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An Introduction To Child Themes

Before diving into CSS, it’s important to mention that it is deemed as best practice to use a child theme when building a Divi website. The details and functionings of child themes will be described in detail later in this guide, for now, simply note that the use of child themes in development is considered best practice.

Child themes are comprised of a series of files. CSS edits are stored in a stylesheet. Using a child theme entails setting up a stylesheet to house all of your styling edits. This way, site edits will be preserved and won’t be overwritten when a theme update rolls around. This concept is explained in detail further in this guide.

When you don't need a child theme​

If you know for certain that you won’t be making any customizations to your Divi website, then you don’t need to worry about using a child theme. For those wanting to skip the child theme step but still preserve their site changes, Divi allows users to add CSS in a number of areas:

  • CSS can be added to the Custom CSS area in the Divi Theme Options > General tab
  • Quick, simple aesthetic changes can be added to the sections, rows and individual modules themselves (in the Advanced > Custom CSS tab of each)
  • Each page, project or post can be individually styled using the Divi Builder Settings console
tip

These three areas for adding CSS will only suffice for small CSS tweaks and code enhancements that you can keep track of easily. If you are looking to make in-depth changes to your website, a child theme is essential.

For further reading, visit the WordPress Codex and read through the literature on Child Themes.

Build a Divi Child Theme for free!​

If you’re ready to create a blank child theme for your Divi website, check out the WP Zone Child Theme Builder. Free to use, the WP Zone Child Theme Builder makes creating a blank Divi child theme quick and easy. To create a child theme, all you need to do is enter information relating to your Divi site, download the child theme and install it. To build a Divi child theme, use the WP Zone Child Theme Builder now!