WordPress Child Theme Development Best Practices

My Problem:

While developing a WordPress site, I first created a child theme of the current block theme(generally Twenty Twenty-Five). What standard practices should I follow so that the site doesn’t break up in the future?

Also, tell me what are things I should set up on site (I do cow coding, working on a live server, generally on a subdomain) before even starting any website project? What are things I should customise in style (Gutenberg), which important plugins or themes or settings I should work on?

Creating a child theme for Twenty Twenty-Five is a great start. Here are some standard practices to ensure your site remains stable:

Child Theme Development Best Practices

  1. Proper Structure
    • Include all required files (style.css with proper theme headers)
    • Use functions.php only for necessary hooks and filters
    • Create a proper folder structure for assets
  2. Enqueue Parent Theme Resources
    • Always properly enqueue parent styles and scripts
    • Use wp_enqueue_style('parent-style', get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css')
  3. Version Control
    • Use version numbering in your style.css header
    • Consider using Git for tracking changes
  4. Avoid Direct Core Overrides
    • Use hooks and filters instead of copying entire template files
    • When copying template files, keep modifications minimal
  5. Testing
    • Test across multiple browsers and devices
    • Check compatibility with latest WordPress version