How to avoid problems when customizing Twenty Eleven theme

  • I’ve read in the forums here that it is not advisable to edit the Twenty Eleven theme and that I should create a child theme instead.

    I saw on a video on Lynda.com, that if I want to create a child theme, I will need an FTP account’s username, password, and target URL address as well as a MySQL database name, username, password, and host address.

    I just asked our IT person for that information and she won’t give it to me. She wants me to go ahead and edit the theme.

    So I need to know if there is a way to avoid any problems this might cause.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)

  • You only need FTP access to upload a child theme.

    Thread Starter jrasicmark

    (@jrasicmark)

    I think I found a plugin that may allow me to customize Twenty Eleven without damaging anything, and still not need a child theme. It looks like it creates its own CSS file.

    So now I am trying to re-set the settings I had already changed in Twenty Eleven before I found out I shouldn’t do it.

    Problem is, I can’t remember what the original background color was for the horizontal rule in the Global section. Can someone look that up for me?

    Thanks!

    Thread Starter jrasicmark

    (@jrasicmark)

    I’m sorry, I forgot…I also need to know what the original height should be on the horizontal rule? I think it was 1px, but I’m not sure I’m remembering right.
    Thanks again.

    Thread Starter jrasicmark

    (@jrasicmark)

    Sorry, I forgot another one; what should the color be for all headings (h1-h6)?
    Thanks

    If she’s so worried about you having root access to the server, ask her to create an ftp account that is restricted to the web root.

    And tell her that if the theme ever gets updated, all your hard work will be overwritten and will have been in vain. This is really best practices and normal to work with a Child theme. Tell your IT person to get educated on this. ??

    You can download the twentyeleven theme and look up the original style.css file yourself.

    Thread Starter jrasicmark

    (@jrasicmark)

    Thanks, fonglh! I should have thought of that!
    Thanks, esmi, but they’re not giving me ftp access. I don’t know why not.
    Thanks to Andrew and kubegusa as well; I’ve passed on your information to our IT person. I’ll see if it sways her, but she seems convinced that I’m only being told not to change the theme because “they” don’t want non-programmers messing with the CSS and PHP. I think I work in crazytown.

Viewing 8 replies - 1 through 8 (of 8 total)
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