Chapter 5

Understanding Parent and Child Themes

IN THIS CHAPTER

Check Defining the relationship between parent and child themes

Check Tweaking child themes with styles

Check Customizing child themes with images

Check Modifying child themes with template files

Using a theme exactly as a theme author released it is great. If a new version is released that fixes a browser compatibility issue or adds features offered by a new version of WordPress, a quick theme upgrade is very easy to do.

But there’s a good chance you’ll want to tinker with the design, add new features, or modify the theme structure. If you modify the theme, you won’t be able to upgrade to a newly released version without modifying the theme again. If only you could upgrade customized versions of themes with new features when they’re released! Fortunately, child themes give you this best-of-both-worlds theme solution.

This chapter explores what child themes are, how to create a child theme–ready parent theme, and how to get the most out of using child themes.

Customizing Theme Style with Child Themes

A WordPress theme consists of a collection ...

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