Not sure I am following… code needed for add reply??? what does that mean?

a child theme by itself wont affect anything from the parent…  if you alter styles or templates, it can of course…  did you follow the directions here:  https://simple-press.com/documentation/codex/themes/theme-basics/creating-a-child-theme/

so is this brand new, fresh child theme or have you begun the customizations?  are we talking desktop or mobile or tablet?

a child theme, with no actual changes, will look identical to the parent..  if its not, perhaps the child theme is not set up correctly…  if you wanted to paste the contents of your child theme spTheme.txt file, we can make sure its set up right (though if downloaded from here, it is)..

Mr Papa, thanks.  okay, first if you look at this previous topic link below, you will see the solution to my Add Reply button not working was to change some code.  Now, because of that solution, we need to have a child theme for Barebones. 

https://simple-press.com/support-forum/sp5-general-topics/add-reply-button-does-not-work/#p159407

I will communicate with SteveM and find out if he followed your instructions.  I know he used the Barebones Child Theme Framework to create the child theme. It is for desktop.  I know he has added that code change so that the Add Reply button will work.  That was the only customization so far in the child theme.

I wish we could include 2 email addresses in simple press!  Both SteveM and I could be talking with you 🙂  I know how to do a few things but not enough!

CathyW

Understandable why you’ve set up a child theme.. I think the first thing to do is to make sure the child theme framework itself doesn’t cause issues, so try loading a fresh copy of that without any changes.

If that’s fine, then it’s most likely happened when adding the code to the functions file. I think all child theme framework functions files come with the tooltip code already in place, ready to be changed if needed.

Here are a couple of files SteveM sent me during his lunch break. (He did use the instructions for building the child theme).   If these files look okay,  then later tonight he will try loading a fresh copy of the child theme framework.  

thank you!

CathyW

so what is the directory name these are in?  mySiteDefChi?  or still barebones-child?  hopefully, the former…

Mr Papa, I checked with SteveM and his reply,

“the files are in mySiteDefChi which is barebone-child renamed per their instructions.

mySiteDefChi is the folder that the child theme is in….it is also the name of the child theme….as per their instructions”

CathyW

Have you tried clearing all caches? Always a good idea after major changes. Try the forum admin > toolbox > Housekeeping > Run the task to clear the CSS cache. 

If not that simple then I think we really are going to need a link to the page so we can take a look at the underlying CSS being applied.

ah ha!  Thank you Yellow Swordfish.  Clearing out the cache fixed the issue.  The barebones child theme is now working correctly!!

I have a couple of questions since we are changing the font size using Custom CSS from the dropdown menu, with this code: 

#spMainContainer {
font-size: 114%;
}

1. Would this need to be included in the child theme so as not to lose in future updates?  Or is it okay to just leave there?
2. Barebones customizer is now available again after clearing cache!  Should I simply use this instead for font size?  And will this font increase remain with future upgrades? 
3. What is the order of prioritizing?  Does the Customizer override the Custom CSS?  or vice versa?

CathyW (you guys are aweomome!  I’m really impressed with the support 🙂

Actually it really doesn’t matter which method you use and neither will be overwritten by any updates. The CSS option from the forum admin menu helps people using themes that do not have the customiser so is always there for all themes,

For the record though, the option you are currently using would override the customiser as it is the last styling to be added.

Glad you are now seeing what you are supposed to be seeing!

clearing the cache made it work??   Were the changes done after the child theme was already active?  Asking because turning on a theme auto clears the caches…  just want to make sure something larger isnt amiss…

Mr Papa, your question is hard to answer.  We did so many steps and ran into several problems… Here is what we did, in order…

On Sunday 3/13,

1. SteveM created a child theme for Barebones according to all your instructions using the child theme framework.  Child Theme was activated.  
2. No one looked at the website at this point (I was out of town) so we don’t know if there were issues with formatting.
3. Simple Press plugin needed to be updated on my site.  SteveM ran the update and it got locked up.  He eventually closed out the website as the upgrade was stuck and after several attempts was able to log back in, discovering that the Simple press plugin was completely gone! He went to your site and grabbed the main core plugin and reactivated it on my site.
4. I arrived home and checked my simplepress page and found tons of formatting issues. As an experiment, I reactivated the “normal Barebones” theme (non-child theme version) and found the issues disappear!  I left it on normal Barebones and started this topic thread at that time.

On Tuesday 3/15, at noon

1. Per Yellow Swordfish’s instructions, SteveM cleared out all the simple press cache, reactivated the Child Theme version and it worked!  All the formatting issues were gone!  Thank God!  And the Add Reply button continues to work (the reason for the child theme).  I have chosen to use the Barebones Customizer to make the font slightly larger (103%).

So, at this time, everything is wonderful.  LIfe is good…   my SP Forum is working and looks nice. 🙂

CathyW

okay thanks…