Title: Backup old CSS for updates
Last modified: August 21, 2016

---

# Backup old CSS for updates

 *  Resolved [allisonbondyoga](https://wordpress.org/support/users/allisonbondyoga/)
 * (@allisonbondyoga)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-old-css-for-updates/)
 * Hello,
 * Does this mean I do not need a Child Theme? I am currently using a Child Theme,
   but, that’s no problem, I can get rid of it. Question though — even though I 
   have a Child Theme installed and activated, I was returning to the Parent Theme(
   the one that the child theme inherits templates from) to make changes to the .
   php files, the .css style sheet, and the plugin .php files, too. At this point
   it would be next to impossible to go back and figure out all the changes that
   I have made.
 * So, your Custom CSS will help me going forward, but, what about what I’ve done
   up until now? I want to be able to update my theme when my theme releases updates(
   without losing all customizations I’ve made directly to html source).
 * Second question — do theme updates even affect .php and plugin files, or only.
   css files?
 * Thanks,
    Jenn
 * [https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-custom-css/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-custom-css/)

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  Plugin Author [John Regan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/johnregan3/)
 * (@johnregan3)
 * [12 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-old-css-for-updates/#post-4586391)
 * Hi Jenn,
 * Thanks for your question. I bet a lot of others are wondering the same thing.
   It is very possible that you will not need a child theme, just keep in mind that
   this only saves CSS changes, and not PHP files you have put in your child theme.
 * This plugin will only save css changes you’ve made inside the plugin (not to 
   css files like style.css), and the changes you make in my plugin will remain 
   regardless of what Theme (even parent/child themes) you switch to.
 * This plugin does nothing to save changes made to PHP files, which means it cannot
   save all the changes potentially made via Child Theme.
 * It sounds like you may be in a pickle regarding your parent theme. It’s not a“
   best practice” to edit parent theme files, because when they are updated they
   will always wipe out all of the files from Parent Theme and replace them with
   fresh ones. (Changes to Child Themes will not be affected.)
 * If you can figure out what php files you’ve changed in your parent theme, you
   can copy that exact php file and put it into your child theme, then that file
   will not be over written when you update. (You don’t have to put them back into
   the parent theme. WP will detect them and use them) This could save you a lot
   of time if you can determine which files you’ve edited (you may be able to do
   that by checking the last time the file was modified).
 * Does this answer your questions? If not, let me know. I’m glad to help.
 *  Plugin Author [John Regan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/johnregan3/)
 * (@johnregan3)
 * [12 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-old-css-for-updates/#post-4586465)
 * Marking as resolved due to inactivity.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Backup old CSS for updates’ is closed to new replies.

 * ![](https://ps.w.org/simple-custom-css/assets/icon-256x256.jpg?rev=1819543)
 * [Simple Custom CSS Plugin](https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-custom-css/)
 * [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/simple-custom-css/)
 * [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/simple-custom-css/active/)
 * [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/simple-custom-css/unresolved/)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/simple-custom-css/reviews/)

 * 2 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [John Regan](https://wordpress.org/support/users/johnregan3/)
 * Last activity: [12 years, 5 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/backup-old-css-for-updates/#post-4586465)
 * Status: resolved