1/16/2025

Troubleshooting Common Shopify Theme Customization Errors

Customizing a Shopify theme to align with your brand can be both EXCITING & CHALLENGING. It’s about creating a uniquely tailored online store that meets your business needs while ensuring a delightful shopping experience for your customers. However, as many Shopify merchants have discovered, it can also come with a slew of errors. Whether it's CSS issues or liquid errors, it’s vital to know how to troubleshoot these common problems effectively.

Understanding the Basics of Shopify Theme Customization

Before diving into troubleshooting, let’s break down the core components involved in theme customization:

Liquid: This is Shopify's Templating Language that allows you to load dynamic content.
HTML & CSS: These are core web development languages you may need to tweak to adjust the look and feel of your online store.
JavaScript: This enables interactive features in your store.

Note: Always make BACKUP copies of your themes before making edits! Refer to Shopify's documentation on managing themes on how to duplicate your theme.

Identifying Common Errors in Shopify Themes

1. Liquid Errors

One of the most common errors occurs when there are issues in the Liquid code. You might see error messages like this:

Liquid error: Could not find asset snippets/globo.preorder.template.liquid

This usually happens due to:

Deleting a file that the Liquid code is trying to reference.
Mistakes in the code where the name of the Liquid file is incorrectly referenced.

Solutions:

Double-check for any recent changes you made to your theme files and revert if necessary. You can roll back to a previous version of your theme by following these steps.

2. CSS Not Applying

Sometimes, changes you make to the CSS are just not reflected in the store. You might run into scenarios where even after saving your changes, your site STILL looks the same.

Reason:

CSS could be overridden by specific elements or styles defined later in the file.

Tip: Utilize the browser's developer tools to inspect elements and see which styles are being applied. If another style is taking precedence, you may need to adjust your selectors or add

!important

to force changes.

3. JavaScript Console Errors

You may encounter JavaScript errors, especially with compatibility between different scripts. A typical error looks like:

ReferenceError: Can't find variable: jQuery

This can stop certain elements from functioning correctly, like sliders or modals.

How To Fix:

Ensure that jQuery is loaded before trying to execute any scripts that depend on it. To do this, add the following script in your theme’s
1theme.liquid
file:
1 2html <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script>
Check the order of your script tags to ensure dependencies are loaded in the correct order.

4. Responsiveness Issues

A good theme should function well on both desktop & mobile. However, adapting CSS for mobile can sometimes be a challenge. You might find that your images are squished, or text appears cut-off, particularly if you’ve added custom CSS.

Quick Fixes:

Check your media queries to ensure they’re properly set to accommodate different screen sizes.
- Example:
  1 2 3 4 5 6css @media only screen and (max-width: 600px) { .outer-container { padding: 10px; } }
Run your store through a responsive design checker to see how it appears across different devices.

5. Missing Images or Media

You might find that images intended for product pages or banners are not displaying properly, leading to a frustrating user experience.

Possible reasons:

Image URLs may be incorrect or missing.
The images may not have been uploaded correctly.

Solutions:

Ensure that all image paths in your code point to the correct assets. Use the Shopify file store to upload images and reference them correctly in the code.
You can also check the asset settings under Settings > Files to verify that images are properly uploaded.

6. Theme Compatibility Issues

Sometimes third-party apps you install can conflict with your theme, resulting in broken functionalities. You might notice buttons or sections failing to work correctly.

How to Troubleshoot:

Disable any recently added apps to see if the issue resolves. If it does, re-enable each app one at a time to identify the culprit.
Confirm that you're using app versions that are compatible with your Shopify theme version. Always refer to the app's support for any known issues.

7. Troubleshooting with Theme Check

Shopify offers a Theme Check tool that inspects your code for common problems to help you avoid errors from the get-go. Use this feature in the theme code editor to help catch issues before they go live. You can find more about how to utilize the Theme Check.

Best Practices for Theme Customization

To reduce the likelihood of facing errors during customization:

Back Up Regularly: Always duplicate your theme before making changes.
Test on a Staging Site: If possible, work on a development store to avoid issues on your live site.
Use Version Control: Track changes in your code using git or another version control system to revert back if needed easily.
Familiarize Yourself: Brush up on HTML, CSS, and Liquid. Knowing these languages intimately can save you headaches in the future.

Integrating with Arsturn

As you dive into Shopify theme troubleshooting, consider how you can enhance your customer engagement strategy with tools like Arsturn. Arsturn allows you to instantly create AI chatbots for your website, helping to handle common inquiries & support requests, thus alleviating some of the pressure from your store management!

Join thousands of brands and let Arsturn's powerful customization improve your customer engagement before errors even arise!

Conclusion

Navigating errors in Shopify theme customization may seem daunting, but with these tools and strategies at your disposal, you can troubleshoot them like a pro. Remember to back up your work, utilize the communities surrounding Shopify, and explore integrations available through Arsturn. By doing so, you can streamline your store’s operations while providing an engaging user experience.

Happy customizing!