Child Themes and Safe Customisation
A child theme is a small companion theme that sits on top of your main (parent) theme. It lets us customise design and behaviour without ever touching the parent's files, so updates remain safe.
It is the professional, future-proof way to tailor a WordPress theme.
How a Child Theme Works
The child theme inherits everything from the parent, then overrides only the specific parts we want to change. The parent can update freely while your customisations stay intact in the child.
What Goes in a Child Theme
- Custom styles and layout tweaks.
- Modified template files.
- Small bits of custom functionality.
The Pay-Off
- Parent theme updates apply without losing your work.
- Customisations are kept in one clear place.
- Reverting a change is simple and low-risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I always need a child theme?
Whenever a theme needs code-level customisation, yes. If your changes only use the theme's own settings, you may not.
Does a child theme slow my site?
No, the performance impact is negligible. The safety it provides far outweighs any tiny overhead.
If you need a hand with any of this, your Progressive Robot delivery team is ready to help. Raise a ticket from the Support area of your client portal or speak to your account manager and we will guide you through the next steps.