One of the key benefits of using Charitable is that it provides many ways in which you can customize.

We manage a growing library of code snippets at https://library.wpcode.com/profile/wpcharitable/ which show different ways that you can tailor Charitable to your needs.

But if you want to add a bit of code to your site, how should you do it? There are several ways to do this.

Option 1: Create a custom plugin

Now, this probably sounds quite hard, but it is easier than you think! As long as you have FTP access to your website, this solution is the most efficient way to add custom code to your site.

Here’s how to create a custom plugin in three steps:

1. Create a folder called my-custom-code.
2. Inside this plugin, create a new file called my-custom-code.php.
3. At the top of this file, paste the following:

/**
 * Plugin Name: My Custom Code
 * Description: A plugin with all my custom code.
 * Version:     1.0.0
 * Author:      Your Name
 * Author URI:  https://yourwebsite.com/
 */

Upload the my-custom-code folder to your wp-content/plugins folder via FTP, then navigate to the Plugins page in your WordPress dashboard and you should see your “My Custom Code” plugin listed there. Activate it.

You now have a custom plugin that you can drop code snippets into directly. The benefit of this approach is that it will work with any theme, and it gives you the maximum amount of control over what you are doing.

Option 2: Use the Code Snippets plugin

If you don’t like the idea of creating your own plugin, the next best approach is to use a plugin called WPCode.

Option 3: Use your child theme’s functions.php file

If you are using a child theme, you can add code snippets directly to its functions.php file. While you could also add this to a regular theme’s functions.php file, the risk with this approach is that you will lose your customizations when you update to a new version of the theme.