How to update your Shopify theme
Every Trailblaze theme purchase comes with lifetime access to all future versions of the theme, as well as Theme releases for new versions provide bug fixes, added features, platform requirements, or other improvements.
On this page:
- What does updating entail?
- Upgrading a modified Shopify theme
- Upgrading an unmodified Shopify theme
- Additional assistance
What does updating entail?
The process changes depending on if you (or an installed app) have modified the original theme's code or not:
- Creating a backup copy of your existing theme.
- If the code of the theme you want to upgrade has been modified (doesn't apply to theme editor changes, those are fine), then you'll need to follow these steps
- If the theme you want to upgrade hasn't been modified, then you can proceed to these steps
Upgrading a modified Shopify theme
If the theme you're wanting to upgrade has been modified, then you'll have to manually carry over the modifications to the new version of the theme (including copy, images, styles, assets and etc.). As well, you'll need to copy over your original theme's settings and configurations.
Steps to manually upgrade:
- Add the latest version of the theme to your store
-
Carry over theme settings.
Open the theme editor for both versions of the theme in separate windows. By placing them side-by-side in separate windows, you can go section-by-section and setting-by-setting to match the configurations. -
Migrate custom code and relevant modifications.
You can use the online tool Diffchecker to find / identify custom code and other file changes between both themes.
Don't forget to carry over your google analytic scripts and other tracking pixels! - Reinstall apps
Depending on the app, this may be as easy as going into the app settings and telling it which theme to install on. If that's not the case, then you'll need to find the files the app added to your theme and carry those over to the new one. You can confirm with the app developer if additional steps are needed in order to get the app to carry over. - Test test test
Once all that's done, run through the new theme and ensure everything looks right and is functioning properly. If everything looks good, then you should be good to go and can publish it whenever you're ready to
Upgrading an unmodified Shopify theme
"When an update for a theme is available, a notification will appear below the theme in your Shopify Admin. Click on the notification to open the details pop-up, and then click Add to theme library to add the updated version to your theme library or View release notes to read about the new release."
- Source: Shopify Upgrade Guide
Your theme customizations will be automatically carried over to the new theme that gets added to your store.
These include:
- Modified theme settings
- Modified page layouts, such as adding, reordering, removing, or hiding sections or blocks
- Modified theme settings
- New templates
- Added, removed, or modified settings of app embeds or app extensions
Once all that's done, run through the new theme and ensure everything looks right and is functioning properly. If everything looks good, then you should be good to go and can publish it whenever you're ready to
Additional assistance
If you have questions or need help getting your theme upgraded, feel free to submit a support request anytime!