Child Theme Check
Warns you about outdated template files in your child theme and shows a diff view of the changes between parent and child theme template.
The facts
- Rating
- 5★ from 8
- Active installs
- 800+
- Price
- Free
- Last updated
- 31 May 2026
- Added
- Sep 2015
- Requires WP
- 3.6.0
- Tested up to
- WP 7.0.4
- Downloads
- 22,639
Our analysis
AI-assistedChild Theme Check is a WordPress plugin designed to help you manage child themes by tracking changes in parent themes. It alerts you if the version of a parent theme file is newer than the corresponding child theme file, allowing you to address potential security risks and keep your customizations up to date.
The plugin requires the parent theme to include version information in the header of its PHP files. If this is set up correctly, you can view differences between the parent and child theme files using a built-in comparison function.
Best for: This plugin is suitable for WordPress developers and site owners using child themes.
What it does well
- ✓Tracks changes in parent themes
- ✓Alerts users to newer versions of parent theme files
- ✓Displays differences between parent and child theme files
Where it falls short
- •Requires parent theme to include version info
- •Limited information on additional features
Verdict
Child Theme Check provides a practical solution for managing child themes, especially for those concerned about security and updates. Its effectiveness depends on the proper setup of the parent theme.
From the developer
Torsten Landsiedel's own description of Child Theme Check, lightly tidied.
Child Themes are used to avoid overwriting your customizations. But if you preserve a file in a child theme, then you maybe preserve a security risk. After an update from the parent theme you always should check the changes and maybe add them to your child theme. This plugin helps you keeping track of these changes in the parent theme.
For full usage of the plugin your parent theme has to define the version of the template file in the header of the PHP file with an additional @version info.
For example: @version 1.0.0
If this is the case you will see a warning if the version of the parent theme file is higher than your child theme file. And you can see the differences between the parent theme file and the child theme file per wp_text_diff()-function like in revisions.
Some posts about this plugin:
- KrautPress (German)
- WP Tavern (English)
- Elmastudio (English)
- Elmastudio (German)
These themes from Elmastudio are already using the @version info in the header:
- Uku
- Uku Light
- Weta
- Pukeko
- Zeitreise
- Werkstatt
- Neubau
- Hawea
Please spread the word and if you are a theme developer, please add this to your themes too! Thanks 🙂