WordPress-8

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You have been using WordPress from quite longer time, but question somewhere in your mind making you doodle that which WordPress theme are you using through? i.e. Does the website you are having built with the help of child theme or it’s just another WordPress theme.

Other set of questions also heading your way, includes that what actually is a WordPress theme framework? As well as what is a WordPress child theme? With this article we try to make you understand better differentiate between the two – the theme framework and the child theme, their pros and cons and last not the least why people want to opt for child theme.

Introduction

WordPress Theme Frameworks: Starting with understanding the basics, the word framework often refer to a code library which being used to facilitate development of a theme. The time when whole of WordPress development was in early days, it happen mostly that while using themes or people try to maintain it up, people do often lose all the custom styling options.

The problem at that time stands strangled and no way coming out to make this prevent from happening. Then, the time comes when core team and community together come into picture and decided to fix the issue permanently that is when the concept of Parent Theme and Child Theme introduced.

With ever soon the issue got its permanent fix, developers’ starts creating a child theme with adding their own selected custom styling while without feeling the need to leave the functionality aspects to its framework. In simple words, the way things developed by both of core team and community, it now allows you to keep the framework as remain the same without letting you modify anything over on the way the theme looks.

WordPress Child Theme: If go by simple words, then a WordPress child theme can be simply defined as a WordPress theme which inherits the functionality from the parent theme. The purpose to have the child theme on board because it gives you authority to customize your existing WordPress theme the way you want it without even losing the ability to upgrade the theme. Further, the move stands now so high that it protects your WordPress website to fall into chaos and without any losing of ability to get updated from the parent theme, you can change the styling now freely.

Why To Use?

WordPress Theme Frameworks:  The answer lies beneath; the common ground of choosing the theme frameworks is to speed up the development process. Using the WordPress theme frameworks offer you great functionality and customization option i.e. giving users the freedom to not to get involved in coding themselves and instead of starting creating a theme from starting-up or modifying all the files, user need to create a new style.css file and customize a few functions using the functions.php file.

WordPress Child Theme: The first thing first, the purpose to opt for child themes because to speed up the development process. Using a good parent theme itself result in reducing the time which it takes you to create or built a WordPress site as you as a user got huge functionality and customization options, letting you not to code everything. Creating a WordPress child theme requires you to create a one line in your new style.css header which defines the template.

Pros and Cons

WordPress Theme Frameworks: Ease of development, Built-in functionality, Code Quality, Regular Upgrades and Community to speak and discuss the issues all together makes it a perfect choice, while Unnecessary Code, Limitations in Framework and high pricing often results in keeping the people away to choose the WordPress Theme Frameworks.

WordPress Child Themes: This brings Safe Updates, Extendable in nature as well as help users’ the time when if fallback condition comes into stand added as benefit of opting for Child Themes, while biggest cons counted as the investment of time you require to learn about the parent theme.

(Image Credit / Source: Flickr / huasonic)