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Overview of Shopify Themes and App Development

Apr 17, 2025

Shopify Themes and App Development

Historical Context

  • Shopify's platform initially offered third-party themes.
  • 2010: Launch of the Shopify Theme Store inviting third-party designers.
  • API Platform and App Store launched 10 months prior, allowing online merchants to develop and sell applications.

Themes vs. Apps

  • Themes: Different versions of online storefronts, customizable with Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
  • Apps: Custom interfaces extending Shopify admin, utilizing Shopify's admin API to affect backend and frontend.

Theme App Extensions

  • Before Extensions: Apps used the asset API, needing merchants to copy HTML code into themes.
  • Theme App Extensions Introduced: Solves issue of embedding app code within themes, storing code within the app itself.
    • App Blocks: Code integrated as blocks in the theme editor.
    • App Embed Blocks: Allows for overlay or floating elements, injects into the theme’s head or body.

Creating a Shopify App with Theme App Extension

Requirements

  • Development store and Shopify partner's account.
  • Shopify CLI, Node 16+, npm/yarn/pnpm.

Steps

  1. Initialize App: Use npm init @shopify/app@latest.

  2. App Project Setup

    • Choose Node for JavaScript development.
    • Create App and Theme App Extension.
  3. Code Structure

    • Extensions folder mimics theme structure with assets, blocks, locales, snippets.
    • Use of app block in schema for integration.

Publishing App

  • Use Shopify Partners account to create and publish app versions.
  • Deploy extensions and manage through Shopify Partner's account.

App Block Customization

  • App blocks customizable via Shopify customizer.
  • Meta fields can be dynamically linked to display in theme.

App Embed Blocks

  • Used for floating elements or additional JavaScript/CSS.
  • Managed via theme settings under app embeds.

Considerations for Theme Developers

  • Theme developers have limited control over app code.
  • App developers must ensure apps are customizable and hosted properly.
  • App extensions offer a cleaner, more manageable integration with themes.

Limitations

  • Hosted on developer servers; app interface breaks without server.
  • Customization options limited to what app developers provide.

Conclusion

  • Understanding app extensions is crucial for both app and theme developers.
  • They provide a structured way to manage and integrate apps within Shopify themes.