How to save Adam theme from future updates?

Hi @mad!
I've just started my journey with web development so please forgive me for being noisy on your forum these days.
I'd like to apply some custom styling to Adam theme which I can't implement with editing on site.
I have no idea how to use Composer and Gulp so I'd like to make changes "the old way" by hands and editor.
Help me please with my three noob questions:

1) After theme folder cloning should I use default *.less files for that purpose or just change values in adam.min.css?
2) So because of no Gulp and no Composer should I delete gulpfile.js, composer.json, package-lock.json and package.json?
3) After all changes how to make this cloned theme safe from future updates of default packages?

Can you please guide me?

Gizmo Hi, duplicating the folder is already a good first step. The issue is that the theme has some dependencies that have to be installed with Composer. Therefore, moving the directory to another installation won’t work.

As long as you only change CSS, the best is to keep your custom styles in a separate .css file and link it in the Items Header field. That way you also don’t have to duplicate the theme and can use the original one.

mad Thanks for answer!
But I think I am lost…
So there is no way to have cloned Adam theme to be detached from Automad’s core? Am I correct?
And if I have to change not only css styling for Adam but also some header and post templates too I can’t make it because it will be overwritten?
And the only way is to build my own theme trying to recreate your already gorgeous themes?

Gizmo The themes are not automatically updated. And when you duplicate the directory you should be safe and nothing will be lost on updates. However, in order to use third party plugins such ad the meta tags extensions, they have to be installed correctly using the dashboard or Composer. The theme itself doesn’t need Composer and you can just modify it as much as you want without issues.
So enjoy! 🙂