CSS edits: Theme Options vs. CSS files

[stardigit]

I created an Alyeska child theme, and have made a number of CSS changes in the Custom CSS box in “Theme Options.”

Should I go back and make these changes directly in my child theme’s CSS files instead? If so, can you briefly explain why that’s better?

Thanks!

Topic

[Jason Bobich]

It doesn’t technically make a difference, but if you’re planning to make many changes, it’ll probably be easier to stay organized if you actually put them in a file like custom.css. Also, this way, your Child theme will actually be a directory of files that you can backup/restore, move to another site, etc. If you put your CSS in the “Custom CSS” box then you’re just storing the styles in your WordPress database along with the rest of your Theme Options.

[stardigit]

Thanks Jason.

OK, so I tried moving my custom CSS from the “Custom CSS” box to the custom.css file I found in /wp-content/themes/alyeska-child/assets/css/

But the website has reverted to the default CSS. Is this the wrong location for the file? Or do I need to tell the theme to look for it?

[Jason Bobich]

Can I see a link to the frontend of your site so I can see how you’ve incorporated your Child theme?

[stardigit]

http://www.employee-law.com

[Jason Bobich]

I would say that, assuming you’re using the sample child theme’s functions.php that came with the theme with the custom.css file still included properly as it was by default, if you’re saving CSS on custom.css and nothing is happening on your site, it would have to do with your caching plugin.

So, I’d start there. Try disabling it, and see if you see your custom.css styles being included. If so, then that means you need to get on top of using that caching plugin, whether that’s clearing it after you’ve made changes, or whatever. Generally with caching plugins like that you usually want to wait to minimize and cache everything until after you’ve finished your site.

[stardigit]

Yep, I forgot about the cache plugins. Thanks!

[Author]

Replies