Do you know what a child theme is? Do you care? No. I also shouldn’t care that you don’t care.

You, dear visitor and WordPress website newbie, probably don’t know why you’d want a child theme for your WordPress site. I just finished a conversation where the first thing my newbie darling said was …

[quote]Oh, I’m done with peas and carrots. I want the site to look professional![/quote]

I couldn’t stop laughing. But I was also laughing at myself as I need to remember that a new website creator doesn’t need to know what a child theme is–they just need to know that they need one.

[box type=”info”]A child theme is … oh who cares. But you need to have one.[/box]

A child theme is … wait, I started again. I’m addicted to trying to teach things no one cares about!

What are you looking for? Results. A pretty theme, a professional website, a place you can post your photos of your work. Maybe an online resume, a shop for your business. So you can make money. So you can sell your trinkets. So you have a place to write.

Full-width header, splash of color, a few new fonts.

Full-width header, splash of color, a few new fonts.

Did I see the words child theme anywhere in that paragraph? No. Should it be there? No. Where should it be then? You want pretty pictures of what that child theme can produce. Here you go.

So when is it appropriate to talk about things like child themes? Never? Ever? Later? So when? When you ask? When you care? You won’t ever care.

I think it just needs to be on the checklist:

  1. Get domain.
  2. Get hosting.
  3. Buy Canvas.
  4. Install Canvas.
  5. Install Canvas Child Theme.
  6. Ready!

I didn’t even ask you to care, I just said, “It’s step #5. You need to do this step.” Then (and only then?) if you ask, “Why do I need to use a child theme?” I can answer.

OK, I think I’ve got it. Thanks for asking.

A full-width image in the header changes everything.

A full-width image in the header changes everything.