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[ckeot]

I have an update for X theme showing up on login to themeco. My website developer told me that if I run the update directly I will lose all the custom CSS codes that he used to build the pages. Can you please recommend me a safe way to update X without losing all the custom short codes.
NB: I have to do the update process myself as I am not in contact with the developer any more. So please suggest a easy way if possible.

rgds
CK

[Nico]

Hi There,

Thanks for writing in.

To prevent losing changes, You need to setup child theme then add the changes in your child theme instead in your parent theme.

To setup child theme,

https://community.theme.co/kb/how-to-setup-child-themes/

for guide on how to use child theme: https://community.theme.co/kb/customization-best-practices/

Hope it helps.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks.

[ckeot]

Hi,
Downloading and installing the child theme is easy.
For the next part – do you mean I have to copy all the custom CSS from the main theme (the ones in Edit Global CSS section) and paste to the Global CSS section in the child theme. Is there a video tutorial explaining this process.

rgds
CK

[ckeot]

I have one more question – how do I change the Category Archive default text in the category archive pages.
Attached snapshot shows the thing I want to change.

[Rad]

Hi there,

You don’t have to copy the entire CSS, what you need is just to copy specific CSS that you wish to override through your custom CSS.

When you go to Admin > Posts > Categories > {YOUR CATEGORY}, it should give you option to alter archive title and description.

Hope this helps.

[ckeot]

Hi, regarding X update –
I installed and activated the child theme. I have few questions here:
After activating child theme, I see that that, my pages still retain the custom changes that were done in the original theme (which is good!). Also if I go to the custom CSS panel for the child theme, I can see the custom codes from the original X theme.

I am right now confused on where to copy and paste the custom CSS as was advised earlier to me.

SOS please
Chandan

[Joao]

Hi There,

You can paste your custom css on Appereance > customizer > Custom > CSS or on style.css of your child theme.

Any code that you have added on your X Theme outside of WordPress Admin Panel will be erased once your theme get updated.

Hope that helps

Joao

[ckeot]

I did not understand this.
Please check the snapshot. I see the CSS codes from original theme already present in the child theme. Do I have to paste somewhere else. I don’t understand how the custom CSS codes from my original theme are still showing up since currently my child theme is active.

I am checking in Appearance>Customize>Custom>Edit Global CSS

Am I checking the wrong place?

[Joao]

Hi There,

That are your Customizer Settings, this changes are stored on the database so nevermind if you changed theme themes.

It is good where it is, you don´t have to worry about.

If there is anything else you would like clarification please let us know.

Joao

[ckeot]

So does that mean I can update my theme without losing these changes.
I am very new to all this stuff hence I might be asking very basic question. Sorry for that.
But right now the whole update process is not making sense to me. Can you please send me some snapshots illustrating the process that I need to follow.

rgds
Chandan

[Friech]

Hi Chandan,

We need to understand first what Custom CSS codes you’ll lose when you update the parent theme as your developer told you. Or should I say what files on the parent theme did your developer modified?

Don’t worry about the Custom CSS you have on the Customizer, the child theme will inherent that if you just switch from parent to child theme.

If you feel uneasy that you might lose your Customizer settings, you can easily backup that. On your admin dashboard just navigate to Addons > Customizer Manager > Export and keep that file on your local machine.

Now if your developer edit the parent theme files directly without copying it on child theme that is where the issue comes from. As you have already know all modification done on the parent theme will be overwritten when the theme is updated.

So we need to know first what are the modified file so we can moved them on the child theme before we do the updates.

Hope this shed some lights.

Thanks.

[ckeot]

hello,
this is what my developer told me –
“I did not do any modification to the main files of the parent theme. I just do some custom css coding on the theme customizer and do little css coding on the cornerstone page builder. I did it all on the parent theme, not on the child theme. There was no child theme installed at that time so i had to do all the custom css coding on the parent theme’s customizer”

I exported the customizer settings as you mentioned above. So now what should be the next step for me?

regards
Chandan

[Rue Nel]

Hi Chandan,

Thank you for the updates! Assuming that there are no modifications to any of the files in the parent theme, you are now ready to install the child theme. You can do that in this order.
1] Please download the child theme from here: https://community.theme.co/child-theme/
2] You can then upload the child theme in Appareance > Themes
3] Please go to the customizer manager, Addons > Customizer Manager > Export and download the XCS file to your local computer
4] Activate the child theme.
5] Go back again to the customizer manager, Addons > Customizer Manager > Import and import the XCS file. This is to make sure that you have the same settings like menu, widgets, etc.

Now that the child theme is activate, always remember to add all your custom codes and modifications within the child theme so that it will not be overwritten when there is an X update.

Hope this helps.

[ckeot]

Hello,

Step 1 to Step 4 is done. Please check the snapshot.
Actually, I skipped step 3, ana activated the theme before exporting the custom XCS file, but thankfully nothing much changed.
After activating child theme I don’t see any changes in the pages and website style.

1. So does it mean that I can update the theme now without any issue?
2. And how do I make sure that I do any modifications in child theme only? I thought since child theme is active now so the theme customizer will be by default the child theme’s one. Please correct me if I am wrong.

rgds
Chandan

[Paul R]

Hi Chandan,

1. Yes, you can update the theme now without issues.

2. The child theme basically just inherits all the parent theme settings, nothing is changed until you add something to it.

For more information kindly refer to the links below.

https://community.theme.co/kb/how-to-setup-child-themes/
https://community.theme.co/kb/customization-best-practices/

Hope that helps

[Author]

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