Smart ways to customize WordPress themes

Those who are new to WordPress think that code tinkering in this platform is a tough as well as daunting task. However, the reality is that the feel and look of the site along with themes in WordPress may be customized by incorporating some truly simple changes. But these changes should not be introduced in the themes directly. First of all, child themes should be created, and this should be followed by dealing with the offline files so that the changes can be seamlessly introduced. When working in this way, it can ensured that while tweaking the code, if any issue crops up inadvertently, the original files can always be accessed. They can then be re-uploaded quickly so that the changes can be overwritten.

Creating child theme- Themes inheriting another theme's functionality as well as style are known as child themes while the themes they inherit are called parent themes. You do not need to alter the parent theme files when you add new style changes and functionality through child themes. While parent themes are being updated, child themes should never be touched. Child theme creation is quite simple- just create one file along with one folder on the local computer. Name the folder with the child theme's name. A unique identifier can also be added to the name. Now create another file within that folder, adding .css suffix to it. Specific information should be inserted as well through a code. Mostly generic information is contained by the code; the child theme should also have styling information. After incorporating all the changes as well as saving them, the child theme should be added to the WordPress installation by connecting the web host with FTP program. Browse to the required folder to upload the child theme folder that contains the new file. Activate the theme to edit it. This is the most commonly accepted method.

Theme customization API- The admin screen of WordPress Theme Customization can be customized by developers by allowing the site admins to change settings of the themes to see preview of the changes in real time. The theme can have more interactive as well as powerful options for customization through this. Your very own options can be added with the use of two hooks - wp_head which allows your output of custom-generated CSS and customize_register which allows defining new customizer controls, sections as well as settings.

Using custom code instead of plugins- The wonderful aspect of plugin allows the transformation of websites, enabling you to do almost anything that you want. Plugins often need a lot of code; they are also accompanied by management issues since they have to be updated and potential security issues handled. Adding too many plugins can make a website bloated and slow the loading time. So custom codes are the best option. You will just have to add some code lines to the proper file. Taht will reduce the load on the website and keep everything tidy.

Addition of new functions to theme with PHP codes- Another good way of adding changes is using PHP codes. If you want to improve functions of a theme, the location of the function can easily be found through the use of custom-functions.php. Through this you can easily change layouts, add new functions, integrate with plugins, etc. Just find out the correct file and the section or part that has to be remove, replaced, changed or duplicated so that the customizing can be done. The codes have to be checked carefully so that those available in the template can be used to change the layout.

Although using child theme code is the commonly accepted method, there are other methods which may be used as well for this end. In fact, if your requirements are small and include some minor coding, then you can use custom CSS by adding CSS editor to the backend. Just install custom CSS editor to edit it and you will be done with your job. You can get in touch with a Wordpress website development company who can help you customize WordPress themes and build websites within allocated budgets and time schedules.

We provide WordPress development services. If you would like to hire expert WordPress developers for your web development needs, please contact us at Mindfire Solutions.