WC Template Modification Advice
-
One of my client’s sites uses customer’s email addresses as the username/login and requires that they enter their email address and password to log in. (The site doesn’t allow reviews, etc. and the customer can still choose a username if they like).
To avoid login confusion I’ve changed the text that appears above the username entry box on the account login, checkout and lost password templates from “Username or email” to “Email address”.
I accomplished this by two methods. One is a function command added to the child theme’s functions.php file. The other is by adding the template itself to the child theme and changing the actual text. In the checkout page case I could not add a code snippet to the child them functions.php file that worked correctly so I opted to copy the actual file inside the child theme and modify it.
Is one practice better than the other? Welcome any advice or suggestions.
TIA!
-
Thanks @gabrielfuentes for the advice and link to the interesting article. I think I’ve read its evil twin… “Use as few plugins as possible”. 😉
Over the years, I think like you, I’ve developed a more-or-less hybrid work ethic since I’ve been burned by ill-formed plugins or outright abandonment as well as poor code scripts, snippets and choices.
In general I’ve tried to follow the golden rule, “don’t mess with core files”, period. I’ve stuck to that for the most part but Woocommerce is a bit of a different animal. Some of the files date back years while others are updated more often. That’s always the worrisome element. Customizing leaves the site vulnerable to updates not only by the devs, of WC in this case, but other plugins and site code updates that can, through no one’s fault directly, interact and break small things or the entire site.
So I’m a firm believer in child themes and keeping things as simple as possible. But let’s face it, WC is not a simple plugin by any measure. It’s great but can be a challenge when it comes to making it do what a client would like.
Thanks again, much appreciated!
Thanks also to @mtg169 Code Snippets is a “go to” plugin but I only use it on staging sites and then most often to locate the string I’d like to modify. Then I head to the original files to see what can be accomplished behind the scenes.
As mentioned above, I’m leery about adding plugins that can do serious harm by others that have access, even unintentionally. I know I could hide it from other Admins – with yet another plugin – but I tend to prefer keeping customizations under the hood for the most part.
If I get hit by a bus a decent developer should be able to sort out what I’ve done inside the child theme’s files. I always, always add an explanation to all coding for those that follow plus every client has a “Tweaks” file to pass along.
Thanks again and welcome any other insights!
- The topic ‘WC Template Modification Advice’ is closed to new replies.
