Divi is a theme that comes with tons of customization options. If you often make changes to your Divi-powered WordPress website, then using a child theme would be a great idea. When you use a child theme, you don’t need to worry your site is about to ruined up when you update your Divi theme to a newer version. The question is, where you can get a suited Divi child theme? This article will show you where to download a Divi child theme, as well as how to install it.
In case you didn’t know. A child theme is a sub theme that inherits the same functionalities, styles, and features of its parent theme. Using a child theme is so much helpful if you often make changes to your theme. When you make changes to your theme with the purpose of achieving certain appearance, the changes will not be applied to your parent theme’s files. The settings you applied to your child theme are preserved when you make changes to your parent theme, such us updating it. Thus, you can keep your theme updated without worrying about your site appearance. This is a smarter way to update your WordPress theme rather than making a backup of your site every time you want to update your theme to the newest version.
How to Install a Divi Child Theme
In general, installing a child theme is no different from installing a regular/parent theme. You can do so from the WordPress theme manager by going to Appearance -> Themes on your WordPress dashboard. However, installing a Divi child theme is a bit different as a Divi child theme usually contains other settings to be imported. Some Divi child themes also require you to import the homepage layout yourself. If you are lucky enough, you will find a Divi child theme that comes with a built-in content importer to import then demo content, including the page layouts.
Same as general WordPress themes, you will also get a ZIP file of a Divi child theme when you download it from a certain source. The first step to do once you get the ZIP file is to extract it to figure out the contained files. If you find an instruction file, you can read it to learn how to install the associated Divi child theme. In this example, we will show you how to install a Divi child theme we downloaded from Divi Marketplace which named Grow. The ZIP file of the theme consists of the following files:
- functions.php
- license.txt
- screenshot.jpg
- style.css
In the case of the Grow child theme, you can install it right away once you get the ZIP file. So, go to Appearance -> Themes on your WordPress dashboard and click the Add New button on top the side.
Click the Upload Theme button and select the ZIP file of the Grow child theme and click the Install Now button. Activate the theme once installed. If you are new to WordPress, you can read refer to this page to learn how to install a WordPress theme.
Importing the JSON files
If your Divi child theme comes with JSON files, you can import them according to their contexts. In general, a Divi child theme offers JSON files for theme customizer, theme option, and theme builder. In most Divi child themes, the JSON files are placed in the imports folder.
— Importing the JSON file for theme customizer
If your Divi child theme offers one, you can find the JSON file for theme customizer under the imports folder. You can find a JSON file with the name “customizer_settings.json” or the similar one. To import it, go to Appearance -> Customize on your WordPress dashboard. Click the two-arrow icon on the top-left of your screen and select the JSON file.
On the appearing dialog window, click the IMPORT tab and click the CHOOSE FILE button to select the JSON file. Click the Import Divi Customizer Settings button to import the JSON file.
— Importing the JSON file for theme builder
You can find the JSON file for Divi theme builder in the imports folder as well. Usually, it has a name “theme_builder_options.json” or the similar one. To import it, go to Divi -> Theme Builder on your WordPress dashboard. Click the two-arrow icon on the right side.
On the appearing dialog window, click the Import tab. Click the NO FILE SELECTED to select the JSON file and then click the Import Divi Theme Builder Templates button to import the JSON file
Once the importing process is done, click the Save Changes button to apply the changes.
A LITTLE NOTE. If you import the JSON file for theme builder, the settings you made on theme customizer (which you have imported above) might will be overridden, depending on the custom templates saved on the JSON file for the theme builder. You can read our previous article to learn more about Divi theme builder.
— Importing the JSON file for theme options
As before, you can find the JSON file for theme options under the imports folder of your Divi theme. This file usually has the name “theme_options.json.“.
Once you find the file, go to Divi -> Theme Options on your WordPress dashboard. Click the two-arrow icon on the right side.
On the appearing dialog window, go to the Import tab and click NO FILE SELECTED to select the JSON file and then click the Import Divi Theme Options button to import the JSON file.
Once the importing process is done, click the Save Changes button to apply the changes.
Top 7 Sources to Download a Divi Child Theme
Here are the top 7 sources to download a Divi child theme for your project.
1. Divi Marketplace
Divi Marketplace is one of the best sources to download a Divi child theme. It is a marketplace offered by Elegant Themes to facilitate Divi creators to sell their Divi products. From Divi child themes, Divi plugins, to Divi layouts. If you are a regular Divi user, you can visit Divi Marketplace to find Divi products according to your needs.
When looking for a child theme on Divi Marketplace, you can filter the child themes by price and user rating. You can find a child theme from a wide range of site categories.
2. Divi Cake
Divi Cake is another marketplace dedicated to the Divi community. You can also find Divi products on this website, including a child theme. There are over 600 Divi child themes available on Divi Cake. Ranging from around $10 to $100, depending on the complexity. Divi Cake also offers a great filtering feature to allow you to filter the child theme collections by price, availability date, and tags.
3. Elegant Marketplace
You can also visit Elegant Marketplace to find a suited Divi child theme for your project. There are over 400 child themes available on the site. In addition, you can also find other Divi products like plugins and layouts.
4. Divi Space
Divi Space is website that specifically serves anything about Divi. It offers Divi child themes, Divi plugins, and Divi layouts. It even also offers Divi hosting to facilitate Divi users who seek for a web hosting dedicated to Divi. There are about 27 Divi child themes offered by Divi Space. Divi Space itself adopts a membership-based business model. After being a member, you will have access all the child themes offered by Divi Space, as well as other products. If you hate membership-based business model, Divi Space also allows you to buy individual child themes. Before making a purchase, you can preview the child theme you want to buy first.
5. Divi Life
Divi Life is pretty similar to Divi Space. It is a website that offers Divi products, including child themes. There are 17 Divi child themes offered by Divi Life. You can get them all by becoming a member of Divi Life. There is also an option to buy an individual child theme in case you prefer this option. Each child theme offered by Divi Life has a demo site to give you a preview of how your website will look like after implementing a child theme.
6. Divi Extended
Divi Extended is another website that specifically offers Divi products, including child themes. There are two options to download a child theme from Divi Extended: by becoming a member or make an individual purchase. Before downloading a certain child theme, you can also preview it first. The child themes offered by Divi Extended come with a demo content importer to make it easy for you to import the page layouts.
7. Divi-childthemes.com
If you are looking for a free Divi child theme, Divi-childthemes.com is one the websites you can visit. There are four free Divi child themes offered by the website. We have tried two of them and they come with a demo content importer to streamline your workflow. If you prefer a paid child theme, the website also offers ones. Demo website is also available for each theme on the divi-childthemes.com.
The Bottom Line
Divi comes with tons of customization options, allowing you to try different behaviors and stylings to your website. If you often try different customization settings on your Divi-powered WordPress site, using a child theme is a great option to take as you can make changes to your website without changing the actual files of your parent theme (Divi in this case). Also, you can keep your theme updated without worrying about the current customizations. When you update a parent theme, it won’t affect the child theme.
If you use Divi and are looking for a child theme for your project, you can visit one of the websites we have mentioned above. The method to install a Divi child theme itself can be vary depending on the source you download the child theme. If it is possible, you can choose a Divi child theme that comes with a demo content importer to streamline your workflow.
