Title: Padding and margin changes won't stick
Last modified: August 21, 2016

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# Padding and margin changes won't stick

 *  [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * (@poweroftwo2)
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/)
 * I am trying to adjust padding and margins on various aspects of my site (header,
   widgets, text elements, etc). When i am viewing the site (not in the dashboard),
   I r-click on an element and choose “Inspect Element” I make sure I have the correct
   element (by the fact that it highlights in the screen as i hover over the code)
   and I select that line in the code. On the right hand side i see a number of 
   options including padding and margins. I uncheck margin-top, change it from 40px
   to 10px and recheck the item. I see the change on my screen.
    Then i either close
   my screen or go back to my dashboard. When i come back, the change has been reverted.
   Am I doing something wrong? Is there some way i should be saving those changes
   so they stick?

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759728)
 * Sorry, Google Chrome’s developer tools (any many other developer tools) only 
   work temporarily. They’re there to test out stuff on the browser, for easier 
   and quicker development. You’re supposed to then implement them through the files
   themselves.
 * Sounds like you’ll need to make either a Child Theme or use a Custom CSS plugin
   for your CSS changes.
 *  Thread Starter [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * (@poweroftwo2)
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759731)
 * Good to know. How do i get to the files themselves. I looked for margin codes
   in Appearence/Menu/Header and it wasn’t there.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759733)
 * You ought to be creating new styles instead of modifying existing styles (no 
   need to look for margin codes).
 * For example, look at this `padding-top` style (on the right) [http://snag.gy/uHvpN.jpg](http://snag.gy/uHvpN.jpg)
 * To override that, you’d create a new style:
 *     ```
       .threadauthor {
        padding-top: 0;
       }
       ```
   
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759734)
 * Do you have a Child Theme or Custom CSS plugin?
 *  Thread Starter [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * (@poweroftwo2)
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759735)
 * Downloading Custom CDD plugin. Will play with it. Thx
 *  Thread Starter [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * (@poweroftwo2)
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759805)
 * ok, really basic question. i have been looking around and understand what i need
   to write to add padding. But i don’t know how to apply it to the header.
    I have
   entered the code below in My Custom CSS, but nothing happens
 * header {
    padding-top: 15px padding-bottom: 15px }
 * When inspect the element on the webpage i get
    <header id=”header”>
 * I know i’m missing something pretty basic
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759935)
 * We can’t tell without a link to the webpage in question.
 *  Thread Starter [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * (@poweroftwo2)
 * [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759958)
 * the webpage link is [http://www.responsibleprescriber.com/wp/](http://www.responsibleprescriber.com/wp/)
   
   I also realized that as “header” is an id, i needed to add a # in front of it,
   so i changed it to
 * #header {
    padding-top: 15px; padding-bottom: 15px; }
 * Still no result. thx

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

The topic ‘Padding and margin changes won't stick’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [elements](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/elements/)
 * [margins](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/margins/)
 * [padding](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/padding/)

 * 8 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [poweroftwo2](https://wordpress.org/support/users/poweroftwo2/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 12 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/padding-and-margin-changes-wont-stick/#post-3759958)
 * Status: not resolved

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