<p>Another option you have when creating sites based on your framework is to use plugins in conjunction with your child themes. A plugin won't replace a child theme completely, but it can be useful in the following circumstances:</p><ul><li><p>The functionality you want to add isn't theme-dependent (i.e. you want to keep it if the site ever changes theme in future). This might include registering custom post types or taxonomies, for example.</p></li><li><p>You want to use this functionality on a number of the sites you create, but not enough for it to go into a starter child theme or the framework itself.</p></li></ul>