Although released under the GPL, DD-WRT is notoriously difficult to build from source. If you want to customize your DD-WRT installation, it is usually easier to extract files from the firmware image, change what you need, and then re-construct the image.
One exception here is the Web GUI. The DD-WRT Web pages (*.asp, *.htm, *.gif, *.css) in each firmware image are protected in order to prevent modification. Being able to customize the Web interface can be advantageous for those wishing to add compatibility with mobile/uncommon browsers, change themes, add links, etc.
And, despite claims to the contrary, that’s exactly what we’ll be doing.
modifying-the-dd-wrt-gui