WordPress Security is important now more than ever. To help with vulnerabilities, updating your WordPress Theme monthly is important. One problem many inexperienced designers run into is that they update the primary theme, most of their work will be overwritten and they will have to re-upload their files to maintain their changes. Child themes will solve this issue and creating one is simple. Developing a child theme will allow you to customize your theme of choice without disrupting the core foundation of the theme. Admins can update without overwriting core theme files and styling.
How do you create a Child theme for WordPress?
Before adding a child theme you will need to activate your preferred theme. Once activated, create a folder on your computer and name it as a child theme to your primary theme. Create a style.css file within this folder and add the following:
Theme Name: Your Child Theme’s Name
Description: This is the Child Theme of the Primary Theme’s Name
Author: Primary Theme’s Author
Author URI: Primary Theme’s developer link
Template: Primary Theme’s Name
*/
Once this folder is created and the stylesheet is set you need to activate this child theme. Once activated, your WordPress Website will run off your child theme AND primary theme core. Within the stylesheet, you can update styles and they will overwrite existing styles located under the primary themes stylesheet. You may have to force override by adding “!important;” after each class call. This will ensure the style will be used instead of the style listed on the primary themes stylesheet.
You can also use a child theme for raw plugins or template php files. For example, say you wish to remove the pagination to your single.php theme file. If you copy and paste this file into your child’s theme folder, your theme will run off of this file instead of the primary theme file. Any adjustments made here will override the main themes template file.
As you will see, making modifications within your child’s theme will allow you to make adjustments to files and still allow you to update your theme. This is a great way to organize and maintain your primary theme’s core functions.