Step-By-Step Child Themes for New & Existing WordPress Sites

Name: Step-By-Step Child Themes for New & Existing WordPress Sites
Rating: 4.5 (49 reviews)

A beginner's guide to creating child themes and making basic modifications to style your WordPress website

Created byChristine Maisel

Last updated 5/2017

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Build their own child themes from scratch
Customize the look of their website using a child theme
Protect site customizations from being lost during theme upgrades
Set-up the basic 3 step structure of a child theme
Learn how to easily find and make CSS changes to a child theme without knowledge of CSS
Create a child theme for an existing site
Use plugins for child theme creation if desired

Course content

4 sections • 18 lectures • 47m total length

Introduction to Child Themes Course, What to Expect & Understanding Child Themes3:41
Explore how a WordPress child theme relies on a parent theme, enhances security with updates, and preserves customizations, then follow step-by-step to create and practice your own.
When You Should Use a Child Theme2:46
Decide when to use a WordPress child theme versus small changes with custom css or plugins, and learn how the child's structure links to the parent to safeguard your work.
Checklist for Creating a Child Theme0:03

What You Need to Get Started3:36
Choose a strong parent theme and compare premium versus free options for updates and support. Then set up the files and access (cPanel or FTP) to create a child theme.
Top Parent Themes to Use1:10
Setting Up Your Child Theme7:34
Create a WordPress child theme by naming the theme and template exactly, including author, description, license, and version. Set up the necessary files style.css and functions.php.
Activating Your Child Theme1:41
Activate your child theme in the WordPress dashboard, then review its title, version, author, description, and tags to tailor functionality and styles.
Adding Functionality & Features to Your Child Theme3:06
Learn to create the functions.php file for your WordPress child theme to add or modify features, and link child and parent themes while understanding import versus performance.
Pulling Styles From Your Parent Theme to Your Child Theme1:53
Learn how to link a WordPress child theme to its parent, pulling styles and functionality with a simple code snippet in functions.php, then customize your child theme.
How to Customize Your Child Theme4:23
Customize your child theme by adjusting header sizes, colors, and fonts through the stylesheet, using Firebug to inspect elements and copy header CSS for font sizes and families.
Overriding Other Theme Files3:06
Copy the footer.php file from the parent theme to your child theme, then edit it to customize the footer text and links for persistence after updates.

How to Create & Add an Image for Your Child Theme1:33
Create or upload a small image for your child theme, about 80 by 66 pixels, then upload it to the child theme folder and refresh to view.
Creating a Child Theme for an Existing Site3:10
Learn to create a child theme for an existing WordPress site, back up the functions.php and stylesheets, compare with the parent theme, and transfer changes into the child stylesheet.
Using a Plugin to Create a Child Theme8:56
Use a plugin to create a WordPress child theme, with guided steps from the configurator or one-click tool. Analyze the parent, name the child, and copy menus and files.

Requirements

No knowledge or experience with child themes is required.
Basic knowledge of WordPress is helpful.
A self-hosted website is needed to build a child theme.
A parent theme (free or premium can be used); Recommendations are provided.

Description

Watch and create your own WordPress child theme as you go through this course. This course is designed for beginners who are unfamiliar with child themes and need to understand when to use a child theme and how to create one.

Inside we'll cover:

What's required to create a child theme
How to easily find and customize CSS code without knowing CSS
How to set-up the basic 3 step structure of a child theme
How to activate a child theme

If you've already created a website or don't feel comfortable creating a child theme from scratch, we'll also cover:

How to create a child theme for an existing website
How to easily create a child theme using plugins

Follow along as you go through the course and create you first child theme. Walk away with the knowledge of what a child theme is, when you should be using it, what you need to create a child theme and how to do it.

BONUSES:

#1 Download 2 child themes you can modify and use

#2 Download a child theme creation checklist to follow each time you create a child theme

Who this course is for:

Beginners who are new to child themes

Step-By-Step Child Themes for New & Existing WordPress Sites

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Getting Started & Understanding Child Themes3 lectures • 7min

Creating Your Child Theme8 lectures • 26min

Going Beyond Your Basic Child Theme3 lectures • 14min

Course Resources4 lectures • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: