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Troubleshooting Common Blocksy Child Theme Menu and Header Issues

32 threads Sep 10, 2025 Theme → Blocksy

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Many WordPress users choose to create a child theme when customizing the Blocksy theme to preserve their changes through updates. However, a frequent point of confusion arises when activating a new child theme: the header and mobile menu often appear broken or revert to default settings. This guide explains why this happens and provides the most common solutions to get your site looking right again.

Why Do Menu and Header Settings Disappear in a Child Theme?

This is the most common issue and is not a bug. WordPress treats parent and child themes as entirely separate entities. The customizer settings for your header logo, menu locations, sizes, and colors are stored in the database and are theme-specific. When you switch from the Blocksy parent theme to a new child theme, WordPress loads a new, blank set of theme options for that child theme.

This is why you might see a default menu appear, your logo revert to a small size, or your mobile menu stop working entirely. The good news is that the Blocksy team has built a feature to easily solve this.

Solution 1: Transfer Your Parent Theme Settings

The most straightforward fix is to use Blocksy's built-in import/export function to copy your settings from the parent theme to the child theme.

  1. Ensure you are using the parent Blocksy theme.
  2. Go to Customizer → Advanced → Import/Export.
  3. Export your current parent theme settings by downloading the generated JSON file.
  4. Now, activate your Blocksy child theme.
  5. Return to Customizer → Advanced → Import/Export in the child theme.
  6. Import the JSON file you just downloaded.
  7. Publish the changes. Your header and menu settings should now be identical to the parent theme.

Solution 2: Use the Pre-Made Child Theme

If you are creating a child theme from scratch, it's easy to miss essential template files that control the header and footer. To avoid this, you can download the official, pre-made Blocksy child theme. This ensures all necessary files are present and properly set up to inherit functionality from the parent theme correctly.

Solution 3: Clear All Caches

If your settings appear correct in the WordPress customizer but not on the live site, caching is a likely culprit. This includes:

  • Browser Cache: Hard refresh your browser (Ctrl + F5 on Windows, Cmd + Shift + R on Mac) or try viewing the site in an incognito/private window.
  • Plugin Cache: Clear any cache from plugins like LiteSpeed Cache, WP Rocket, or W3 Total Cache.
  • Server/CDN Cache: Clear your Cloudflare cache or any other Content Delivery Network you may be using.

Other Common Header and Menu Quirks

  • Mobile Menu Trigger Not Visible: Sometimes the hamburger menu icon color blends into the background. Check its color settings in Customizer → Header → Mobile Header → Menu Trigger Icon.
  • "More" Dropdown on Desktop: Blocksy can create a "More" dropdown menu item on smaller desktop views. This can be disabled with a specific code snippet.
  • Settings Only Apply When Logged In: If your custom logo size or colors only work when you are logged into WordPress, this is almost always a caching issue. Follow the steps in Solution 3.

By understanding that child themes start with a blank slate and using the tools Blocksy provides, you can quickly resolve these common header and menu display issues.

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