Understanding the Scope of Manually Upgrading OS 3.0 Themes – SHOPLINE Help Center

SHOPLINE regularly updates its official themes and releases new versions. If your store uses a SHOPLINE official theme with modified code or a third-party theme, you need to upgrade it manually to get the latest features. A manual upgrade uses the content of the new theme version, so the files you added and some of your changes will not be kept. For example, if you added a custom style file to your theme code, you will need to add it again after the upgrade.

This article explains which themes need a manual upgrade, how to upgrade, and what is kept or removed after the upgrade.

OS 3.0 Themes That Require Manual Upgrades

When a new version is released, you need to manually upgrade the following two types of OS 3.0 themes:

SHOPLINE official themes with modified code: You have modified the code of a SHOPLINE official theme.
Third-party themes: Themes provided by third-party developers.

Notes:

SHOPLINE official themes without code changes are upgraded automatically. No action is needed.
Theme files that you uploaded to the store cannot be upgraded.

How to Manually Upgrade an OS 3.0 Theme

When a new theme version is available, you can manually upgrade to access the latest features and improvements::

From your SHOPLINE Admin, go to Online Store > Design.
Locate the theme you want to upgrade and open the upgrade details:
- Published theme: Click View details in the upgrade notice below the theme preview.

Theme library: Click the Upgrade notice below the theme name.

In the pop-up, check the current version and the latest version. You can also click View release notes to learn about the updates. Then, click Upgrade Now.

The system creates a copy of the theme in the latest version. Preview the copy and make sure everything looks right, then publish it.

Restoring Your OS 3.0 Theme to the Version Before the Upgrade

Upgrading does not delete your original theme. If you find any issues after publishing the new theme, simply publish your original theme again. To restore the theme you used before the upgrade:

Go to Online Store > Design.
Find your original theme in the Theme library.
Click the More icon (...) next to the theme and select Publish.

Content Kept After Manually Upgrading an OS 3.0 Theme

During a manual upgrade, the system keeps only the following three types of content:

.json files in the templates folder: The content and layout settings of your page templates, including any .json templates you added.
.json files in the sections folder: The content and settings of each section, including any .json files you added.
theme.config.json file: The configuration settings of your theme.

Note: Apart from the 3 types of content above, all other files you added or changed will be removed and replaced with the content of the new theme version.

Content Removed or Overwritten After Manually Upgrading an OS 3.0 Theme

To view the following files, go to Online Store > Design, click the More icon (...) next to your theme, and select Edit Code. Here is what happens to each folder and file after a manual upgrade:

Folder or File	Result After Manual Upgrade
layout	Content you added to existing .html files will be overwritten by the new version. Any .html files you added will be removed.
templates	Content you added to existing .html files will be overwritten by the new version. .json files will be kept.
sections	Content you added to existing .html files will be overwritten by the new version. Any .html files you added will be removed. .json files will be kept.
blocks	Content you added to existing files will be overwritten by the new version. All files you added (including CSS, JS, HTML, JSON, images, videos, and fonts) will be removed.
components	Content you added to existing files will be overwritten by the new version. All files you added (including CSS, JS, HTML, JSON, images, videos, and fonts) will be removed.
public	Content you added to existing files will be overwritten by the new version. All files you added (including CSS, JS, HTML, JSON, images, videos, and fonts) will be removed.
i18n	Fully replaced by the language files of the new version.
theme.schema.json	Your changes will be removed.
theme.config.json	Your current content will be fully kept.

How Manual Upgrades Affect Multilingual Content in OS 3.0 Themes

You can edit multilingual text in OS 3.0 themes in three places. Here is what happens after a manual upgrade:

Edit default text: Changes made through Online Store > Design > More (...) > Edit default text will not be kept. The language content of the new theme version will be used instead.
i18n files in Edit code: Any changes or additions you made in the i18n folder under Online Store > Design > More (...) > Edit code will be removed.
UGC Multi-Language Visual Translator app: Multilingual content set through this app is not affected and will be fully kept.

OS 3.0 Theme Type and Future Upgrades After a Manual Upgrade

After a manual upgrade, here is how the theme type and future upgrades work:

SHOPLINE official themes with modified code: The theme becomes a standard SHOPLINE official theme again. When new versions are released, the system upgrades it automatically and keeps all of your theme content.
Third-party themes: The theme type stays the same. You still need to upgrade it manually when new versions are released.

FAQs About Manually Upgrading OS 3.0 Themes

Q1: Why can't I use the sections I added from the Section Gallery app after manually upgrading my theme?

A manual upgrade removes the files that Section Gallery added to your theme, so these sections temporarily stop working. To use them again, simply add the Section Gallery sections back to your theme. Your previous settings in Section Gallery are kept, so you don't need to set them up again.