Archived topic
Newbie regarding child theme
9 replies · Started by Earl Green on August 31, 2015
Hi,
I started to put my website together months ago and now that I'm finally getting back to it, I've decided to start over from the beginning. So, do I need to use a child theme? I've searched the forum but still so confused. It's been six months since I've looked at this temp site and I'm not sure how I set it up. I purchased GP Premium and I will be using Easy Digital Downloads. I have the temporary site up and was getting ready to test my PayPal with PayPal Developer, Sandbox and wanted to be sure I will not have update problems in the future.
What other info do you need?
Thanks so much,
Earl Green
Hey Earl,
"Child themes are the recommended way of modifying an existing theme." - WordPress Codex
https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
Here you can download a fresh copy of GP child theme: https://generatepress.com/knowledgebase/child-theme-working/
Any snippet of code that you want to use on your website, should be added to your child theme, that way when GP release a new update, you'll not lose all your changes.
Easy Digital Downloads is a very good plugin, GP store is using. :)
Thanks Jean, I have downloaded the child theme but not sure how to change over my current GeneratePress to use the child and not the parent.
Activate it like any other theme
Once you activate the child theme (Appearance > Themes), you may have to re-set your theme location in "Appearance > Menus" if you have a menu set.
Other than that you should be good to go :)
OK. I saved my Generate Settings Export .json file.
Deleted GeneratePress Theme
Reinstalled GeneratePress theme and activated it.
Here's what is says on the main page to install:
"Installing GeneratePress
Installing GeneratePress is super easy.
First, login to your WordPress Dashboard.
Next, go to “Appearance > Themes” in the menu on the left.
Near the top, you’ll see a “Add New” button, click that button.
In the “Search themes” bar, type: generatepress
You’ll see GeneratePress and some of our child themes appear.
Click “Install”, and then activate."
I didn't see any "child themes" appear.
Did this new install create a child theme on it's own and is WP now using it?
Sorry to be so daft, but I hope this is making sense!
My original site was using only GeneratePress. I never created a child theme to begin with.
Thanks for all the help.
Earl
Tom,
I went to the Child Theme Problems page
Clicked Download: Download our completely blank child theme here.
It downloads 3 files.
functions.php
screenshot.png
style.css
Now what?
Earl
You want to right click and "Save file as" on this link: http://generatepress.com/api/themes/generatepress_child.zip
This will save a file to your computer called: generatepress_child.zip (don't unzip it).
Now go to "Appearance > Themes > Add New > Upload" and upload the above file.
Once it's done uploading, click "Activate".
All of your GP settings will still remain (no need to import them).
The only thing you may need to do is go to "Appearance > Menus" and re-set your Theme Location.
Let me know if you need more info :)
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! LOL
I'm on a mac and so I forgot about saving the file as a zip.
It now says in the At a Glance section:
WordPress 4.3 running GeneratePress Child theme.
So, any change I make now is on the Child theme and not on the parent?
Wonderful!
Thanks everyone and have a great evening. Rest up because I will probably need help later! lol
Earl
That's right! Now you can add custom CSS and PHP to the child theme without touching the core parent theme :)