Overiding parent theme functions with a Child them

Question

I am trying to override the Parent theme function.php file with a function i have in my child themes function.php file but i'm getting a couple of errors. Here's what iv'e done so far..

function remove_et_postinfo_meta_actions() {

remove_action('after_setup_theme','et_postinfo_meta',3);
}

add_action('init', 'remove_et_postinfo_meta_actions');


add_action('after_setup_theme', 'cc_et_postinfo_meta', 3);


if ( ! function_exists( 'cc_et_postinfo_meta' ) ){
function cc_et_postinfo_meta( $postinfo, $date_format, $comment_zero, $comment_one, $comment_more          ){
    global $themename;

    $postinfo_meta = '';

    if ( in_array( 'author', $postinfo ) ){
        $postinfo_meta .= ' ' . esc_html__('by',$themename) . ' ' .     et_get_the_author_posts_link();
    }

    if ( in_array( 'date', $postinfo ) )
        $postinfo_meta .= ' ' . esc_html__('on',$themename) . ' ' . get_the_time( $date_format );

    if ( in_array( 'categories', $postinfo ) )
        $postinfo_meta .= ' ' . esc_html__('in',$themename) . ' ' . get_the_category_list(', ');

    if ( in_array( 'comments', $postinfo ) )
        $postinfo_meta .= ' ' . et_get_comments_popup_link( $comment_zero, $comment_one,   $comment_more );

    if ( '' != $postinfo_meta ) $postinfo_meta = __('Posted',$themename) . ' ' . $postinfo_meta;

    echo $postinfo_meta;
 }
}

Answer 1

What are the errors you are getting?

As described in the WordPress codex:

"Unlike style.css, the functions.php of a child theme does not override its counterpart from the parent. Instead, it is loaded in addition to the parent’s functions.php. (Specifically, it is loaded right before the parent’s file.)" (source: http://codex.wordpress.org/Child_Themes)

So, it is not possible to override the functions.php file, but you can add your own functions to the functions.php file in your child theme. Be sure to prefix your own function so it won't conflict with the functions in the parent theme.