What is a child theme, and why should I use one?

A child theme is a WordPress theme that inherits the functionality, design, and features of another theme, called the parent theme. By creating a child theme, you can modify or customize your website without altering the original theme files. This is important because when the parent theme gets updated, all modifications made directly to it will be overwritten. However, with a child theme, your customizations remain intact because they are stored in separate files.

Using a child theme is ideal for making adjustments to the design, layout, or functionality of a website while maintaining the ability to update the parent theme regularly for security and new features.