Child ThemesAn introduction

Define: Child ThemeA theme that inherits design and functional elements

from a parent theme or framework.

Why would you use a child theme?

Why would you use a child theme?

• Development speed - Pre-existing code for widgets, menus, basic page layouts

• Ability to update parent theme - Commercial frameworks do updates for security, deprecated code, added functionality, etc.

Another Reason

• What would happen if you used the Twenty Twelve theme, made some edits and saw that an update was available and you ran that update?

What do I need to get started?

• Choose a parent theme • A new folder in /wp-content/themes/ • A CSS file in your new theme folder

style.css

*Image size is 880x660, name is screenshot.jpg/png

How the file system works

• A file with the same name in the child theme folder will take the place of the file in the parent folder

• The exception to this rule is functions.php

single.php

style.css

functions.php

Theme Frameworks“A Theme framework is a Theme designed to be a flexible foundation for quicker WordPress development, usually serving as a robust Parent Theme for Child Themes.”

- The WordPress Codex

Theme Frameworks

• Genesis - StudioPress.com

“A Theme framework is a Theme designed to be a flexible foundation for quicker WordPress development, usually serving as a robust Parent Theme for Child Themes.”

- The WordPress Codex

Demo & Questions