Change a classic theme's PHP templates in a draft child theme

Already connected?

If SAR is already in your AI app, this is enough:

What happens

1. The AI app starts a draft child theme next to the live one; the live theme is never edited.
2. It reads the parent theme's files to find the right place and overrides only what is needed.
3. It writes the PHP file; each one is checked, and code execution, file or option writes and remote calls are refused.
4. It checks every PHP file it wrote and tries the draft on the site's main kinds of page, then gives you a preview link that works for an hour.
5. Publishing is approved in SAR with your password; SAR tries the main pages first and switches back by itself if a fatal error appears in the next ten minutes. On a site installed from WordPress.org a person publishes it in wp-admin.

Approvals involved

Worked out from the tools this recipe uses.

• wordpress_create_draft_themeStart a draft themeNone
• wordpress_read_theme_fileRead a theme fileNone
• wordpress_write_theme_fileWrite a theme fileNone
• wordpress_check_draft_themeCheck the draft theme before publishingNone
• wordpress_get_theme_previewPreview the draft themeNone
• wordpress_publish_draft_themePublish the draft themeApproval and password

What you get

The change you wanted, made without touching the live theme's code, and easy to undo.