A custom child theme is built on the concept of a theme framework. If you want to inherit the theme properties of one theme to another then this concept is necessary. A child theme in WordPress inherits the properties from the parent theme. Sometimes, you need to customize your theme but you should be able to upgrade that same theme later. There is no need to sacrifice your custom settings for the sake of updates. Not only you will lose the custom styles but also other changes if you prefer to update your theme. You should learn what is a WordPress child theme.
However, the joint efforts of the community and the core team helps to solve this problem with the evolution of parent and child themes.
Not only a child theme inherits the functionalities but also all other codes and features from the parent theme. Doing this does not make any change in the parent theme.
This helps the users to modify the theme features which include addition or deletion of styles and other components. A theme with their own hooks and filters helps designers to create new designs without changing the original theme. As a fact, the child theme modifies the parent theme for different appearances.
All this is done without any change in the core files. This practice boosts extra security during customization at the time of parent theme updates. A parent theme is independent while the child theme needs a parent to work.
It is a must for the parent themes to work properly as the child themes are an additional layer on them.
Why is WordPress Child Theme popular?
A better parent should be diverse. Codes are available in the parent theme so it can be extracted from them. A good parent is helpful to reduce the time to create a WordPress theme. You can increase the development of your theme with the child theme. The ability to update parent theme remains the same even with the child theme development.
With just a single line of code, a child theme can be created. However, the child theme may have template files that may or may not be present in the parent theme. All in all, it is an add-on to the existing WordPress theme.
When to use a Child Theme?
Everyone wants to create and maintain a quality theme for their websites. The need for an individual or a company also drives towards creating a child theme. If you add new functions or modify the CSS files on a regular basis then it’s high time to start using child themes.
However, a custom CSS plugin modifies the style.css in case of few elements. But, if you want to dig deeper into CSS settings including the entire color schemes, then you may certainly use a child theme in WordPress. No matter what we should find the way to perform our work smoothly, we cannot deny it if we need it.
How to pick a good parent theme?
This section is important to be able to select a good parent theme. A child theme should never be created from a parent theme that does not have multiple functionalities. Entire WordPress frameworks are parent themes but the reverse is not true. Any theme can be a parent theme but they cannot be the framework needed to offer functionalities to the child theme.
During customization, there may be a need to replace multiple parent files. If it exceeds the limit, then it’s better to create an independent custom theme. When you decide to create a child theme, then you should also check the style.css and functions.php file. Later you may find that the header, footer or any other components are not suitable to your needs. To avoid this, you need to be sure whether or not the parent theme has the features and functionality needed for you. If you need to perform large scale changes to the original code then it’s better to build a custom theme.
In addition, consider the child theme if it minimizes the code writing for you. You should go for the independent custom theme in case you need to perform lots of modifications in parent theme files.
What is a WordPress Child Theme – Advantages
Everything has advantages as well as disadvantages. Let’s look at the positive part first:
- Safe Updates
A child remains unaffected when updating WordPress or the parent theme. With the new updates, the modifications in the child theme can be altered according to the requirements. The features like styles and templates can be used after the update if needed.
- Extend Easily
When a powerful framework is selected as a parent theme, then you can choose and extend the functions.
- Safely Fallback
If you broke something in a child theme, the parent theme will support and provide the required features. The fallback option is a huge relief as it prevents the entire site from being broken.
Disadvantages of using WordPress Child Theme
While an original theme can be altered from minor modifications to major layout changes, there are some disadvantages of child theme which you should be aware of:
- Time Investment
Without learning the parent theme, it will be impossible to use its functions. A theme has multiple numbers of hooks and filters, you should go through it one-by-one to maximize your potential. In the beginning, it consumes more time but later as you understand the parent theme it will be easier. The more the time taken, the less the development progress.
- Risk of Abandonment
The parent theme may bring updates by removing the features that your child theme was using. It may break your theme for the moment. However, it can be solved by adding the same feature yourself. The code is available as the themes are open source and GPL. Moreover, sometimes the extreme changes are seen which can be avoided by stopping the updates. But, if you stop updating the theme then the security will be at risk as well as there will be compatibility and vulnerability issues.
What if the entire theme is dropped?
In such a case, you may have to rebuild a theme again. To avoid this scenario, you should choose a suitable framework.
Wrapping Up
First, you should have a complete analysis of the changes that should be made in the parent theme to create a child theme. The custom theme is necessary if you have to make too many changes.
Hopefully, this article will give you a brief concept about WordPress Child Theme. If you have further questions or suggestions, feel free to comment below for our services.
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