Chapter 11
Understanding Parent and Child Themes
IN THIS CHAPTER
Tweaking child themes with styles
Customizing child themes with images
Modifying child themes with template files
Using a theme exactly how the 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 that you’ll want to tinker with the design, add 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 of template files, stylesheets, images, and JavaScript files. The theme controls the layout and design that your visitors see on the site. When such a theme ...
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