How to Easily Create WordPress Child Themes Using Child Theme Configurator Plugin
If you want to customize your WordPress theme beyond the built-in customizer, you need to write some custom bits of CSS. Even if you want to do small changes to your website using this method, you should first create a child theme. Creating a child theme manually is not very difficult, but why do manual labor when you can do it more efficiently with a WordPress plugin. The plugin we are using today is Child Theme Configurator by Lilaea Media. This plugin is a must-have for anyone, experienced or a beginner, who want to create WordPress child themes. Following are the steps to create child themes using this plugin.
- Analyze Your Current Theme
Before you even consider creating a WordPress child theme, you should first check whether your current theme is suitable for creating WordPress child themes. This plugin does this with just a press of a button. Go to the Child Theme, under the tools menu, and press the Analyze button.
- Name the New Theme Directory
Every child theme must have a sub-directory in the themes folder in your WordPress installation. You do not need to manually create the directory. Just supply the name of your child theme directory and the plugin will create it for you.
- Select Where to Save Styles
You can either choose the primary stylesheet (style.css) or a separate stylesheet to save your custom styles.
- Select Parent Theme Stylesheet Handling
There are three options to select here. A small description of all options is given here. Choose which option suits you.
- Customize Child Theme Options
Every theme has a name, website, author, description, tags, and version. You can customize all these options here.
- Copy Parent Theme Menu, Widgets, and Other Settings
This is very important. The purpose of creating a WordPress child theme is to use the styles of parent theme and only customize few options. Check this box to copy all settings from the parent theme.
You must preview the child theme using the preview option in the plugin to make sure that the child theme is working as expected.
Aaron is an expert in all things technology. He enjoys writing blogs about how to use the latest software and hardware on the market, while also providing advice for using existing technology more effectively. His favorite pastimes include reading comic books and playing video games.
