Child Theme Generator
Search wordpress.org for the parent, and the Template header, folder name and enqueue all come out matching it — including the themes whose folder is capitalised.
/* Theme Name: Astra Child Description: Child theme for Astra. Template: astra Version: 1.0.0 Requires at least: 6.0 Requires PHP: 7.4 License: GNU General Public License v2 or later License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html Text Domain: astra-child */ /* ----------------------------------------------------------------- Your styles go below. This file loads after astra/style.css, so a selector of equal specificity already wins — !important is almost never the answer. ----------------------------------------------------------------- */
About this generator
WordPress Child Theme Generator Online
Search the live wordpress.org theme directory for your parent, and this WordPress child theme generator writes the whole folder for you — style.css with a Template: header copied character for character from the parent directory, a functions.php that enqueues the parent stylesheet as a dependency, an optional theme.json, rtl.css and a generated screenshot.png — packed into a .zip you can upload at Appearance › Themes › Add New.
The Preview tab shows the Themes grid the way it will look once the zip is installed, including the "parent theme is missing" notice you get when the Template value does not match a real folder. Everything runs in the browser: the only network call is the read-only theme search against api.wordpress.org, and nothing you type is uploaded or stored anywhere.
Reviewed Output tested on WordPress 6.8 · PHP 8.3
Why the child theme generator beats copying a style.css off a blog post
A child theme is four lines of header and one enqueue, which is exactly why so many of them are broken. The Template value is matched against the parent directory name byte for byte and it is case sensitive — Divi, Extra, Avada, Impreza, Total and Newspaper all ship a capitalised folder, and getting that wrong lands the theme under Broken Themes with a "parent theme is missing" notice. This tool takes the folder name from the source of truth instead of from your memory.
The parent slug comes from the directory, not your typing
Search is live against the wordpress.org theme API, so the Template value is the real folder name. A bundled list of 24 premium parents covers the themes that are not on wordpress.org, including the capitalised ones and dt-the7, whose folder is nothing like its name.
Case sensitivity flagged both ways
A capital letter in the parent folder raises a warning with a one-click "Make it lowercase" fix — unless you picked a theme known to ship capitalised, in which case it downgrades to a note telling you to leave it exactly as it is.
Three honest enqueue strategies, no @import
Load the parent style.css then the child as a dependency, or declare the parent's existing handle as the dependency so nothing loads twice, or skip the enqueue entirely for block themes and for frameworks like Genesis that have no front-end CSS. @import is never emitted.
Checks that catch the silent failures
Child folder equal to the parent, a space in the Template value, a text domain that does not match the folder, a version that version_compare() cannot read, and switching functions.php off while an enqueue is still selected — that last one ships an unstyled site and is an error, not a warning.
The Customiser reset, solved on activation
theme_mods are stored per stylesheet, so a fresh child starts with an empty Customiser. An optional after_switch_theme callback copies the parent's mods across once, deliberately dropping nav_menu_locations because WordPress already remaps those.
A real zip, written in the browser
Files are packed with a stored-entry ZIP writer and the screenshot.png is drawn on a canvas at 1200 × 900, so the Themes grid shows a card instead of the grey placeholder. Nothing is uploaded to build it.
How does the child theme generator work?
Four steps. The only value that has to be exactly right is the parent folder name, and the search picks that for you.
- 01
Find the parent
Search wordpress.org, filter the bundled premium list, or type the folder name in by hand. Picking a result fills in the parent name, the folder and whether it is a block theme.
- 02
Name the child
The folder defaults to
parent-slug-childand the text domain follows it. Set the version, author, author URI and description — empty header rows are simply left out ofstyle.css. - 03
Choose how the parent stylesheet loads
Stack both stylesheets, depend on the parent's own handle (you supply the handle from its
wp_enqueue_style()call), or emit no enqueue at all for a theme.json-driven block parent. - 04
Pick the files, then download the zip
Toggle
functions.php, the translation loader, the Customiser copy, anafter_setup_themestub at priority 11,theme.json,rtl.cssand the screenshot. Clear the Checks tab, then download.
Worked example — style.css for a child of Astra
The whole of style.css as it lands in the zip. Template: astra is the only line that makes this a child theme rather than a standalone one.
/*
Theme Name: Astra Child
Description: Child theme for Astra.
Template: astra
Version: 1.0.0
Requires at least: 6.0
Requires PHP: 7.4
License: GNU General Public License v2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Text Domain: astra-child
*/
/* -----------------------------------------------------------------
Your styles go below. This file loads after astra/style.css,
so a selector of equal specificity already wins — !important is
almost never the answer.
----------------------------------------------------------------- */The matching functions.php enqueues get_template_directory_uri() . '/style.css' under the handle astra-style, then enqueues get_stylesheet_uri() with array( 'astra-style' ) as its dependency, so WordPress prints them in that order whatever else registers in between.
WordPress child themes — frequently asked questions
The questions that come up most often when a child theme does not behave the way the tutorial promised.
Why does WordPress say "the parent theme is missing" when the parent is clearly installed?
The Template: value in the child's style.css is matched against the parent's directory name in wp-content/themes, character for character, and it is case sensitive on Linux hosting. Template: Divi and Template: divi are two different themes to WordPress. Divi, Extra, Avada, Impreza, Total and Newspaper genuinely ship capitalised folders, and The7's folder is dt-the7. Check the folder over SFTP and copy the name exactly — it is the parent's directory, never its display name.
Should I use @import to load the parent stylesheet?
No. @import url("../parent/style.css") still works, but the browser cannot discover the parent stylesheet until it has downloaded and parsed the child one, so the two never fetch in parallel. Enqueue instead: register the parent stylesheet with a handle, then enqueue get_stylesheet_uri() with that handle in its dependency array. You get the same cascade order without the serial round trip.
Does a child theme's functions.php replace the parent's?
No — both files run, and the child's runs first. functions.php is the one file that is never replaced; every other template file works the opposite way, where a copy in the child folder replaces the parent's entirely. Because the child loads first you cannot simply redefine a parent function unless the parent wrapped it in function_exists(). To change parent behaviour, remove_action() its callback from a later hook, or hook your own callback at a higher priority number.
Why did my Customiser settings disappear after activating the child theme?
Nothing was lost. theme_mods are stored in an option keyed by stylesheet — theme_mods_astra versus theme_mods_astra-child — so a newly activated child starts from an empty set. Widgets behave the same way. Menu locations are the exception: WordPress tries to remap those on switch. Copying the parent's mods across once on after_switch_theme restores the rest, which is what this generator's optional activation snippet does.
Do I need a theme.json in the child theme?
Only if you are changing something the parent set there. WordPress merges the child's theme.json over the parent's rather than replacing it, so you declare just the keys you are overriding — a colour, a font size, one padding value — and everything else is inherited. For a block theme parent this is usually all a child theme needs, and no stylesheet enqueue is required at all.
Do I have to keep the parent theme installed and updated?
Yes. The child only supplies the files it overrides; every template, function and asset it does not define comes from the parent at runtime. Deleting the parent breaks the site. Keep the parent installed and updated — that is the whole point of the arrangement, since your changes live in the child and survive every parent update.
Where do I paste the code from the Child Theme generator?
The Child Theme generator hands you a complete .zip. Upload it at Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, then activate it. There is nothing to paste — but keep the parent theme installed, because a child theme with a missing parent shows up under Broken Themes and cannot be activated.
Can I use the generated code in client work or a commercial plugin?
Yes. The output is ordinary WordPress API calls that you configured — there is no licence attached to it and no attribution required. Use it in client sites, commercial plugins and themes, or products you sell. The generated file carries a short credit comment you are free to delete.
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