Child Theme or Just Get Started?

[benben 0]

Hello All, Just signed up for PageLines. Am quite excited. Would like to start in the right direction. Choosing PageLines was my first move. Now the question of Child Theme or Just Get Started. The concept of Child Themes, as I've gathered, is the pragmatic/smart way to build a site that will survive changes that occur as a framework evolves. I'm at the "Hello, World" point on WP and PageLines. My creative juices say, "just go, build." But pausing at this first step is what this post is about. So my question is: Child Theme or Just Get Started? I'm not sure exactly what to ask... Do I just start dragging & dropping? Or, if I want to create the site with my own design choices, is there a Child Theme in PageLines that's "blank"? Again, I'm looking for help on this first step and not sure, within PageLines, what a Child Theme amounts to, where it begins. Is it simply built in? Am thrilled about PageLines and looking forward to mastering it. But first I need the starting line pointed out - and figuring the Child Theme or Just Starting - is the question. Thanks, benben

[catrina 103]

You can use the existing child theme and customize it to your liking. :)

[James B 436]

I was the same as you Ben. I just jumped in and just got started etc. There is a child theme available in the store to download and then customize, that's the professional way to do it. However you can just jump in and edit using the custom css box etc without using the child theme. The custom Css does get saved in the database as far as I'm aware, and I've never had a problem with the updates etc, but there is always a possibility, so its prob best to use the child theme. Even though the css is saved, as far as I understand hooks or any other alterations into the actual stylesheets do get wiped when you update.

[Danny+ 1,327]

Hi BenBen, @jamieb23 is pretty much spot on, you can of course just start straight away and have a play but using the Base child theme or the PageLines Customisation plugin, both available on the PageLines Store for free. [b]Base Child theme vs Customisation plugin[/b] http://www.pagelines.com/wiki/How_to_Use_the_PageLines_Customize_Plugin [b]What is a Child Theme?[/b] http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes I think the best course of action, especially in getting to grips with the learning curve of PageLines Framework would be to simply have a play with all the settings, layouts sections etc... before proceeding in creating your live website. If you want any more information, don't hesitate to ask.

[benben 0]

Thank you Catrina, Jamie and Danny. I'm going to read up and play, as you suggested Danny. I am giving myself the upcoming weekend to dive in and do. Ultimately, Jamie's last line about style sheets being wiped out (when there's no Child theme) points me in the direction of eventually establishing a Child theme for my site when it officially begins. For now I'm going to see what the Framework is all about and enjoy. Interesting, I did see a tutorial on YouTube about creating a WordPress Child theme and wondered if it applied to PageLines. Here's the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrS33H2kMso Thanks so much for the feedback and the links.