Editing a parent theme’s files directly is the fastest way to make a change, which is exactly why it happens so often, but WordPress theme updates overwrite the parent theme’s files completely — there’s no merge, no warning, just every hardcoded customisation silently gone the next time an update installs, however carefully it was originally written. The frustrating part is that the loss is usually silent too — there’s no warning at the moment of the update, no error message, just a site that looks subtly wrong afterward with no obvious explanation until someone traces it back to files that simply reverted to the developer’s original, unmodified version.
Check whether a child theme already exists
Read-only. Go to Appearance → Themes and check whether a child theme is listed and currently active, separate from the parent theme itself.
If only the parent theme appears, or a child theme exists but isn’t the one currently active, that confirms customisations are likely sitting directly in files an update will overwrite.
It’s also worth thinking about how the customisations were originally made — by a past developer, through trial and error yourself, or inherited from whoever built the site initially — since that history sometimes affects how straightforward they are to correctly identify and relocate. None of that history changes what needs doing, but it does help set realistic expectations for how much investigation the identification step itself will take. Either way, the relocation itself proceeds the same once everything’s been found.
Hardcoded theme edits relocated to child theme
Customisations edited directly into your parent theme's files will vanish on the next update. We relocate them safely into a proper child theme.
- Full backup taken before we start
- If we can’t fix it, you get your money back
- We never ask for your own password
What we need from you
- Confirmation of which specific customisations you know were made directly to the parent theme
- Whether you have a record of what’s been changed, or want us to identify it from scratch
- Your tolerance for a brief window where the site is on the child theme during testing
This or something else?
| Customisations exist in the parent theme’s files with no child theme protecting them | This fix covers it |
| Customisations were made through the Customizer’s CSS box, not theme files directly | Customizer CSS migration to child theme, a related but distinct fix |
| You want dead, unused template files removed, not active customisations relocated | Dead template file identification & removal, a different service |
| The parent theme has already been updated and customisations are already lost | A different, content-restoration conversation, since some work may need redoing |
| You’re not sure any direct customisations exist at all | This fix covers it; we confirm that as the first step |
What we do
- Identify every customisation made directly to the parent theme’s files
- Create or configure a proper child theme structure for the site
- Relocate each customisation into the child theme correctly and safely
- Test the site thoroughly on the child theme to confirm identical appearance and function
- Switch the live site to the child theme once verified
- Confirm a subsequent parent theme update no longer affects the relocated customisations
What is included
- A full child theme structure created or configured for your site
- Every identified customisation relocated safely into it
- Thorough testing to confirm identical appearance and function before switching live
- The pre-fix backup, kept for 30 days
Not included
- Recovering customisations already lost from a parent theme update that already happened
- Redesigning or improving the customisations beyond relocating them as they are
- Ongoing protection against future direct edits made after this fix is delivered
- Migrating Customizer-based CSS specifically, which is a separate, related fix
Questions about this fix
What if I don't know everything that was customised?
That's normal, and part of what we establish as the first step — you don't need to arrive with a complete list already worked out.
Will my site look any different after this?
No — the entire point is preserving your site's current appearance exactly, just moved into a location updates won't overwrite.
What if a parent theme update already happened and I lost some customisations?
Then some of that work may need to be redone from scratch, since a child theme can't recover changes that are already gone — we'll be upfront about what's actually recoverable versus not.
Is a child theme the same as just backing up my customisations?
No — a child theme is an active, ongoing structure that survives updates automatically, whereas a backup is just a static record you'd have to manually reapply each time.
Will I need to do this again if I switch themes entirely?
Yes, a child theme is specific to its parent, so switching to a different theme entirely would need its own new child theme built for that one.
Related fixes
If this is the second time this year
A bad update breaking the site is a symptom of updates not being tested first. Care plans run every update on a staging clone before it reaches your live site, which is the actual fix for this happening again.
Your access, your rules
Create a separate admin account for us and delete it when we are done. For anything else, we get in touch and agree a method — never a form field on this site, never by reply to an email.
We back up first, always
Before anything is touched we take a full backup and keep it for 30 days. If a fix goes wrong, we put the site back exactly as it was.
If it is not what you bought
If the problem turns out smaller than what you ordered, we refund the difference. If it is bigger, we stop and send a quote before doing any extra work.
If we cannot fix it
You get back what we received. Diagnosis is on us — you only pay when the problem is actually solved. The payment processor takes its fee before the money reaches us, so we never hold it and it is not ours to return. That is true here as everywhere else.
If it comes back
Reply within seven days of delivery and we put it back on the bench at no cost. The fix is not finished until it holds.
What we are responsible for
If something goes wrong with a fix, our responsibility is limited to what you paid for it. We take a full backup first so mistakes can be undone, and we tell you before doing anything outside what you bought.