How Do WordPress Parent Themes and Child Themes Work?

Categories: Websites Wordpress

By Samantha on June 8, 2022

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Building a Custom WordPress Website

There are several popular CMS platforms available when you want to build a new website for your organization. However, as a team of highly trained website developers, we recommend choosing WordPress to build something custom. WordPress is an affordable, flexible, and customizable content management system. In addition, WordPress makes it easy for website developers to build one-of-a-kind websites by pairing a robust parent theme with a custom child theme tailored to your organization’s exact needs. Parent and child themes might be confusing for anyone who isn’t on the backend of website development but, don’t panic. This blog will explain parent themes, child themes and how we use them to create a show-stopping website!

What is a WordPress Parent Theme?

A WordPress parent theme features all the required template files and assets necessary to work on the platform. By definition, all themes other than child themes are considered parent themes. Developers spend a lot of time perfecting the parent theme because it needs to be a great foundation for lots of different websites.

Just like how a child inherits genetic features from their parent, the parent theme passes down all features, functions, and styles to the child theme. Here at LaLa Projects, the parent theme we use is LaLa Theme 4. This is a powerful, well-supported theme using the latest and greatest WordPress tools available. With LaLa Theme 4 and a custom child theme, we are able to create a stunning website that will leave a lasting impression on your visitors!

What is a WordPress Child Theme?

In WordPress, a child theme is a custom theme that inherits the design and functions of the parent theme. Developers can modify a child theme without affecting the parent theme, which is usually operating simultaneously on several websites. Since the parent theme contains tons of features and functionality, developers don’t have to reinvent the wheel. This is the most efficient way to customize a website since developers only have to worry about coding custom elements. It’s the best of both worlds!

How does a WordPress Parent-Child Theme Work?

To create a website without starting from scratch, we layer a custom child theme on top of the parent. This allows us to style every website to match each brand’s unique essence while it simultaneously inherits all the parent’s features and functionality. In addition, it also allows us to seamlessly update your website with new blocks, features, and functionality as we roll them out in the future.

LaLa Theme 4 runs on the trusty WordPress 5.0 platform and uses the Gutenberg editor. This makes it easy to create new pages, blog posts, and content blocks. Plus, our developers are always working on creating new blocks, features, and plugin extensions to maximize the custom functionality of LaLa Theme 4. Check out our documentation website to see LaLa Theme 4 in action.

Building a custom website gives your audience a look into what your brand is all about. If you are interested in creating a custom website thats wows, contact us to learn more about our web development process!