Title: Question about styling the plugin
Last modified: August 20, 2026

---

# Question about styling the plugin

 *  Resolved [tomdkat](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tomdkat/)
 * (@tomdkat)
 * [3 days, 13 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/question-about-styling-the-plugin/)
 * Hi! I just installed the plugin and it solved my issue perfectly. I did notice
   a large gap between the reading time area and the start of the blog post. Is 
   there a CSS class or something I can use to create style rules to style the reading
   time area a bit? Or maybe add some settings in the Dashboard that can be used
   to provide basic styling (change background color, etc)?
   Thanks in advance!

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Author [Md Asadujjaman Sabuj](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asad5516/)
 * (@asad5516)
 * [3 days, 3 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/question-about-styling-the-plugin/#post-18998642)
 * Hi [@tomdkat](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tomdkat/) ,
   Glad it solved 
   the problem, and thank you for the review – much appreciated.
 * Yes, there’s a class you can target. The reading time is output as:
   `<p class
   ="minuteread-reading-time">Estimated Reading Time: 5 min</p>`
 * When you place it inside your content with the `[minuteread_time]` shortcode,
   it renders as a `<span>` carrying the same class instead.
 * On the gap – that one is on me. The plugin’s stylesheet sets `margin: 0 0 1.2em`
   on that element, and in themes whose layout doesn’t collapse margins, it stacks
   on top of the spacing the theme already applies to the next block, so you get
   both. Removing it should give you what you expect:
   `.minuteread-reading-time {
   margin-bottom: 0 !important; }`
 * If you’d like to style the area itself, something along these lines works:
   `.
   minuteread-reading-time { background: #f5f6fa; border-left: 3px solid #2c5f4f;
   padding: 8px 12px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; font-style: normal; color: #333; }`
 * Add either one under Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS on a classic theme,
   or Appearance → Editor → Styles → Additional CSS on a block theme. If it doesn’t
   sit right with your theme, post your site URL here and I’ll write the exact rule
   for it.
 * Longer term, I agree with both parts of your suggestion. Forcing that bottom 
   margin is the wrong default, so I’m dropping it and letting the theme own the
   spacing – that goes out shortly, along with an updated “Tested up to” for WordPress
   7.1. Basic appearance options in the settings screen are a good idea too, and
   I’m looking at that for the release after. The class name stays the same either
   way, so any CSS you write now will keep working.
 * Thanks for taking the time to write this up – it’s useful feedback.
 *  Thread Starter [tomdkat](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tomdkat/)
 * (@tomdkat)
 * [2 days, 14 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/question-about-styling-the-plugin/#post-18999083)
 * Thanks for the info! I’ll have fun styling the reading time element!
 *  Plugin Author [Md Asadujjaman Sabuj](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asad5516/)
 * (@asad5516)
 * [1 day, 2 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/question-about-styling-the-plugin/#post-19000294)
 * [@tomdkat](https://wordpress.org/support/users/tomdkat/) 
   1.1.0 is out. The forced
   bottom margin is gone, so spacing now follows yourtheme – you can probably drop
   the override you added. Custom post typesupport and WordPress 7.1 compatibility
   are in as well. Basic appearanceoptions in the settings screen are still on the
   list for the next release.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

You must be [logged in](https://login.wordpress.org/?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fwordpress.org%2Fsupport%2Ftopic%2Fquestion-about-styling-the-plugin%2F%3Foutput_format%3Dmd&locale=en_US)
to reply to this topic.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/minuteread/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3660419)
 * [MinuteRead - Reading Time for Posts](https://wordpress.org/plugins/minuteread/)
 * [Frequently Asked Questions](https://wordpress.org/plugins/minuteread/#faq)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/minuteread/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/minuteread/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/minuteread/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/minuteread/reviews/)

 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Md Asadujjaman Sabuj](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asad5516/)
 * Last activity: [1 day, 2 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/question-about-styling-the-plugin/#post-19000294)
 * Status: resolved