One of the strengths of Kadence Theme is its global design system — colour palettes and typography settings that apply across the entire site. When used correctly, changing your brand colour or heading font takes seconds and updates everywhere. Here is how to use this system properly.
Kadence Global Colour Palette
Kadence Theme (and Kadence Blocks) uses a shared global colour palette. Go to Appearance, then Customise, then Global, then Colours. You will see a palette of colour slots. Each slot has a name and a hex colour value.
The palette slots map to semantic roles: Palette 1 and 2 are typically your primary and secondary brand colours. Palette 3 and 4 are often used for headings and body text. Palette 5-9 are often used for backgrounds, borders, and accents.
When you use palette colours in Kadence Blocks or the Customiser (for buttons, headings, backgrounds), the element references the palette slot rather than a hardcoded hex value. Change the palette slot, and every element referencing it updates instantly.
Setting Up Your Colour Palette
- Go to Appearance, then Customise, then Global, then Colours.
- Click each palette slot and enter your brand colours.
- Label the slots with descriptive names (Primary, Secondary, Text, Background, Accent) so you remember what each is for when building pages.
- Use these palette colours consistently in all Kadence Blocks and Customiser settings throughout the site.
Resist the temptation to use custom hex colours in individual blocks when building pages — always pick from the palette. This is what makes global updates work.
Global Typography Settings
Go to Appearance, then Customise, then Global, then Typography. Kadence separates typography into several categories: Body, Headings (H1 through H6), Buttons, and specific elements like the navigation menu.
For each category, set:
- Font family (choose from Google Fonts or system fonts)
- Font weight (regular, medium, bold, etc.)
- Font size and line height
- Letter spacing if needed
Set your H1 through H3 carefully as these are the most visible headings on most sites. H4 through H6 are often used for minor labels and can inherit from H3 settings.
Using Kadence Pro Global Palette in Blocks
With Kadence Pro, the global palette is available as a colour picker in every Kadence block. When you click a colour option in a block, you see the palette slots rather than just a colour wheel. Select the palette slot rather than a custom colour, and the block will update automatically if you ever change the palette.
Updating the Brand Colour Across the Site
Once everything is set up using palette colours, changing the brand colour is a one-step operation: go to the palette, update the hex value in the relevant slot, and publish. Every heading, button, background, and accent that references that slot updates immediately without touching individual pages or blocks.
This is why setting up the palette correctly at the start of a project saves time throughout the project. A client who wants to adjust their brand colour three months after launch takes minutes rather than hours to accommodate.
Combining Kadence Theme and Kadence Blocks Typography
Kadence Blocks (the companion plugin) has its own typography settings per block. Always check that block-level typography settings are inheriting from the global settings rather than overriding them. In Kadence Blocks, clearing the typography settings at the block level causes the block to fall back to the global Customiser settings. Over-specifying typography at the block level defeats the purpose of global settings.
For a full Kadence site setup including design system, custom blocks, and WooCommerce integration, a WordPress developer can build a maintainable foundation from the start.