shopify section patterns

Shopify Section Patterns

Section Anatomy

A complete Shopify section consists of:

Liquid markup - HTML structure with dynamic content
Inline CSS - {% stylesheet %} tag (optional)
Inline JavaScript - {% javascript %} tag (optional)
Schema - {% schema %} JSON configuration

Complete Section Template

{%- comment -%} Section: [Name] Description: [Brief description] Usage: Add via Theme Editor {%- endcomment -%}

{%- liquid assign heading = section.settings.heading | default: 'Default Heading' assign bg_color = section.settings.bg_color assign text_color = section.settings.text_color -%}

<section id="section-{{ section.id }}" class="my-section" data-section-id="{{ section.id }}"

<div class="container"> {%- if heading != blank -%} <h2>{{ heading | escape }}</h2> {%- endif -%}

{%- comment -%} Section content {%- endcomment -%}

</div> </section>

{% stylesheet %} #section-{{ section.id }} { padding: {{ section.settings.padding_top }}px 0 {{ section.settings.padding_bottom }}px; background-color: {{ bg_color }}; color: {{ text_color }}; }

.container { max-width: 1200px; margin: 0 auto; padding: 0 20px; }

@media (min-width: 768px) { /* Tablet styles */ }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { /* Desktop styles */ } {% endstylesheet %}

{% javascript %} (function() { 'use strict';

function initSection(sectionId) {
  const section = document.querySelector('[data-section-id="' + sectionId + '"]');
  if (!section) return;

  // Your JavaScript here
}

// Initialize on page load
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  initSection('{{ section.id }}');
});

// Re-initialize when section reloads in theme editor
document.addEventListener('shopify:section:load', function(event) {
  if (event.detail.sectionId === '{{ section.id }}') {
    initSection('{{ section.id }}');
  }
});

})(); {% endjavascript %}

{% schema %} { "name": "Section Name", "tag": "section", "class": "section-wrapper", "settings": [ { "type": "text", "id": "heading", "label": "Heading", "default": "Default Heading" }, { "type": "color", "id": "bg_color", "label": "Background Color", "default": "#ffffff" }, { "type": "color", "id": "text_color", "label": "Text Color", "default": "#000000" }, { "type": "range", "id": "padding_top", "label": "Top Spacing", "min": 0, "max": 100, "step": 4, "unit": "px", "default": 40 }, { "type": "range", "id": "padding_bottom", "label": "Bottom Spacing", "min": 0, "max": 100, "step": 4, "unit": "px", "default": 40 } ], "presets": [ { "name": "Section Name" } ] } {% endschema %}

When to Use Inline CSS/JS

Use Inline {% stylesheet %} When:

CSS needs Liquid variables: {{ section.settings.color }}
Dynamic styles based on merchant settings
Section-specific styles that don't need external file

Use Inline {% javascript %} When:

JS needs Liquid settings: {{ section.settings.enable_feature }}
Section-specific functionality
Need access to {{ section.id }} or other Liquid values

Skip Inline Tags When:

Styles/scripts are static and reusable
Better to use theme.css or theme.js
No Liquid variables needed

Common Section Patterns

Product Grid Section

{%- liquid assign collection = section.settings.collection assign products_count = section.settings.products_count assign columns = section.settings.columns_desktop -%}

<div class="product-grid"> {%- for product in collection.products limit: products_count -%} <div class="product-item"> <a href="{{ product.url }}"> {%- if product.featured_image -%} <img src="{{ product.featured_image | image_url: width: 400 }}" alt="{{ product.featured_image.alt | escape }}" loading="lazy" > {%- endif -%}

    &#x3C;h3>{{ product.title | escape }}&#x3C;/h3>
    &#x3C;p>{{ product.price | money }}&#x3C;/p>
  &#x3C;/a>
&#x3C;/div>

{%- endfor -%} </div>

{% stylesheet %} .product-grid { display: grid; gap: 1.5rem; grid-template-columns: 1fr; }

@media (min-width: 768px) { .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat({{ columns }}, 1fr); } } {% endstylesheet %}

Hero Banner Section

{%- liquid assign image = section.settings.image assign heading = section.settings.heading assign text = section.settings.text assign button_label = section.settings.button_label assign button_link = section.settings.button_link -%}

<div class="hero-banner"> {%- if image -%} <div class="hero-banner__image"> <img src="{{ image | image_url: width: 1600 }}" alt="{{ image.alt | escape }}" > </div> {%- endif -%}

<div class="hero-banner__content"> {%- if heading != blank -%} <h1>{{ heading | escape }}</h1> {%- endif -%}

{%- if text != blank -%}
  &#x3C;p>{{ text }}&#x3C;/p>
{%- endif -%}

{%- if button_label != blank and button_link != blank -%}
  &#x3C;a href="{{ button_link }}" class="button">
    {{ button_label | escape }}
  &#x3C;/a>
{%- endif -%}

</div> </div>

{% stylesheet %} .hero-banner { position: relative; min-height: 500px; display: flex; align-items: center; justify-content: center; text-align: center; }

.hero-banner__image { position: absolute; inset: 0; z-index: -1; }

.hero-banner__image img { width: 100%; height: 100%; object-fit: cover; }

.hero-banner__content { padding: 2rem; background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9); border-radius: 8px; }

.button { display: inline-block; padding: 1rem 2rem; background: #000; color: #fff; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 4px; margin-top: 1rem; } {% endstylesheet %}

Testimonials Section with Blocks

<div class="testimonials"> {%- for block in section.blocks -%} <div class="testimonial" {{ block.shopify_attributes }}> {%- if block.settings.quote != blank -%} <blockquote> {{ block.settings.quote }} </blockquote> {%- endif -%}

  {%- if block.settings.author != blank -%}
    &#x3C;cite>{{ block.settings.author | escape }}&#x3C;/cite>
  {%- endif -%}
&#x3C;/div>

{%- endfor -%} </div>

{% schema %} { "name": "Testimonials", "blocks": [ { "type": "testimonial", "name": "Testimonial", "settings": [ { "type": "textarea", "id": "quote", "label": "Quote" }, { "type": "text", "id": "author", "label": "Author" } ] } ], "presets": [ { "name": "Testimonials", "blocks": [ { "type": "testimonial" } ] } ] } {% endschema %}

Shopify Section Events

Handle theme editor events:

{% javascript %} (function() { 'use strict';

function initSection(sectionId) {
  const section = document.querySelector('[data-section-id="' + sectionId + '"]');
  if (!section) return;

  console.log('Section initialized:', sectionId);
}

function cleanupSection(sectionId) {
  // Clean up event listeners, timers, etc.
  console.log('Section cleaned up:', sectionId);
}

// Load event - section added or page loaded
document.addEventListener('shopify:section:load', function(event) {
  initSection(event.detail.sectionId);
});

// Unload event - section removed
document.addEventListener('shopify:section:unload', function(event) {
  cleanupSection(event.detail.sectionId);
});

// Select event - section selected in theme editor
document.addEventListener('shopify:section:select', function(event) {
  console.log('Section selected:', event.detail.sectionId);
});

// Deselect event - section deselected in theme editor
document.addEventListener('shopify:section:deselect', function(event) {
  console.log('Section deselected:', event.detail.sectionId);
});

// Block select event - block selected in theme editor
document.addEventListener('shopify:block:select', function(event) {
  console.log('Block selected:', event.detail.blockId);
});

// Block deselect event - block deselected in theme editor
document.addEventListener('shopify:block:deselect', function(event) {
  console.log('Block deselected:', event.detail.blockId);
});

// Initialize on page load
document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
  initSection('{{ section.id }}');
});

})(); {% endjavascript %}

Best Practices

Use Section ID for Unique Styling

{% stylesheet %} #section-{{ section.id }} { /* Section-specific styles using Liquid variables */ background: {{ section.settings.bg_color }}; }

.my-section { /* General styles without Liquid variables */ padding: 2rem 0; } {% endstylesheet %}

Provide Sensible Defaults

{%- liquid assign heading = section.settings.heading | default: 'Default Heading' assign columns = section.settings.columns | default: 3 assign show_prices = section.settings.show_prices | default: true -%}

Handle Empty States

{%- if collection.products.size > 0 -%}  {%- else -%} <p>No products available in this collection.</p> {%- endif -%}

Mobile-First Responsive

/* Mobile first - base styles */ .grid { grid-template-columns: 1fr; }

/* Tablet and up */ @media (min-width: 768px) { .grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); } }

/* Desktop and up */ @media (min-width: 1024px) { .grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr); } }

Use data- Attributes for JavaScript

<div class="slider" data-autoplay="{{ section.settings.autoplay }}" data-speed="{{ section.settings.speed }}"

</div>

{% javascript %} const slider = document.querySelector('.slider'); const autoplay = slider.dataset.autoplay === 'true'; const speed = parseInt(slider.dataset.speed, 10); {% endjavascript %}

Common Patterns

Conditional Classes

Dynamic Grid Columns

{% stylesheet %} .product-grid { display: grid; gap: 1.5rem; grid-template-columns: repeat({{ section.settings.columns_mobile }}, 1fr); }

@media (min-width: 1024px) { .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat({{ section.settings.columns_desktop }}, 1fr); } } {% endstylesheet %}

Loading States

{% javascript %} function addToCart(button) { button.classList.add('loading'); button.disabled = true;

// Add to cart logic...

button.classList.remove('loading');
button.disabled = false;

} {% endjavascript %}

Create sections that are flexible, performant, and easy for merchants to customize through the theme editor.

shopify section patterns

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