Most WordPress themes have hundreds of files and it’s not always apparent what file you need to edit to make the desired modification. Add-ons like Firebug let you see the HTML code, but they don’t show you the name of the file where that code is located. To find that out you’ll need PRGrep, software that allows you to search inside the files. If you never used Firebug before, we recommend you check out our tutorial on using Firebug. You can download PRGrep free of charge at http://www.prgrep.com/
After installing the software make sure you check “include sub-directories” under Parameters. All Templatic themes have multiple folders and sub-folders, you want to be able to search all of them. All you need to do now is enter the desired search item under “Containing:” and a path to your theme under “Directory:” You can select the folder using the button on the right or you can just copy-paste the path.
Not the pretties piece of software, but it works!
For example, let’s say we want to see what file needs to be changed in order to make modifications to the Submit Property form (RealEstate theme); this is a common support question.
The first step is inspecting the form itself using Firebug. When we click on the form we see a div class=”form_row clearfix” appearing on several occasions. Let’s copy that text to PRGrep.
PRGrep now displays several files with the same div class, but one file really stands out – property_frm_with_reg.php located in \RealEstate\library\includes\ folder. That’s our file.
It shows you the exact path to the file as well as the location of the keyword
Now that we know which file to edit we can make the desired modifications!
If you have any questions be free to ask them in the comments below
