[Resolved] Child Theme needed to save customizations or..?

Home Forums Support [Resolved] Child Theme needed to save customizations or..?

Home Forums Support Child Theme needed to save customizations or..?

Viewing 8 posts - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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  • #492494
    Ray

    Hi Tom & Team

    I read a great review of GP (Woorkup.com), and he mentioned that he “no longer has to use a child theme” with GP. It says he can update WordPress and not lose a single customization. It was dated jan of 2018.

    Is this a new feature as of GP Version2+ ?

    I checked the GP child theme download area, and I see there is no dating on the download.

    I am using the GP child theme on my sites so far, to avoid losing custom codes. Is that no longer necessary?

    Do you recommend using the GP child theme for any other considerations?

    Congrats on GP being the reviewers “best theme in 10 years!

    Ray

    #492641
    Leo
    Staff
    Customer Support

    Hi there,

    Child theme has never been necessary – there are alternative plugins you can use to add CSS and PHP so they are saved through udpates:

    For example, CSS and PHP can be added with the following plugins so that it’s saved through updates:
    https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-css/#simple-css
    https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-php/#code-snippets

    If you have lots of custom code though we would still suggest child theme.

    And if you are already using a child theme then there is really no point changing it 🙂

    Let me know if this makes sense 🙂

    #494034
    Ray

    Thanks Leo

    I’ll keep using the child theme.

    #494487
    Leo
    Staff
    Customer Support

    No problem 🙂

    #544807
    garymontalto

    Something else to consider (granted, I’m a site-building newbie) regarding a child theme vs. plugins to preserve site customizations: Every plugin, even lightweight ones, add to a site’s server load, increasing rendering time, not to mention possible incompatibilities to troubleshoot now or in the future between installed plugins. It seems to me that by using ONE child theme to hold and preserve customizations instead of using MULTIPLE plugins might be a smarter way to go. (BTW, in general I have a preference for minimizing the number of installed plugins and using code snippets whenever possible, to keep site loading times to a minimum, to avoid conflicts between plugins, and to minimize site breaking issues if installed plugins become incompatible with future updates to WP Core.)

    Tom, please weigh in on this, and correct me if my thinking is wrong.

    And regarding Ray’s observation (above) about no dating on the blank child theme download…is there a new blank GP child theme available that is optimized for GP 2.0?

    Gary

    #544889
    Tom
    Lead Developer
    Lead Developer

    Hi Gary,

    Absolutely – the less code that has to render, the faster your site will be. However, it really depends on the plugin and the code. We’re likely looking at tiny speed differences.

    In the end, it should be left up to convenience for the user. If a child theme is easier, then use a child theme, for example.

    I like how the Code Snippets plugin stops you from saving broken PHP code, however I believe the WordPress editor does this now too 🙂

    #544899
    garymontalto

    Tom, I appreciate your perspectives on this topic. Thanks for weighing in.

    I would also appreciate a reply regarding my query about a new blank child theme optimized for GP 2.0.
    Is there one? If so, please provide the URL. If not, is one on the drawing board, and how soon might we see it?

    Gary

    #545510
    Tom
    Lead Developer
    Lead Developer

    The current child theme is completely empty, so it will always be compatible with all new versions of GP.

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