In this post, I will be showing you how to create a child theme in WordPress
In the previous post, we have discussed child theme we have discussed following things
- What is a WordPress child theme?
- Advantages of WordPress child theme
- Why we should have them
Now it’s time to learn how can you create a child theme.
Before we begin with the steps, take a look at the important note.
Note:- I will suggest you to create a child theme folder and files on your computer and then copy to your hosting server via FTP or zip the child theme folder and upload it as a theme.
Steps to create a Child Theme
Step 1: Create a folder on your computer and name it as parent theme name hyphen “child”.
Ex:- If My Parent theme is “sydney” then the folder name will be “sydney-child”
Step 2: After the folder is created, create two files inside this folder.
- functions.php
- style.css
Step 3: open the style.css file and copy the below code from WordPress.org codex
/* Theme Name: Twenty Fifteen Child Theme URI: http://example.com/twenty-fifteen-child/ Description: Twenty Fifteen Child Theme Author: John Doe Author URI: http://example.com Template: twentyfifteen Version: 1.0.0 License: GNU General Public License v2 or later License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html Tags: light, dark, two-columns, right-sidebar, responsive-layout, accessibility-ready Text Domain: twenty-fifteen-child */
Step 4: Now edit the Theme URI and template values. Put your theme name instead of “twenty-fifteen”.
Step 5: Open functions.php file and copy the below code.
<?php add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_theme_enqueue_styles' ); function my_theme_enqueue_styles() { wp_enqueue_style( 'parent-style', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css' ); } ?>
This will copy the styling from parent theme into a child theme.
Step 6: Now move this folder from your computer to the hosting wp-content/themes folder using FTP.
Step 7: Now it’s time to activate your child theme. Login to your WordPress dashboard and go to Appearance -> theme-> click on activate button for child theme.
Congratulations !! You have created the child theme and you will not lose any code changes due to any updates in parent theme.
Thank you. It is very useful information
However, I have a question.
Say, I have a Divi theme and there is a new update available .
I have my child theme ready. Now when I install the new divi updates, it will update my child theme.
What next ? At some point in time, I have to apply those updates to my parent theme as that is what is present on my actual published website.
Hope this makes sense