New Template — copy existing template and change code? [duplicate]

Question

Possible Duplicate:
Correct process for a new Page Template?

I created a page template following these instructions: http://codex.wordpress.org/Pages#Creating_Your_Own_Page_Templates

I'm having difficulty figuring out how to apply margins, fonts, and font sizes to the new page template.

So I'm thinking perhaps there's another way to do it: if I can make the new template so it displays Pages exactly the same as my active template (twentyeleven-child), I can then remove things and change things -- I might find it easier this way to locate the things to remove and change rather than figure out how to build the Page Template from scratch.

Is this a sensible approach?

If it is, would I copy all the text in content.php to my new page template file, and then edit things both in the new page template file and in style.css ?

Answer 1

For custom templates, I tend to use the default page.php, make any changes to the HTML (if need be), and enqueue an overriding stylesheet before get_header():

/**
 * Template Name: My Page Template
 */

wp_enqueue_style( 'my-page-template', get_template_directory_uri() . '/css/page-template.css' );
get_header();

Everything'll function like a normal page, except now you have a stylesheet for declaring any unique rules for this particular template.