Ben PearsonFreelance WordPress Developer based in MelbourneMenuSkip to contentAboutPortfolioWeb Development BlogContactWordPress Development PortfolioView Full PortfolioDevelopment Policy BlogMartin and PleasanceRenting New York TVAbout MeGet In TouchMy name is Ben Pearson  and I am a freelance WordPress Developer or Front End Developer based in the Dandenong Ranges, Melbourne.I collaborate with a range of businesses and organisations on projects involving the WordPress open source platform. I have been developing websites since 1996 and freelancing as a WordPress developer since 2008.I’m always keen to work with new people on interesting projects so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need some help with WordPress development. I love what I do and I endeavour to provide a valuable and reliable service in honest and helpful manner.Some of my current development skills include:Custom WordPress theme development (using WordPress best practices)Responsive web developmentCustom WordPress CMS functionalityPHP, SASS, CSS3, jQuery, HTML5 and Git version controlLatest Blog PostRead Web Development BlogTemplate and guide to creating a WordPress Child ThemeBy Ben Pearson   | 1 ReplyIf you modify a theme directly and it is updated, then your modifications may be lost. By using a child theme you will ensure that your modifications are preserved. – WordPress CodexI recommend creating a Child Theme before you make any customisations to the Parent Theme’s options. Otherwise you may need to use a tool like the Child Theme Configurator plugin to copy over the Parent Theme’s settings to the Child Theme.A Child Theme templateDownload a simple template for creating a WordPress Child Themes.
The Child Theme directory
Make a directory for the child theme in the themes directory, on the same level as the parent theme. It is recommended (though not required) that the name of your child theme directory is appended with -child eg. sitename-child
The style.css file
Create a style.css for the child theme similar to the following.
/*
Theme Name:   Site Name 
Description:  Child theme for Parent Theme Name
Author:       Ben Pearson
Author URI:   http://benpearson.com.au
Template:     parentthemedirectory
Version:      1.0.0
*/
// Add your child theme CSS here
All the fields in the header are optional except Theme Name and Template.
Theme Name is the name of your child theme – usually the site name.
Template is the directory name of the parent theme and is case sensitive.
The functions.php file
Note that the previous method was to import the parent theme stylesheet using @import: this is no longer best practice. The correct method of enqueuing the parent theme stylesheet is to add a wp_enqueue_scripts action and use wp_enqueue_style() in your child theme’s functions.php. – WordPress Codex
Create a functions.php for the child theme similar to the following.
<?php
/**
* Functions
*/
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'si