When do you need a child theme for WordPress?

Question

WordPress

Hello!

The question arose: when do you need a child theme for WordPress?

1) If we use a pre-installed theme (for example, twentytwenty) or any other as the basis for creating our own, and after hosting the site, if changes are required, we create a child one, because if the author of the original theme decides to update it, then the new edits will be deleted. And in the child everything will be saved and you can safely edit it.

Or do you need to initially create a child theme immediately after hosting and before any edits, because if the author decides to update the theme, then it turns out that any changes should be deleted?

2) If I create my own theme from scratch, do I need a child theme?

Answer 1

1. The theme is "not yours" and can be updated.
2. The theme is "your" and is used on several sites, individual site settings are moved to a child theme.
In any case, a child theme is useful as it only contains the changes.