A child theme keeps your customizations separate from the Nocturne parent theme. This is recommended when changing design settings or adding custom theme code.

Create a child theme

1. In wp-content/themes, create a folder named nocturne-child.
2. Inside it, create a style.css file with the following header:

/*
Theme Name: Nocturne Child
Template: nocturne
Version: 1.0.0
Text Domain: nocturne-child
*/

3. In Appearance → Themes, activate Nocturne Child. Keep the Nocturne parent theme installed.

The Template value must match the parent theme’s directory name: nocturne.

Override Chassis design settings

Create chassis.json in the child theme folder to override only the values you want to change. For example:

{
  "settings": {
    "palette": {
      "blue": "#a78bfa"
    }
  }
}

This changes the named blue palette color without copying Nocturne’s entire configuration. You can add other settings as needed. See Design settings for more detail.

Keep updates safe

Update Nocturne normally while keeping your customizations in the child theme. For more advanced development, consult Nocturne’s development guide.