What is a WordPress Child Theme?

A child theme in WordPress is a modified design based on its parent theme, which maintains the core functionality, aesthetics, and capabilities. The main benefit of using child themes is that they allow for customizations without changing the original theme’s codebase. This ensures that any enhancements remain intact even when the parent theme is updated. For individuals who want to personalize an existing theme, child themes are the best and most secure approach as they enable users to replace the default templates with their own without directly modifying the source files.

To create a child theme, you need to make a new folder in the themes directory. In this folder, there should be a single file called style.css. It’s important to specify the parent theme in the comment block of this file by adding a ‘Template’ line, which mentions the name of the parent theme. Since the child theme’s style sheet is loaded after the parent’s, it can overwrite any styles defined in the parent theme’s style.css file.

To create a child theme, make a new folder in the themes directory. Inside this folder, include a single file called style.css. In the comment block of this file, specify the parent theme by adding a ‘Template’ line with the name of the parent theme. The child theme’s style sheet will overwrite any styles defined in the parent theme’s style.css file because it loads after the parent’s. To apply the customizations of the child theme, enable it through the WordPress dashboard. Once activated, the child theme will replace only the specific parts of the parent theme that have been explicitly overridden, while keeping the original theme’s functions intact in areas where no customization has occurred.