I'm using 1.7 and editing. I don't have a child theme, am I doing this wrong?

Sparkling
1

I’m currently using the 1.7 theme and I recently saw a few post regarding a child theme (which I don’t use). Can you please explain the purpose of the child theme and do I need to start my website all over? Thank you!

2

Hi wordpressrobot,

a child theme has the advantage that you can update the parent theme (e.g. sparkling) if there is a new version without losing your modifications (.css or .php files). Otherwise you would overwrite them. With a child theme you have an extra folder where you can make most of your modifications.

For more information check this post: https://colorlibsupport.com/t/sparkling-child-theme/

3

Child Theme should be used in cases when you are modifying theme code and want to keep all changes update safe. If you have changed something in the actual theme files and you will try to update Sparkling to the latest version you will lose all these code customizations. All changes done via Theme Options or WordPress Customizer will be still in place after update This includes color scheme, Custom CSS, header image or anything else.