FAQ
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Short answers to the questions merchants ask most. Each one links to the page with the details.
Setting up
Why do I see illustrations instead of photos?
They are placeholders. A new theme has no access to your images, so every image setting starts empty and the theme draws an illustration in its place. Open the section in the theme editor and choose your own image. Getting started lists every place to fill and the image size that suits it.
Some text is in English although my store is in another language. Why?
Two different things can be at work:
- Text you typed into the theme editor shows in every language until you translate it, for example with Shopify's Translate & Adapt app.
- A few lines in a new installation are written into the templates as hints: the map on the contact page, the second slide and the promotion tiles of some home pages, and collapsible rows on some product pages. Replace them with your own text.
The theme's own interface (buttons, labels, messages) is translated into twelve languages. See Languages and markets.
Can I change to another preset's look later?
Yes. Each preset is also a theme style, a set of theme settings (fonts, shapes, colors, card style). Choose another style in Theme settings, or change those settings one by one. The pages a preset installs with are ordinary templates that you can rebuild section by section. See Getting started.
Header and menus
How do I get a mega menu?
Nest links in your menu under Content > Menus. A top-level item with nested links opens a panel. When those nested links have links of their own, the panel shows them as columns; if the top-level item links to a page of its own, a "View all" link to it shows under them. To add a promotion to a panel, add a Menu promo block to the Header section and enter the name of the menu item it belongs to in Menu item. See Header and footer.
Can the header sit on top of my first photo?
Yes. In the Header section, turn on Enable transparency over the first section. The header is then transparent when the first section of a page is a Slideshow, an Image banner or a Video hero, and turns solid when the customer scrolls. Add a logo for the transparent header in Theme settings > Logo and favicon if your usual logo doesn't read on a photo.
A long announcement takes several lines on phones.
In the Rotate style a long announcement wraps onto further lines. Shorten the text, or use the Ticker style, which runs the announcements as one moving line, even when there is only one.
Products
My color option shows as text buttons, not as color swatches.
Swatches come from Shopify, not from the theme. A color value shows as a swatch when it has a color or an image attached in your Shopify admin, which is the case for options that are connected to a category metafield such as Color. Values without that data show as text. See Product page.
What decides how quick add behaves?
The product does:
- one variant: the plus button adds it to the cart at once;
- one or two options with up to ten values each: a small panel opens in the card;
- more options or more values, or a product that can only be bought as a subscription: a quick add window opens with the full product form.
A sold-out product shows "Sold out" in place of the plus button. Quick add can be turned off in Theme settings > Product cards; a sold-out product then shows the sold out badge instead.
Why is there no stock message on my product?
The Inventory status block shows a message only when Shopify tracks the product's inventory, Show low inventory message is on in Theme settings > Product, and the quantity is at or below the Low inventory threshold. It always uses the real quantity; the theme has no setting to invent urgency. See Product page.
How do I show a size chart?
Create a page with your chart, add the Size chart block to the product page, and choose the page in the block. The block adds a link ("Size guide" unless you rename it) that opens the page in a dialog. For different charts on different products, use a separate product template for each.
Where do the star ratings come from?
From Shopify's standard product review metafields, which a review app fills in. The Rating block shows nothing until a product has a rating.
Complementary products don't show.
They are chosen in Shopify's Search & Discovery app. Install the app, pick complementary products for a product there, and the block appears on that product's page.
Can customers see a 3D model in their own room?
Yes, when the product has a 3D model. On phones and tablets that support augmented reality, a "View in your space" button appears on the model.
Collections and search
My filters don't appear.
Filters are made in the Search & Discovery app. Install it, choose your filters there, and check that Enable filtering is on in the Product grid section. A collection with only a handful of products may show few filters, because Shopify hides filter values that match nothing.
Why do sizes show as buttons in one filter and as a list in another?
A filter shows as compact buttons when all its values are short (five characters or fewer, like "XS" or "10.5"). One longer value turns the filter into a list with checkboxes.
My promotion tile is missing from the grid.
A tile takes the place you give it among the products of the first page. It is left out when its position is higher than the number of products shown, and in the list view.
Cart
Where is the discount code field?
At checkout. Shopify does not allow themes to add a discount code field to the cart. Discounts that apply automatically are shown on the cart's lines and in its total.
How do I show the free shipping bar?
Turn on Show free shipping goal in Theme settings > Cart and enter the amount from which you ship for free, in your store's main currency. Customers in other currencies see the amount converted. The bar is off in a new installation so that the theme never promises something your store doesn't offer.
What is the difference between the three cart types?
- Drawer: the cart slides in over the page after an add.
- Page: the customer goes to the cart page after an add.
- Popup notification: a small confirmation shows what was added, with links to the cart and to checkout.
See Cart.
Customers must agree to my terms before checkout. Can the theme do that?
Yes. Turn on Ask customers to agree to terms in Theme settings > Cart and choose your terms page. The checkout button then needs the checkbox, and the popup notification sends customers to the cart page to check out. Buttons that would skip the cart are left out while the setting is on: the dynamic checkout button on product pages and the accelerated checkout buttons on the cart page. See Cart.
Design
How do I make one word of a heading stand out?
Set it in italics in the heading's text field. Italic words in headings use the accent font you choose in Theme settings > Typography.
What is a color scheme?
A set of colors that belong together: background, text, accent, buttons and a few more. You define the schemes once in Theme settings > Colors, and every section has a Color scheme setting that picks one. See Theme settings.
Can I turn off the movement when I scroll?
Yes: turn off Reveal sections on scroll in Theme settings > Animations. Customers whose device asks for reduced motion never see it, whatever the setting.
Code and updates
Can I add my own code?
Yes. For a snippet of HTML, Liquid or an app's embed code, add a Custom Liquid section or block; it needs no change to the theme's files. The block is available in every section that takes theme blocks, and in the Header, the Footer, Newsletter, the Product grid and the Cart. Before editing theme files, duplicate the theme and read Developers.
How do theme updates work?
Shopify tells you in Online Store > Themes when a new version is available and adds it to your theme library with your settings carried over. Changes made to the theme's code are not carried over. See Support.
An app doesn't look right in the theme.
Ask the app's developer first; they support their app in every theme. The theme accepts app blocks in the product page, the featured product, the product grid, the cart page, the header, the footer and the content sections, and it sends Shopify's standard events, which apps listen for.