get_stylesheet_directory() in child theme breaks parent scripts

Question

I tried hard finding another question that may answer my query but failed, so if you point any duplicates that would help.

Here is my situation

I have a parent theme and I am developing a child theme for some functionality that I would like to develop and in the child theme I have called wp_enqueue_script multiple times. The parent theme has its own list of scripts and styles.

The issue is once I have a child theme get_stylesheet_directory points to the child theme and I am trying to find if there is a way to avoid this without modifying the parent theme at all.

Here are two methods I tried

//first method where I tried enqueue
add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'custom_child_theme_styles' );

//ensure that the child theme scripts are called after the old theme 
add_action( 'after_setup_theme', 'custom_child_theme_scripts' );

and this is what the parent theme does

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'theme_scripts_styles' );

And when the parent theme calls get_stylesheet_directory() it points to the child theme folder and hence javascripts from the parent theme dont load at all.

Answer 1

The problem your facing here can be solved by changing the function being used:

• get_stylesheet_directory will give you the directory of the current active theme, aka the location of the active style.css
• get_template_directory will give you the directory of the active theme, aka the parent theme

For most themes the two give the same result, but:

• Always use get_stylesheet_directory when referring to things in a child theme
• Always use get_template_directory when in a parent theme
• Always use get_template_part to load a template, never use the previous 2 function
• Use include and require to load a file that doesn't contain a template such as a class or PHP include. If you need to override these, use hooks and actions to do this via remove_action etc
• Minimise any cross talk between child themes and parent themes. A child theme shouldn't be attempting to include files in a parent theme etc other than through get_template_part