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What makes a Wordpress theme an "invalid parent theme"?

In order to overwrite some CSS of an existing Wordpress theme, I would like to create a child theme of it as described on http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes#Example_of_a_basic_Child_Theme .

I created a directory along with the style.css file, where the parent theme's name is defined as "template". So far, so good. When I go to the themes page in Wordpress' administration, I get the message "The [name of parent theme] theme is not a valid parent theme.", and I cannot activate it.

I am wondering how Wordpress finds out if a parent theme is valid or not and if there is a way to make the parent theme a valid parent theme.

In order to find out if the defined parent theme is the problem, I replaced the "template" definition with another theme, which is also installed on the same server, and that worked.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Jan Avatar asked Sep 03 '13 10:09

Jan


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What is a parent WordPress theme?

A parent theme is a complete theme which includes all of the required WordPress template files and assets for the theme to work. All themes – excluding child themes – are considered parent themes.

Should I use child theme or parent theme?

If you're mostly adding custom CSS, then creating a child theme is ideal. But if you're making extensive customizations to the theme's functionality, then you'll be better off creating a parent theme, or selecting an option that has an existing child theme that you can then edit immediately.

How do I create a parent and child theme in WordPress?

Create a Folder in wp-content/themes # Like any theme, child themes are located in wp-content/themes in your WordPress installation. So, navigate there now and create a new folder for your child theme. A best practice is to give your theme's folder the same name as the parent theme and append it with -child .


1 Answers

It seems I forgot to mention the fact that caused the problem: My parent theme is already a child theme, and I was not aware of the two generation limit, which means that a child child theme is not possible. :-(

Thanks for your help anyway! Maybe this information should be added on http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes ...

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Jan Avatar answered Sep 27 '22 22:09

Jan