Archived topic
Newbie: Should I make a child theme (for just in case) ?
3 replies · Started by Michelle on June 16, 2018
Hi there,
I'm going to be using GeneratePress with Elementor (or Beaver Builder). I don't plan to write custom code right now. However down the line I'd like to have a customised search box. Whilst my question isn't strictly confined to GeneratePress, I'd really appreciate if someone in the know could give me some direction.
To wrap my head around child themes I watched this https://www.wpcrafter.com/create-child-theme-wordpress-super-easy/ and read this article https://docs.generatepress.com/article/using-child-theme/ . And I used the plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/child-theme-configurator/ to make it easy for me in order create a child theme.
Question 1: Is it currently still best practice to create a child theme?
Question 2: If I do create that child theme and then activate it, will my page builder (Elementor or BeaverBuilder) automatically make changes to my childtheme? Or, will I indeed first copy all the highlighted files into my child theme? (see screenshot attached)?
Thanks in advance,
Michelle
Hi there,
1. It depends on how many lines of code you are looking to add. Sometimes Simple CSS or just Addtional CSS could be good options too: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-css/. And for PHP you can also consider Code Snippets plugin: https://docs.generatepress.com/article/adding-php/
If you do plan on doing lots of coding then child theme is the best way to go :)
2. Shouldn't need to. Those should be saved in the database. Best to check with the page builder support if you are unclear how to deal with this the best.
Hi Leo
Thanks for your reply / especially in a Saturday. Last question - is there any downside to using a child theme?
No downside at all. It's a very common practice for developer :)
