I have read that if you customise an existing WP theme with CSS etc, and you update the theme ..there is a good chance that you will loose the customisations?
Is this the case?
I have seen frameworks and child themes mentioned. Can a child theme be created for any WP theme or only special "frameworks"?
If updating themes and plugins is important for the security of the site, and the site has custom CSS and HTML, is it therefore necessary to build your site with this framework + child theme combination to ensure that any customisations won’t be lost in the future?
Thanks for any guidance :)
Steve
Shawn Hesketh answered 9 years ago
Hi Stephen,
Yes, it's considered best practice to use a child theme if you intend to customize your theme in any way. You can create a child theme based on any theme, not only certain frameworks.
As you mentioned, the use of child themes is the best way to ensure your customizations are not lost if/when you update your theme.
You could also use a plugin like Jetpack, which includes a Custom CSS module that allows you to override your theme's styles with your own CSS settings. Customizations you place in the Jetpack CSS module will not be overwritten when you update your theme.
For more on creating Child Themes, check out this article on the Codex:
https://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes
Hope this helps!