Google Sites - The Proper Way to Change Fonts & Colors

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Whenever you are working with a website, there is definitely a better way to make formatting changes that involve fonts & colors.  And this way does NOT involve using the little icons on the formatting toolbar - which is the obvious way since it is there visible when you are editing your pages!

The proper way is to make those changes so they will set them for the entire site.  With Google Sites, it means making them in the Manage Site area. 

When in the Manage Site screen, in the menu on the left is the option Themes, Colors and Fonts - this is what you want to select.

Once there, you will see the following:
Here's what all these areas are:
  1. Theme - you can see which theme you currently have selected, and change to another theme
  2. Page Areas - you can select which area of the page you would like to modify
  3. Page Parts - this list the various parts/options that can be changed
  4. Format - this shows the formatting that you can modify
  5. Preview - a preview window to see how your changes affect your site
You can change the formatting of any of the page  parts listed.  If you don't like what you have done, you can always click it back to Theme.  If you have made LOTS of changes and want to return back to the set theme, you can select Clear all customization:

Once the site is how you want it, make sure to click Save

Many people don't understand that there are several reasons for learning to customize your site it this way.  The three main ones are:
  • Accessibility: by using this method, the changes are noted on a Cascading Style Sheet.  While you don't need to know what that is, it is important to note that someone with a hearing or vision impairment can still use accessibility features on their browser and/or device to fully experience your site.  (If you make changes using the formatting toolbar this is not always true.)
  • Consistency: your site will remain much more consistent as this will change all similar items in one click of a button, so you won't have to revisit EVERY SINGLE PAGE to make a change (and still probably miss one or two once your site is developed).
  • Ease of Modifying: when you want to make a change, this will do it to every page on your site in a couple clicks.  So experimenting with the look of your site is easier - and easier to undo.

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