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If you plan on making changes to your theme, you should create a child for it. It sounds tricky, but it’s simple once you learn how to create one and see it in action. If so, it’ll render those instead of the default Twenty Twenty-Two theme files. WordPress then loads any changes that override its default configuration. However, the child theme will inherit all of its parent’s styles and features. If you create a child theme for Twenty Twenty-Two, WordPress will recognize it as a different item. Let’s summarize what we’ve learned thus far using an example. With a child theme, you can make changes to your heart’s content and still keep things tidy. That means any change to them - no matter how small - can be tricky because it’s easy to lose track of those tweaks. Many WordPress themes include dozens of files and hundreds of lines of code.
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When you update a theme, you also lose any changes you’ve made to its code in the process. However, you can customize every aspect of how a child theme works without affecting its parent. You can create a child for it at any point, which would look and work just the same. The difference is, child themes have a ‘parent’ from which they inherit all their attributes.įor example, imagine you’re using the Twenty Twenty-Two theme on your blog.
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Once activated, it’ll work just as any of your other themes would. What is a WordPress Child Theme?Ī WordPress child theme works just the same as a regular one on the surface. Once you learn how to use them, your life should get a lot easier, particularly if you spend a lot of time playing with your theme’s style and behavior. They’re a WordPress feature enabling you to customize your themes safely and keep all your tweaks organized. That’s where child themes come to the rescue. Otherwise, your customizations may not work as intended.
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However, there are some protocols you should follow before you dive under the hood. One of the best things about using WordPress is its near-endless customization options. Then we’ll talk about some situations where it makes sense to create a child theme and teach you how to do it. In this article, we’re going to talk more about what WordPress child themes are and why you should use them.
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