Method Child

Method Child is the starter child theme for Method v2: the smallest theme that activates on top of Method, with the parent’s extension points laid out as commented examples and a Sass build wired to Method’s variables. Most projects never clone it directly — Method Generator renders it with the project’s own name, text domain and function prefix — but a generated theme is this theme file for file, so this page documents both.

The source is pixelwatt/method-child, currently 1.0.0-beta5. The theme header’s Template: method line binds it to the parent, which must live in wp-content/themes/method; the header’s Version is what the theme reports as THEME_VERSION. The child declares no plugin requirements of its own: CMB2 arrives through Method’s Plugin Dependencies. For the step-by-step setup see Getting Started with Method v2; for the tool that renders this theme see Method Generator.

What’s in the theme

How it loads

WordPress includes the child theme’s functions.php before the parent’s, so everything the child defines — THEME_VERSION, METHOD_CHILD_OPTIONS when it is enabled, and any hooks the lib/ files add — is in place before Method’s own lib/ files run. That ordering is what lets a constant defined here change how Method configures itself.

Two version constants exist side by side. THEME_VERSION is wp_get_theme()->get( 'Version' ), the active theme’s — the child’s — header. Method’s METHOD_VERSION resolves through $theme->parent(), so it is always the parent’s. On the Theme Options page, the Additional Information section’s Diagnostic Details field prints both versions, and its Loaded Theme Data field dumps the configuration array in effect, captioned “Using child theme overrides.” or “Using Method’s default configuration.”

Overriding Method’s configuration

lib/config.php defines METHOD_CHILD_OPTIONS with the same shape as Method’s METHOD_OPTIONS in lib/config.php. Nothing merges the two: every reader checks defined( 'METHOD_CHILD_OPTIONS' ) and, if so, uses the child array in place of Method’s, wholesale. An enabled override therefore has to carry every key Method reads. The readers are method_get_block_breakpoints(), method_get_all_bs_breakpoint_options(), method_get_breakpoint_class_prefixes(), method_get_breakpoint_colors(), method_get_font_size_presets() and the information pane on the Theme Options page.

To take it over, edit the array and uncomment the require:

<?php
// lib/config.php — the whole array is used in place of METHOD_OPTIONS,
// so every key Method reads has to be here.
define( 'METHOD_CHILD_OPTIONS', array(
    'breakpoints' => array(
        'units'      => 'px',
        'dimensions' => array( 'xs' => 0, 'sm' => 576, 'md' => 768, 'lg' => 992, 'xl' => 1200, 'xxl' => 1600 ),
        'mobile_max' => 'md',
        'tablet_min' => 'md',
        'tablet_max' => 'xl',
        'base'       => 'xl',
        'wide_min'   => 'xxl',
    ),
    'breakpoint-colors' => array(
        'enabled' => true,
        'mobile'  => '#865EBF',
        'tablet'  => '#D94A64',
        'wide'    => '#F28729',
    ),
    'typography' => array(
        'font-size-presets' => array(
            array( 'name' => 'Small',  'slug' => 'sm', 'size' => '1rem' ),
            array( 'name' => 'Medium', 'slug' => 'md', 'size' => '1.25rem' ),
            array( 'name' => 'Large',  'slug' => 'lg', 'size' => '1.5rem' ),
            array( 'name' => 'Extra Large', 'slug' => 'xl', 'size' => '2rem' ),
        ),
    ),
) );

// functions.php — the require ships commented out; uncomment it to take over.
require_once('lib/config.php');

Two things to keep in mind. The file is a snapshot of Method’s configuration as of the child release: 1.0.0-beta5’s copy still carries the previous accent palette (#865EBF / #D94A64 / #F28729), while Method 2.0.0-beta30 moved to #d17c28 / #2b9d9a / #9b2d8c (3fc99f5); once the override is enabled the child’s values win until you change them, so compare the two files after each parent upgrade. And the PHP breakpoints are independent of the Sass ones: variables.scss hard-codes its own $grid-breakpoints map, so moving a dimension here does not move the media queries in compiled stylesheets.

Styles and the build

Three stylesheets are compiled from assets/scss/ into assets/css/, each as a readable and a minified file. Only two of the three are enqueued:

global.scss and admin.scss open with @import "../../../method/assets/scss/variables.scss" — a relative path that resolves only when the parent is installed as themes/method next to the child. It brings in Bootstrap’s $grid-breakpoints map (24 columns, 1.5rem gutters), the grid and breakpoint mixins (media-breakpoint-up() and friends) and Method’s tier variables $method-mobile-max, $method-tablet-min, $method-tablet-max and $method-wide-min, so a child stylesheet can target the same tiers the blocks do.

npm install
gulp serve            # compile, then proxy your local site through BrowserSync
gulp watch-styles     # recompile on save, no BrowserSync
gulp compile-all-styles

Extension points shipped as examples

Everything in the table is present in the theme as a commented block, with the function names and text domain already in place; uncommenting and editing is the whole job. Each row links to the page that documents the hook on Method’s side.

One line in lib/blocks.php is active rather than commented: remove_theme_support( 'core-block-patterns' ). Comment it out to get WordPress’s bundled patterns back. Nothing in the starter declares required plugins; a child adds its own by shipping a wp-dependencies.json next to style.css or through the method/plugin_dependencies filter, both covered on the Plugin Dependencies page.

CMB2 helpers

The CMB2 files give the project a pattern for page metaboxes rather than any particular box. lib/cmb2-helper-functions.php registers two cmb2_show_on keys: front-page shows a box only on the page assigned as the static front page, and default-page-template only on pages with no template that are not the front page — so a box can target “ordinary” pages without listing templates. lib/cmb2-options-loader.php keeps field definitions in one function keyed by set name, and lib/cmb2-metaboxes.php shows boxes that register themselves on cmb2_admin_init and ask the loader for the sets they want:

add_action( 'cmb2_admin_init', 'method_child_register_page_front_metabox' );

function method_child_register_page_front_metabox() {
    $cmb_options = new_cmb2_box( array(
        'id'           => '_method_child_metabox_page_front',
        'title'        => esc_html__( 'Front Page Options', 'method-child' ),
        'object_types' => array( 'page' ),
        'show_on'      => array( 'key' => 'front-page', 'value' => '' ),
    ) );

    // Adds every field in the "elements" set defined in lib/cmb2-options-loader.php.
    method_child_load_cmb2_options( $cmb_options, array( 'elements' ) );
}

Versions and compatibility

Each Method Child release has a matching Method Generator release that templates it, and its examples assume the Method release whose hooks they call. Older Methods still activate the theme — the examples are comments — but an uncommented example aimed at a hook the parent does not have yet is a silent no-op.

Changelog

Commit links point at pixelwatt/method-child.