WordPress themes control the look and feel of your site. However, directly editing a parent theme is risky because updates overwrite your changes. That’s where child themes come in.

What is a Child Theme?
A child theme is a separate theme that inherits the styles and functionality of the parent theme but allows you to add customizations safely. When the parent theme updates, your changes remain intact.

How to Create a Child Theme:

1. Create a New Folder
   In your WordPress /wp-content/themes/ directory, create a new folder named after your child theme (e.g., mytheme-child).
2. Create a style.css File
   Inside the child theme folder, create a style.css file with the following header: cssCopyEdit/* Theme Name: MyTheme Child Template: mytheme */ Replace mytheme with the parent theme folder name.
3. Create a functions.php File
   Add a functions.php file to enqueue the parent theme’s stylesheet: phpCopyEdit<?php function mytheme_child_enqueue_styles() { wp_enqueue_style('parent-style', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css'); } add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', 'mytheme_child_enqueue_styles'); ?>
4. Activate the Child Theme
   Go to your WordPress dashboard > Appearance > Themes, and activate your new child theme.

Start Customizing
Now you can add CSS changes in style.css or override template files by copying them from the parent theme to the child theme folder and editing as needed.

Conclusion:
Child themes offer a safe, organized way to customize WordPress themes without risking your changes being overwritten. It’s a best practice for developers and site owners alike.