I noticed on the Genesis boards in various places (Facebook & StudioPress.com/forums) that many people want to adjust their themes but they don’t have the right tools.
If you are adjusting your Genesis Child theme, you are doing developer work. To not cause issue after issue, use the correct tools. Before attempting anything with php, NEVER use the Appearance > Editor. Use a code editor and FTP or SSH. I use BBEdit, but I’m switching to PhpStorm.
For an excellent, free code editor, try Brackets). You can find FTP software on Google. I use Fetch for Mac.
Why use a code editor and FTP?
If you miss one ;, it will mess your site up and you will need to use FTP to fix the issue. It happens a lot. In CSS, missing a ; will prevent all CSS after that in that property from not working. Use a real code editor so you can see line numbers and indent your code, and most of all, see the error before you send it to your live site.
After you have ftp and a code editor, open your wp-config.php file or your theme’s functions.php and add this line to disable the editor.
define( 'DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true );
All the best,
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Great article and very wise. This is a method I use and I use Sublime for PHP right now on Mac.
Thank you! I like Sublime too (bought it last year). I am just so used to what I use it’s hard to switch. That Brackets has some nice PHP lint tools and a WordPress one too, so I may go that way.