WordPress theme customization
Make the theme yours — and keep it that way after every update.
Layout, style and feature changes to our themes or most well-built themes from others. Every change lives in a child theme or a small companion plugin, never in the parent theme’s files.
Update-safe
Staging first
Change log included
Before you click “Update”
Will the next theme update wipe your changes?
A theme update replaces the theme’s folder with the new version. Anything edited inside it goes with it. Tick what applies to your site.
How WordPress themes work
Four facts that decide where a change should live.
Customizing a WordPress theme properly isn’t about clever CSS. It’s about putting each change in the layer that updates can’t touch.
1 file
is all a child theme needs: a style.css whose Template header names the parent
4 layers
of settings and styles — WordPress, theme, child theme and user — each overriding the last
60%
of WordPress sites use a page builder (an estimate) — a layer that needs its own care
4.5:1
the minimum contrast for body text when brand colours change
Four places a change can go
Site Editor, child theme, plugin — or the wrong place.
Each option is right for a different kind of change. Tap a card to see what belongs there and what happens on the next update.
Why “I changed it but nothing happened”
The layer on top always wins.
In block themes, styles stack from WordPress’s defaults up to what you set in the editor. A change in the wrong layer is silently overruled — which is why “the CSS didn’t work” is so common.
01
WordPress defaults
WordPress’s own theme.json sets the baseline settings and styles.
02
Your theme
The theme’s theme.json overrides WordPress’s defaults.
03
Child theme
If active, the child theme’s theme.json takes priority over the parent.
04
Your choices in the editor
Changes made in Appearance › Editor are saved in the database and beat every other layer.
What we change
From a tweak to a new template — done cleanly.
01 / 04 — Brand
Make it look like you.
Colours, fonts, spacing, header and footer layouts adjusted to your brand — with text contrast checked against WCAG’s 4.5:1 minimum.
02 / 04 — Layout
Rework the pages people see most.
Homepage sections, archive layouts, single post templates and sidebars, built as child-theme templates and patterns you can still edit.
03 / 04 — Features
Add what the theme is missing.
Extra widgets, custom fields, post meta, related posts or other small features — added cleanly, without hacking the theme’s core files.
04 / 04 — Mobile
Fix it where most readers are.
Layout and menu problems on phones and tablets fixed and tested on real devices, not just a resized browser window.
Price your change list
Tick what you want changed. See a ballpark now.
Most customizations fall into a few familiar shapes. Pick yours for a range — then send the list and we confirm a fixed price within a day.
Our themes — and others
We know our own themes inside out. We work on yours too.
Changes to wpinterface themes are often quicker, because we wrote them. Most well-coded themes from other developers are fine as well — send a link and we’ll tell you.
- Block themes and classic themestheme.json and templates for block themes; template files and hooks for classic ones.
- Page builders handled with careIf your layouts live in a builder, we change them there rather than fighting it with CSS.
- A change log at the endEvery change and where it lives, so the next developer knows what was done.
How customization works
Four steps, one fixed price.
You approve the price and the date before we start, and nothing changes on your live site until you’ve checked it.
Day 1
Send your list
Tell us what you want to change, with screenshots or example sites if you have them.
Within 1 day
Get a fixed quote
We confirm the work, the price and the delivery date before starting.
1–8 days
We make the changes
On a staging copy or from a backup, so your live site stays safe the whole time.
Final day
Review and go live
You check everything, we make any agreed fixes and push them live with the change log.
Ongoing changes?
A steady list of tweaks deserves a steady developer.
If changes keep coming every month, a block of developer hours is often simpler than quoting each one.
- The same developer each timeSomeone who already knows your theme, child theme and change log.
- Updates checked against your changesOverridden templates compared with each new parent release.
- Bigger rebuilds when you need themWhen a theme no longer fits, a custom theme may be the better path.
Questions, answered
My theme is a block theme. Do I still need a child theme?
Not always. Changes made in the Site Editor are saved in your database, so theme updates don’t overwrite them. A child theme is still the right home for template files, theme.json settings and code — and for anything you want versioned or moved to another site.
Someone already edited my parent theme. Is it too late?
No. We compare your theme with a clean copy of the same version, move every difference into a child theme or plugin, and then the parent can be updated safely.
Will changing colours affect accessibility?
It can. WCAG asks for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text. We check new brand colours against both before they go live.
Do you only customise wpinterface themes?
No. We work on most well-coded themes. We know our own themes best, so changes to those are often quicker.
What is a child theme?
A small theme that sits on top of your main theme and holds your changes. When the main theme updates, your changes stay in place.
Is this the same as theme support?
No. Free theme support covers bugs and setup questions. Customisation covers changes to how the theme looks or works.
What if my changes need more than 3 hours?
We tell you before going over and send a quote for the extra work. You only pay for what you approve.
Can you set up a whole new site instead?
Yes. For a full news or blog launch, see news and blog website setup.
Get a free quote
Let’s build something great.
Tell us about your project and goals. A WordPress engineer — not a salesperson — will reply within one business day with a plan and a fixed price.
- Free, no-obligation quote within 24 hours
- NDA available on request
- Fixed price — you approve the scope before work starts
