With the introduction of Full Site Editing (FSE) in WordPress, site design has become more intuitive and flexible, allowing users to create and customize their websites using blocks. While FSE offers its built-in templates and styles, developers often want to extend or modify existing themes without losing the benefits of updates. This is where child themes come into play. This article will guide you through the process of creating a child block theme in WordPress.
What is a Child Theme?
A child theme is a WordPress theme that inherits the functionality and styling of another theme, called the parent theme. By creating a child theme, you can make changes to the design and functionality without affecting the original theme. This is particularly useful in FSE, where full site edits can be saved independently of the parent theme.
Prerequisites
Before diving into the creation of a child theme for a block theme, ensure that you have:
- Admin access to a WordPress site.
- A parent theme installed that supports Full Site Editing, such as a block theme from the official WordPress repository or any other compatible block theme.
Step 1: Create Child Theme Directory
Access Your WordPress Files: You can use an FTP client or a file manager provided by your hosting service.
Navigate to the Themes Directory: Go to
wp-content/themes.
Create a New Folder: Name it something identifiable, usually in the format
parent-theme-name-child. For example, if your parent theme is named “Twenty Twenty-One,” you might call the child foldertwenty-twenty-one-child.
Step 2: Create the style.css File
Inside your new child theme folder, create a file named style.css. This file will contain the following header information:
css
/
Theme Name: Twenty Twenty-One Child
Theme URI: http://example.com/
Description: A child theme of Twenty Twenty-One
Author: Your Name
Author URI: http://example.com/
Template: twentytwentyone
Version: 1.0.0
/
@import url(“../twentytwentyone/style.css”);
- Theme Name: The name of your child theme.
- Template: The directory name of the parent theme (case-sensitive).
- @import URL: This line imports the styles from the parent theme.
Step 3: Create the functions.php File
To enqueue the styles and scripts properly, create a functions.php file in the child theme folder. Add the following code:
php
<?php
function my_child_theme_enqueue_styles() {
wp_enqueue_style(‘parent-style’, get_template_directory_uri() . ‘/style.css’);
}
add_action(‘wp_enqueue_scripts’, ‘my_child_theme_enqueue_styles’);
This function ensures that the parent theme’s styles are loaded before the child theme’s styles.
Step 4: Create theme.json File (Optional)
For block themes, WordPress uses the theme.json file to define global styles and settings. If you want to customize the styles, create a file named theme.json and add your JSON configuration:
json
{
“version”: 2,
“settings”: {
“color”: {
“custom”: true,
“palette”: [
{
“name”: “Custom Color”,
“slug”: “custom-color”,
“color”: “#ff0000”
}
]
},
“typography”: {
“fontSize”: [
{
“name”: “Small”,
“slug”: “small”,
“size”: “12px”
}
]
}
}
}
Modify the configuration as needed, adjusting colors, typography, and other settings according to your design requirements.
Step 5: Create Block Templates (Optional)
If you want to override specific templates or customize blocks, create a folder named templates in your child theme directory. You can then create files like index.html or single.html to modify the layout.
For example, to create a custom index template, create a file named index.html and add:
<h1>Hello from My Child Theme</h1>Step 6: Activate Your Child Theme
Go to WordPress Admin Dashboard: Log into your WordPress site.
Navigate to Appearance > Themes: You will see the newly created child theme listed.
Activate the Child Theme: Click on the Activate button.
Step 7: Customizing with the Site Editor
Once activated, you can begin customizing your child theme using the Site Editor (Appearance > Editor). In this interface, you can edit templates, add new blocks, and adjust styles—all while leveraging the power of FSE.
- Open the Site Editor and choose the template you wish to modify.
- Use blocks to add or rearrange content.
- Save your changes through the save options in the editor.
Step 8: Test Your Changes
Finally, thoroughly test your child theme:
- Check various pages to ensure styles and layout are applied correctly.
- Test responsiveness across different devices.
- Ensure functionality remains intact.
By following these steps, you’ll have successfully created a child theme for a block theme in WordPress, allowing for deeper customization and the ability to safely update the parent theme without losing your changes. This method lets you harness the full potential of WordPress Full Site Editing while maintaining a development best practice.
