Shopify theme installation

Why the demo looks better than your store

Theme demos use carefully chosen photography, short product names, ideal numbers of products per collection and copy written to fit each section. When the theme is installed on your store, it shows your products, with your images and descriptions, in sections that may still contain demo text. Until each section is configured with your content, the store will not resemble the demo.

Recognising this before installation helps set realistic expectations and plan the content work that makes the difference.

What a complete installation involves

1. 01

   Choose and check

   Preview the theme with your own products before buying, and confirm it has the features you need.

   Output: Chosen theme

2. 02

   Add as a draft

   The theme is added to the theme library without replacing the live theme.

   Output: Draft theme

3. 03

   Configure

   Brand settings, homepage sections, templates, menus and footer set up with your content.

   Output: Configured draft

4. 04

   Apps and checks

   App blocks added, forms and tracking checked, test order placed.

   Output: Tested draft

5. 05

   Publish

   Published at a quiet time; previous theme kept in drafts.

   Output: Live theme

Before buying a paid theme

Settings to configure

Theme library and drafts

Shopify stores keep a theme library. According to Shopify's documentation, stores on the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans can add up to 20 themes, and only one theme can be published at a time. Installing as a draft means the new theme can be configured and previewed while customers continue to use the current one. When the new theme is published, the old one moves to drafts, so you can switch back if needed.

Things left behind by the old theme

• App code in old theme files

  Apps that added code to the previous theme need re-adding through app blocks or embeds.

• Custom sections

  Sections built for the old theme do not move automatically and may need rebuilding.

• Tracking scripts

  Any tracking added directly to old theme code must be set up again.

Plan the content work

Most of the effort in an installation is content: banners sized for the new theme, homepage copy for each section, collection images and product images in consistent crops. Gathering these before configuration starts keeps the installation moving. Where images are missing, the theme can be configured with placeholders that are clearly marked and replaced before publishing.

Test before publishing

Before the new theme goes live, walk through the store as a customer would on a phone and a desktop: homepage to collection, collection to product, add to cart, checkout. Check that every app appears where expected, that forms such as newsletter sign-ups and contact forms deliver, and that analytics records a visit. A test order, refunded afterwards, confirms that the buying path works end to end.