Anthony Hortin @maddisondesigns

TheWhy, When, How

of WordPressChild Themes

#WPMELBUser Meetup

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

What is a Child Theme?

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

A child theme is a theme that inherits the functionality and styling of another theme (called the parent theme). Child themes are the recommended way of modifying an existing theme.

“

*https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Why use a Child theme?

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

It’s Safer If you modify a theme’s CSS or HTML directly and it gets updated,

you’ll lose all your modifications.

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

It’s Quicker Using a Child Theme can speed up your development time.

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

It’s Easier If the Parent Theme is developed properly, using a Child Theme

can make it easier to override functionality.

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

When should you use a Child Theme?

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Almost Always If you buy a theme from a Theme Shop or even

download a free one from WordPress.org,

you should consider setting up a Child Theme.

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

How do you create a Child Theme?

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme A Child Theme consists of the Child Theme directory,

and two files (style.css and functions.php)

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Create a Child Theme Folder Step 1: Create your Child Theme directory in wp-content/themes

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme Stylesheet Step 2: Create your Child Theme's stylesheet (style.css)

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme Stylesheet Your Child Theme's style.css file should include:

/* Theme Name: Your Child Theme Name Theme URI: http://example.com/my-awesome-child-theme Description: A description for your Child Theme Author: Your name Author URI: http://example.com Template: parent-theme-folder-name Version: 1.0.0 */

* The Template line corresponds to the directory name of the Parent Theme. e.g. If you were using Twenty Sixteen as the Parent Theme, you would enter ‘twentysixteen' here (without the quotes)

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme’s Functions Step 3: Create your Child Theme's functions file (functions.php)

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme’s Functions Your Child Theme's functions.php file should include:

<?php function mytheme_scripts_styles() { // Enqueue the parent theme stylesheet wp_enqueue_style( 'parent-style', trailingslashit( get_template_directory_uri() ) . 'style.css' );

// Ensure the default WordPress stylesheet is enqueued after the parent stylesheet wp_enqueue_style( 'style', get_stylesheet_uri(), array( 'parent-style' ) ); } add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'mytheme_scripts_styles' );

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Activating your Child Theme Step 4: Login to your Dashboard, go to Appearance > Themes

and activate your Child Theme

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

High Five!Step 5: Pat yourself on the back & have

a cuppa because you’ve just created

your first Child Theme!

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

Creating a Child Theme’s Screenshot Optional Step: Create a .png image (screenshot.png) to display a

screenshot on the Themes page in the Dashboard.

The image should be 1200 x 900px.

#wpmelb @maddisondesigns

WordPress Codex https://codex.wordpress.org

Child Themes on the WordPress Codex https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes

Official WordPress Theme Directoryhttps://wordpress.org/themes

Example Child Theme Codehttp://maddisondesigns.com/child-theme-example

Links to Remember

I’m Anthony Hortin You can find me here

@maddisondesigns maddisondesigns.com

@easywpguide easywpguide.com

Thanks! Questions?