Merchant field guide
Make the theme unmistakably yours.
Start with a preset, not a blank page. Marque, Sodium and Museum are complete starting systems. Replace the content first; change the system only when the brand needs it.
Start here
- Choose the closest preset listing. Marque is quiet luxury, Sodium is release-led streetwear, and Museum is restrained editorial. Installing from that Theme Store listing applies its complete templates; Theme settings → Theme style (at the bottom of the panel) changes global styling only.
- Add your identity. Upload the logo or set the text wordmark in the Header section; a blank wordmark uses the store name. Set the favicon and social links under Theme settings.
- Connect navigation. Assign the main and footer menus before editing promotional blocks.
- Build the catalog. Add product photography, Color and Size options, collections and product metafields.
- Replace demo content. Work down the home page in order. Uploaded merchant imagery always takes priority over demo media.
- Test the complete journey. Check search, collection filters, variant changes, cart and checkout on mobile before publishing.
Brand system
Typography and color
Theme settings control the global type pairing, page width, spacing, button geometry, card treatment and motion character. Adjust these global controls before compensating inside individual sections.
| Preset | Typography | Default character |
|---|---|---|
| Marque | Cormorant Garamond + Jost | Warm paper, hairline rules, caption plates |
| Sodium | Anton + Archivo | Condensed type, square campaigns, signal orange |
| Museum | Playfair Display + Jost | Cool gallery space, tall product imagery |
Motion
Motion level controls intensity. Motion personality controls character. Keep Off as a deliberate minimal mode; visitors who request reduced motion always receive the reduced experience.
Carrying the brand into checkout
Checkout is Shopify's, not the theme's, so a preset does not style it. Match it by hand once, in Settings → Checkout → Customize: upload the same logo, then set the accent, background and body colours and the heading and body fonts to the values your preset uses. Marque is Cormorant Garamond over Jost on warm off-white with a taupe accent; Sodium is Anton over Archivo with signal orange; Museum is Playfair Display over Jost on a cool gallery ground. Take the exact colour values from Theme settings → Colors so the two never drift apart.
Products
Variants and visual swatches
Use Color or Colour and Size as consistent option names. Swatches resolve in this order: Shopify option image or color, custom.swatch_image, variant image, CSS color, then the built-in named-color fallback.
Variant-specific media
Add a bracketed color token to media alt text, for example [Ivory] front or [Bordeaux] detail. Untagged media remain shared. Filtering activates only when the product has a Color/Colour option and media for at least two color tokens.
Bulk catalog imports
When you import a product CSV with Overwrite products with matching handles enabled, Shopify's import preview can show existing descriptions, product types, vendors and prices being blanked — any column absent from your file is treated as an empty value. Read the preview before confirming, and cancel the import rather than accept a preview that clears data you still need.
Collection filters
Marque renders whatever storefront filters your store publishes, but it cannot create them. Colour and Size filters require Shopify's free Search & Discovery app: install it, open Filters, add Color and Size as product-option filters, then save. The collection filter bar appears on the storefront within a few minutes. Without the app a collection shows sorting only, however many option values the catalog has — the theme is behaving correctly.
Size charts
Size-guide priority is custom.hide_size_chart (Boolean) → custom.size_chart_page (Page reference) → custom.size_chart (Rich text, Multi-line text, or JSON) → the safe category default. Rich text is the easiest product-specific route. JSON enables the centimetre/inch converter and must use {"unit":"cm","sizes":["S","M"],"rows":[{"label":"Bust","values":[86,91]}]}. Shopify shows a “Developer support needed” warning when you pick the JSON type — ignore it, Marque reads this metafield natively and no custom code is required. The theme editor warns on an unsupported type or malformed JSON while shoppers continue to receive the fallback.
Metafield reference
Marque reads thirteen custom.* metafields. None of them ship with the theme — a Shopify theme package cannot create metafield definitions, so you create the ones you want in Settings → Custom data before entering values. Every key is optional: an absent metafield hides its row, never breaks a page.
Creation order. Create the size-guide keys first (they change what shoppers see on every product), then the Atelier Ledger keys, then the presentation keys. Twelve are Product metafields created under Settings → Custom data → Products; custom.swatch_image is the only Variant metafield, created under Settings → Custom data → Variants.
| Key | Owner | Shopify type | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
custom.hide_size_chart | Product | True or false | When true, suppresses the size-guide link and dialog entirely |
custom.size_chart_page | Product | Page reference | Renders a store page inside the size-guide dialog — the easiest per-product route |
custom.size_chart | Product | Rich text, Multi-line text, or JSON | Product-specific size guide. JSON also enables the centimetre/inch converter |
custom.run | Product | Single line text | Production entry or run number |
custom.cloth | Product | Single line text | Fabric and provenance; also shown on product cards |
custom.maker | Product | Single line text | Maker or workshop |
custom.run_size | Product | Integer | Total pieces in the run |
custom.remaining | Product | Integer | Remaining pieces, using real inventory facts only |
custom.alterations | Product | Single line text | Alteration or fitting note on the product ledger sheet |
custom.fit_note | Product | Multi-line text | Concise product-specific fit advice |
custom.badge | Product | Single line text | Merchant-authored product badge, for example Bestseller |
custom.reviews | Product | JSON | A small, manually governed review set — see Campaigns |
custom.swatch_image | Variant | File (image) | Swatch artwork when Shopify's native option swatch is not used |
custom.size_chart and custom.reviews natively, with no code changes. Continue past the warning.Campaigns
Atelier Bulletin
Add up to six messages in the header. Each message can have a link, start and end time, countdown, free-shipping synchronization and dismiss behavior. Use ISO dates with a timezone.
Complete the fitting
Choose a styled image and two to four products. Customers select an exact available variant for each row, then add the complete look in one action. The displayed total updates from live product data.
Reviews and back-in-stock
Rating displays read Shopify's standard review metafields and accept review-app blocks. For a small manually governed set, create custom.reviews as JSON containing objects with author, rating (1–5), title, body, date (YYYY-MM-DD) and verified (Boolean). Use an app for collection, moderation and customer emails. Back-in-stock records demand through Shopify's native contact form; automated inventory notifications require Shopify Flow or a dedicated app.
Section field notes
| Section | Best use |
|---|---|
| Editorial hero | One clear campaign thesis; image or poster-first ambient video |
| Campaign categories | Three to four primary shopping routes |
| Atelier Ledger | Material, maker and limited-run storytelling |
| Drop counter | A real release date with an honest post-drop state |
| Lookbook | Editorial image with optional shoppable hotspots |
| Moving ledger | Short text, image or product records; keep the rail concise |
| Image comparison | Material, process or before/after detail with aligned source images |
| Testimonials | Verified client or press quotations |
| FAQ | Delivery, returns, care, fit and service questions |
Keep it fast
- Upload correctly cropped images rather than relying on oversized originals.
- Keep the first home-page section focused: one hero image or one short muted film.
- Avoid duplicating product rails above the fold.
- Remove apps that inject storefront scripts when their function is no longer used.
- Test the published theme rather than judging performance from Shopify's preview editor.
- Keep all interactive labels, alt text and focus states intact when customizing Liquid.
Troubleshooting
A section shows no image
Choose an uploaded image in the section. Demo imagery is not the merchant's content and should be replaced before launch.
Swatches display as plain labels
Confirm the option is named Color or Colour, then add Shopify option colors/images, a swatch metafield or variant images.
Variant media does not filter
Use matching bracket tokens in media alt text and make sure at least two color groups exist. Untagged media intentionally remain shared.
I switched Theme style, but the home page did not become Sodium or Museum
Theme style changes global colours, typography, spacing, buttons, cards and motion while preserving your existing content. Add a fresh copy from the Sodium or Museum Theme Store preset listing to receive that preset's complete templates and campaign structure.
My custom size chart shows the category fallback
Confirm custom.size_chart is Rich text, Multi-line text or correctly shaped JSON. For a page, use the separate Page reference key custom.size_chart_page. Open the size guide in the theme editor to see an actionable warning for malformed data.
Complementary products are empty
In Shopify's free Search & Discovery app, open each product and add Complementary products, then set Product recommendations → Recommendation type to Complementary. Related products can populate automatically; complementary products need merchant selection.
The back-in-stock form does not send customer alerts
The theme records the request. Configure Shopify Flow or an inventory-notification app to send automated restock messages.
The theme looks slower in preview
Shopify's preview bar adds scripts and network work. Measure an uploaded published or production-equivalent theme in a fresh browser profile.
Support boundary
Theme support covers Marque defects, clarification of built-in settings and reasonable help reproducing a theme issue. Critical bugs are triaged immediately.
Support does not include custom storefront development, third-party app configuration, catalog entry, photography production or changes to Shopify platform behavior. Those can be scoped separately.
Contact route: the public support route and monitored Edition Bureau mailbox will be activated together before the Theme Store listing opens. Until that delivery-and-reply test passes, use this guide as the canonical setup and troubleshooting reference.