Customizer's Additional CSS to be cleared. For this reason, if you use this method, it is wise to keep a backup of your CSS code in a separate text file.

Conclusion

For deep, structural CSS changes, creating a child theme and adding code to its style.css file is the best practice. For minor visual adjustments, the Additional CSS option in the Customizer is perfectly acceptable. Avoid editing the parent Neve theme's core files directly, as those changes will not be permanent.

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