Title: Need only functions.php
Last modified: August 22, 2016

---

# Need only functions.php

 *  Resolved [wpbond](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpbond/)
 * (@wpbond)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/)
 * Hi,
    Just a thought.
 * I am a newbie to WP theme designing. I am not a developer and I don’t know PHP.
 * But I tried to create a child theme from the parent theme of _s
 * I think that I don’t need any other files other than the functions.php because
   I can code the other files like header.php, footer.php etc. etc. myself.
 * And I don’t need any CSS because I will use Bootstrap.
 * The thing is even if I delete other template files from parent theme, they will
   come again after theme UPGRADE.
 * Just my thoughts 🙂
    Let me know what you feel about it OR am I wrong over here.
 * Edit:
    I think I can be wrong also. Sometimes WordPress also updates the template
   files with good coding practices. The only thing I don’t need is CSS.
 * Thanks

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

 *  [stephencottontail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephencottontail/)
 * (@stephencottontail)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886001)
 * I think there’s a bit of confusion about what _s is for. You’re not supposed 
   to make a child theme of _s. Instead, _s is intended to be used as a starting
   point to create your own theme. You can freely edit all of the included files
   and even add your own, and since you don’t “upgrade” _s the same way you might
   upgrade a completed theme, you don’t have to worry about any files being replaced;
 *  Thread Starter [wpbond](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpbond/)
 * (@wpbond)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886004)
 * Ahh, Thank you stephencottontail
 * You just banged my head on the wall. I read that on their website but now understand
   its meaning… eek.
 * So one questions… won’t _s get any upgrade or its upgradation isn’t going to 
   have any effect on a custom theme built using it? I have read the last sentences
   of what you said but then how does it gets upgraded?
 * Thank you 🙂
 *  [stephencottontail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephencottontail/)
 * (@stephencottontail)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886013)
 * _s receives updates somewhat frequently, but there’s no “link” between an update
   to _s and any custom theme(s) you’ve built with it.
 *  [Level9themes](https://wordpress.org/support/users/level9themes/)
 * (@level9themes)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886016)
 * _s is meant for hacking but not as a parent theme.
 *  Thread Starter [wpbond](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpbond/)
 * (@wpbond)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886024)
 * ahh this is confusing me.
 * I def. want the _s to update but not destroy my themes built with it.
 * and say, I have built a custom theme using _s. How can the _s be updated used
   in that custom theme?
 * Edit:
    I think custom themes built with _s have to be updated with the latest
   ver of _s manually from time to time by the coder himself. _s doesn’t comes with
   NO update version number… So just manually update your custom theme code by code
   after every say 4 months. [http://themeshaper.com/2013/10/11/dont-update-your-theme/](http://themeshaper.com/2013/10/11/dont-update-your-theme/)
 *  [stephencottontail](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stephencottontail/)
 * (@stephencottontail)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886027)
 * You could look at what’s been changed in _s and then incorporate those changes
   into your custom theme, but it’s not necessary to do so. A theme you create using
   _s is completely separate from _s itself. If _s is updated, it has absolutely
   no effect on any custom themes you’ve built with it.
 *  Thread Starter [wpbond](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpbond/)
 * (@wpbond)
 * [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886031)
 * yes Stephen, I did an edit in my last post.
 * Thanks for your help 🙂

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

The topic ‘Need only functions.php’ is closed to new replies.

 * 7 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [wpbond](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpbond/)
 * Last activity: [11 years, 3 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/need-only-functionsphp/#post-5886031)
 * Status: resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics