What is a WordPress template
WordPress templates are also known as themes. They are basically the different design layouts that determine the external appearance and structure of web pages, blogs, etc. hosted on WordPress. Within the official WordPress community, there is a network of both (professional) developers and users who are very active in creating new templates. A gallery of templates / themes can be found on the official WordPress site, WordPress.org, in the “Themes” section.
How to edit in WordPress
There are three ways to do it. The first is directly modifying the code (more professional-oriented), the second is using self-installing plugins (for the general public) and the third is adding a Child theme. Next, we will detail the characteristics of each of them and how you can edit your template with them.Edit the code inside the WordPress Control Panel
If you are a WordPress programmer or developer, you can modify (edit) your template in the Appearance menu, in the "Editor" subsection. In this menu there are the files with the extension .php, which are something like the skeleton of the template. By clicking on each file you will access the source code and you can modify it.This option is not highly recommended for users with an average level of knowledge of the platform, since, in case of making a mistake, some options of the page could stop working or even, in the worst case, it would have to be redone whole. Another drawback is that it is not possible to update your template with the new versions automatically, since updates can cause problems. Anyway, if you opt for this option, always make a backup of the code you are going to edit in WordPress to be able to replace it if necessary.
Another easier way to modify the source code of your website is to use WordPress shortcodes . These are concrete code snippets with which you can add specific functionalities to your page. There are different ways to include shortocodes: directly in .php files or using plugins.
Edit WordPress using plugins
Through plugins, specific parts of your WordPress template can be customized and edited without modifying the source code. This is because the plugins modify the CSS code (the style sheet), and this is hierarchically above the basic internal structure (PHP files), which should not be modified.One of the best known plugins to modify the CSS code safely is JetPack. This plugin is a custom CSS editor that helps you modify codes without manual errors thanks to their automation instructions. Once you install and activate the plugin, it will appear in your dashboard, in the "appearance" menu, and you can start using it.
Install a Child Theme
Another way to edit WordPress templates is to add a Child Theme to the main theme. The Child Theme is an additional template that overlaps the basic template you have chosen in WordPress. To get a more graphic idea of what it is, you can imagine an acetate paper with a specific design that is placed on top of a photo, which would be the main theme. The latter is not touched, but with the Child Theme a more refined new design and particular characteristics of that child theme are added, such as the position of the secondary columns or the place reserved for the Social Media Buttons. The Child Theme makes deeper modifications than we can do using the plugins. Of course, its manual installation is a bit complicated and, if you are not an advanced WordPress user, you may need the help of a professional to install it.Courtesy: Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
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