What is a Child Theme in WordPress ~ BuildandShine

What is a WordPress Child Theme? If you’ve been using  WordPress for a long time, you’ve probably heard the term “Child Theme”. Let’s have a look at what is a child theme.

What is a Child Theme?

A child theme in WordPress is considered a sub-theme that obtains all of its features, style, and functionality from the parent theme. These are secure ways to make modifications to the WordPress theme without changing the files of the parent theme.

When the parent theme is updated, all of the changes made in the child theme are maintained and applied to the latest version. This is why child themes turn out to be the best and safest way to edit your existing theme.

Instead of modifying the files directly, you can easily override them with a child theme template.

Regardless, to make a child theme, you must have a folder created in the themes directory for the new theme. In this folder, the file that you would need is style.css.

In the header section of this file, you will have to add a template line in the comment code to specify the parent theme.

Child themes Uses:

• Custom CSS and Javascript
• To add or edit PHP functions in the functions.PHP file

Difference Between Parent Theme & Child Theme

• A parent theme is totally autonomous of any other theme for working while a child theme is dependent on the parent theme to function.

•   A parent theme contains all the major files and templates required for the theme to function. Well, the Child theme  doesn’t contain all the files, it just has two files ~ style.css and functions.php

•   A child theme can save you from losing your customizations even if you update the parent theme as all the customizations are stored in the child theme and you can view or edit them.

Pros and Cons of a child theme