kill php

Oh, and Thank you for any help. ??

Your site will not work if you put the code to stop php execution in the root of your wordpress website. It is recommended to stop php execution in wp-content/uploads directory in wordpress because this directory only contains media files and not the php files.

Thank you, Maninder. What about the other folders (content, includes and content/uploads) the book said to put it in.
Also, can I do this upfront while still making my website? Will it inhibit functioning? (referring to my original post.)

You’re welcome!

I recommend you to install plugins iTheme Security, Wordfence and UpdraftPlus Backups. These are the top wordpress security plugins. After installing and activating iTheme security plugin, go to Security > Security Check and click on Secure Site. This plugin will do most of the tasks to prevent from hack. But you can check its settings if you want some more protection. About wordfence, this includes firewall and this will send you alerts if anything malicious detected on your site. But you’ll need to configure its settings also.
To configure its settings go to Wordfence tab and enter your email address in the box which will popup and select that you want to receive alerts and save. Then open Wordfence > All Options and then in the search type theme and click on “Search themes files for…”. Then check both the options (themes, plugins) and click on save changes. After this, click on “Configure Firewall” option at the top and follow next steps. UpdraftPlus backups plugin will help you to take backups of your site and you can restore it anytime through admin dashboard.

You can find lots and lots of WP security tips in books and websites. The credibility varies widely. Some are good, some are bad, some were good but are now outdated. IMHO stick to the Hardening WordPress Codex.

Things to make sure of …

1. Non-obvious admin user name (e.g. not ‘admin’)
2. Strong passwords for your admin account, cPanel, hosting account, registrar – any account associated with administering your site.
3. Keep WP, plugins, and themes up to date.
4. Always have an up to date backup, stored off your site. UpDraft Plus as Maninder recommended, is one of several good choices.

… And you will be fine. Build your site with your mind at ease. If you want to go further, installing one of the popular security plugins and/or using the tips in the Hardening WordPress Codex, go for it. But implementing every tip you find in a random book or website could cause problems.

Thank you, both, Maninder and aCstudent! I appreciate your assistance, very much.

Ok can someone please walk me through this:

1. When I create child theme and go into it to customize it pulls from parent theme for functionality and appearance. I make my changes and when I preview within the customization (using provided link) it opens and everything is exactly how I want it. However, when I page preview from WordPress dashboard… nothing that I have done shows.

question: why is my child theme not overriding my parent theme’s styles and functions?

example of the functions.php:
<?php
add_action( ‘wp_enqueue_scripts’, ‘donovan_child_enqueue_styles’ );
function donovan_child_enqueue_styles() {

$parent_style = ‘donovan-style’; // This is ‘donovan-style’ for the Donovan theme.

wp_enqueue_style( $parent_style, get_template_directory_uri() . ‘/style.css’ );
wp_enqueue_style( ‘donovan-child-style’ ,
get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . ‘/style.css’,
array( $parent_style ),
wp_get_theme()->get(‘1.0’)
);
}
?>

2. when I change my menu in the child theme customize screen why is that not being loaded?

Could someone please walk me through the child theme process setup and explain what I am doing wrong? I have followed every step of the codex to do this with both the style.css and functions.php.

What is the point of using the child theme customize if it doesn’t load any of the saved portions?? Where do those saved changes go?? How do I get them to override the parent??

Please dumb it down for me. I am very new at this. Please do not send screenshots of my code without explanation of where to find that code and how to fix it. I appreciate your patience.

I have deleted the original child theme and did a dummy twentyseventeen child just for example as it is doing same thing.

What EXACTLY do I need to do to set up child theme so that I can customize in customize link and have it look like I want to override the parent theme??