When working with Elementor, the popular WordPress page builder, customization options are at your fingertips. Yet, one specific styling question often arises: How can I change the underline color of text in Elementor? While Elementor offers intuitive tools for text styling, altering underline colors requires a blend of Elementor’s built-in features and CSS tweaks.
In this guide, we’ll provide a step-by-step explanation of how to change underline colors in Elementor, enhanced by practical examples, best practices, and my personal experiences in tackling this design challenge.
Why Customize Underline Colors?
Underlining text is often used to emphasize important content or signify hyperlinks. However, the default underline color usually matches the text color, which may not always suit your website’s design. Customizing underline colors can:
- Enhance visual appeal by aligning with your brand colors.
- Draw attention to key elements like headings, CTAs, or links.
- Improve readability and user experience.
Step 1: Using Elementor’s Built-in Features
Elementor provides a straightforward way to add underlines to text, but it doesn’t allow direct underline color customization in the visual editor. Here’s what you can do:
Adding Underlines via the Text Editor
- Open your page in Elementor.
- Select the text widget where you want to apply an underline.
- Highlight the text you want to underline.
- Use the toolbar to add the underline by clicking the underline (U) icon.
Limitations
While the above method adds an underline, the color will default to the text color, leaving no built-in option to modify it.
Step 2: Changing Underline Color Using Custom CSS
To achieve complete control over underline styles, you’ll need to use CSS. Elementor allows you to add custom CSS in the Advanced tab (available in Elementor Pro) or directly in your theme customizer.
Example 1: Basic Underline Color Customization
Here’s a CSS snippet to change the underline color of a specific text element:
Steps:
- Assign a custom CSS class (e.g.,
underline-custom
) to your text element:- Go to the Advanced tab of the widget.
- Enter
underline-custom
in the CSS Classes field.
- Add the above CSS snippet:
- Navigate to Site Settings > Custom CSS or use Elementor Pro’s Custom CSS option within the widget.
- Paste the code and replace the color with your desired hex code (e.g.,
#ff6600
).
Example 2: Hover Effects for Links
For links, you might want the underline color to change on hover. Use this CSS snippet:
steps:
- Apply the
custom-link
class to your link elements. - Add the CSS in the same manner as above.
Step 3: Advanced Customization
CSS offers additional properties to create unique underline styles. Here are some examples:
1. Dotted or Dashed Underlines
Use these styles sparingly, as overly decorative underlines can affect readability.
2. Adjusting Underline Thickness
This property is particularly useful for drawing attention to important content, such as headings or call-to-action buttons.
3. Fine-tuning with text-underline-offset
The text-underline-offset
property ensures that the underline doesn’t crowd the text, improving readability.
Real-World Use Cases
Here are some practical examples where underline customization can enhance your design:
Blog Headlines
- Use a bold underline in a contrasting color to highlight blog post titles.
- Example CSS:
Navigation Menus
- Underline active menu items or add hover effects to improve navigation clarity.
- Example CSS:
Call-to-Action Links
- Use dynamic underline styles for CTAs to grab attention without overwhelming the design.
- Example CSS:
Best Practices for Using Underlines
- Keep It Consistent: Stick to a uniform underline style across your site to maintain visual harmony.
- Don’t Overuse: Excessive underlines can clutter your design and confuse users.
- Prioritize Accessibility: Ensure sufficient contrast between underline colors and the background for readability.
- Test Responsiveness: Check how underline styles appear on different screen sizes, adjusting thickness and offset if necessary.
I’ve often found myself using underline customization to subtly align elements with a brand’s visual identity. For instance, on one project, the default hyperlink underline clashed with the site’s overall color scheme. By implementing CSS to change the underline color and add hover effects, I not only improved aesthetics but also enhanced user engagement with links.
Elementor’s flexibility made it easy to test various styles in real time, and the ability to add global CSS ensured consistency across the site. However, I recommend using decorative styles like wavy or dashed underlines sparingly, as they can distract from the content.
Conclusion
Changing underline colors in Elementor is a simple yet impactful way to enhance your website’s design. While the platform doesn’t offer this feature directly in the editor, leveraging CSS unlocks endless possibilities for customization. Whether you’re styling links, headings, or navigation menus, well-designed underlines can elevate your site’s user experience and align it with your branding.
By following this guide and experimenting with CSS properties, you can create unique, visually appealing underline styles that enhance your Elementor projects. Happy designing!