Title: Problems with modifying child theme
Last modified: December 18, 2017

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# Problems with modifying child theme

 *  Resolved [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/)
 * Hi guys,
 * At work we’re redoing our intranet and we chose Twenty Seventeen.
 * I have created a child theme following the instructions at [https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/](https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/advanced-topics/child-themes/)–
   so far so good. But some of the modifications that I made aren’t executing.
 * (1) I have a `<ul>` with some links. For some reason, even tho the style.css 
   has no `text-decoration: underline;` the links are still underlined. I have used
   the Inspect Element tool of my browser and changed the color of the links, and
   added `text-decoration: none !important;` but there is a line coming from somewhere,
   just can’t find where. I’m using the theme’s original style.css only modifying
   some things here and there.
 * (2) I want to change some texts in some PHP files (translate from English into
   Danish without using any plugin). I have copied pasted those files in the child
   theme’s folder in the same paths as the parent theme, but for some reason if 
   I don’t change those same lines on the parent theme, the changes don’t happen.
   An example is on index.php, the following line:
 * `<h2 class="page-title"><?php _e( 'Posts', 'twentyseventeen' ); ?></h2>`
 * Instead of “Posts” I have another word.
 * The same issue happens with the files:
    - inc > template-tags.php
    - template-parts > page > content-front-page.php
    - template-parts > post > content.php
 * How do I solve these issues?
 * Thanks in advance.

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/page/2/?output_format=md)
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 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9792506)
 * Regarding your first issue, could you emulate the problem using CSSDesk.com?
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9792748)
 * Hi [@anevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/),
 * Sure, here it is: [http://www.cssdesk.com/zSMu7](http://www.cssdesk.com/zSMu7)
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9792796)
 * Would you be able to use the same HTML as per your page? The idea is to show 
   us your webpage without putting it live. If you’re not comfortable with that,
   helping you with a CSS problem is going to be impossible.
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795042)
 * Sure, I thought I published the necessary code but I updated the link above with
   the whole code from the View Source, but I anonymized as much as I could the 
   URLs and the labels due to privacy reasons of the company (not mine).
 *  [stilman davis](https://wordpress.org/support/users/stilman-davis/)
 * (@stilman-davis)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795110)
 * Problem 1
    This is discussed in the forum. Look to see where there are anchor
   elements with borders. In your child theme copy the elements with borders and
   make them 0 or invisible in some way (color:transparent; or the same as the background
   color) so they don’t appear.
 * Problem 2
    Have you copied the directory structure exactly in your child? I wasn’t
   sure. Have you cleared caches, etc.?
 * Just some thoughts from another newbie.
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795147)
 * Problem 1: I have searched high and low (using ctrl+F) for anything with text-
   decoration: underline; or anything with borders that might affect this (using
   the Inspect Element to see which CSS properties affect my links), but I haven’t
   found any.
 * Problem 2: yes, the files have the exact same directory structure in the parent
   and child themes, and I have cleared the history, cache, etc.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795284)
 * [@mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/), (1st issue) It’s box shadow.
   I recommend looking at a web developer toolbar like the one that comes in Chrome.
   Right click on a link and press “Inspect element”. A new toolbar appears and 
   along the right hand panel you will see CSS that is applied to the link. You 
   can un-tick that CSS to see whether it is affecting the link styling.
 * If you don’t want the underline but would still like it on hover, try this:
 *     ```
       .entry-content a,
       .entry-summary a, 
       .widget a, 
       .site-footer .widget-area a, 
       .posts-navigation a, 
       .widget_authors a strong {
           -webkit-box-shadow: none;
           box-shadow: none;
       }
       ```
   
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795327)
 * Thanks [@anevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/), that solved 
   issue #1.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795463)
 * Regarding the other issue, have you tried changing more things to see if that
   takes effect too? Like have you tried adding a random bit of text and seeing 
   if it shows up on the webpage?
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795669)
 * Yes, I have successfully changed other texts and added more things, but my problem
   is with the files in the OP. I have even tried deleting the files in the child
   theme and recreating them again from the parent theme.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795698)
 * Yes, but to make sure those files in question are being read correctly, can you
   try adding “FOO” somewhere in the file (where it doesn’t cause a syntax error)
   and see it it’s being output on the page? To check if the file is being loaded
   at all?
    -  This reply was modified 8 years, 5 months ago by [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/).
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9795720)
 * I just did and the new words I added are not being displayed.
 *  [Andrew Nevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/)
 * (@anevins)
 * WCLDN 2018 Contributor | Volunteer support
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9796131)
 * I’m afraid I don’t know the answer, but I think the next step would be to look
   how the theme loads these files. Once we understand that we may understand why
   it’s not loading your Child Theme.
 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9797296)
 * The inc/template-tags.php file is a separate issue from template-parts files.
   The functions in this file are pluggable functions. You can redeclare these functions
   on any valid PHP page. The child’s functions.php would be fine, as would a separate
   template-tags.php file. If you use a file separate from functions.php, you need
   to reference it with a `require_once` statement on the functions.php file. The
   child template overwriting system does not apply to regular PHP code files such
   as this. You need to manage the references yourself. You only need to redeclare
   functions you wish to change, you don’t necessarily need the entire file content.
   Include the if (!function_exists()): endif; bit as well even though there will
   not be further overrides. It prevents warnings during theme activation.
 * The template-parts files are of course part of the theme template system. As 
   long as the parent is using the get_template_part() function to load template
   parts, any child template parts that exist will be used in preference over the
   parent’s files. This is the case with twentyseventeen, so your child files should
   be utilized. Be sure you utilize the same relative paths and filenames as the
   parent does. Verify that WP has proper permissions to access these files.
 * What happens when a template calls get_template_part() is WP first checks if 
   any child files exist in the specified path relative to the theme folder. WP 
   uses file_exists() for this, so if it returns false due to a permissions issue
   or because no such file actually exists, it tries to get the template from the
   parent path. This should always be successful, but by chance the parent file 
   does not exist, the file is searched for in the internal default theme. If that
   fails, nothing happens. WP uses the first valid file found in that sequence, 
   so child files always take precedence if they exist.
 * I’ve tested this on my own twentyseventeen child and template-part files are 
   definitely used where they exist. There are no filters in the template part loading
   code, so plugins cannot alter this behavior. The only way to change behavior 
   is through a dirty hack of altering core files. The only other explanation for
   why child files are ignored is some server configuration is preventing WP from
   seeing that such files exist.
 * Be sure the original twentyseveteen files have not been altered, as well as wp-
   includes/template.php and general-template.php core files. You might consider
   replacing the files from a fresh download of the exact same version to be sure.
   Be sure no caching is in place that prevents you from seeing changes to child
   files. There could be general server caching placed by your host that is outside
   of the WP environment. If so, there should be a way of flushing the cache from
   cPanel or something.
 * In summary, there are 4 possible explanations why child templates fail to load:
   
   1. errors in child path/file names 2. altered theme or core code 3. server configuration
   or file permission issues 4. caching in place, either within or external to WP
 *  Thread Starter [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * (@mbdk)
 * [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/#post-9798812)
 * Thanks [@anevins](https://wordpress.org/support/users/anevins/) and [@bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/).
   I have reinstalled the theme in a different directory and server, checked file
   permissions for the folders and server config, and recreated the child theme 
   from the very beginning. The only file that is not reacting to changing that 
   one word is template-tags.php. I don’t think there’s much more I can do, so for
   now I’ll consider this finished.

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 * Last reply from: [mbdk](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mbdk/)
 * Last activity: [8 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/problems-with-modifying-child-theme/page/2/#post-9799533)
 * Status: resolved