Troubleshooting

Most problems on a Pawsome store have a short list of causes. Start by finding out where the problem comes from, then check the common problems below. If you still need help, contact support with the details listed at the end.

First steps

A problem on your storefront can come from the theme, from an app, or from code someone added. Finding out which one saves time, because each has a different fix and a different person who can fix it.

Check a fresh copy of Pawsome

In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store.
Add a fresh copy of Pawsome from the Shopify Theme Store. It arrives in your draft themes.
Preview the fresh copy and look at the same page.

If the problem is gone in the fresh copy, it comes from a change made to your copy of the theme: a setting, an app or edited code. If the problem is there too, it’s likely in Pawsome, and we’ll help. You can also preview the same page on one of Shopify’s free themes. A problem that shows there as well comes from your store’s setup or an app, not from Pawsome.

Turn off app embeds

Apps add code to your theme through app embeds, and that code runs on every page.

Duplicate your theme, so your live store stays as it is. Shopify explains how in Duplicating themes.
Open the copy in the theme editor and click the App embeds icon in the sidebar.
Turn the embeds off one at a time, saving and checking the page after each.

If the problem goes away when you turn off an embed, contact that app’s developer. Shopify’s guide to app embeds covers the switches.

Rule out custom code

If you, a developer or an app edited the theme’s code, those edits stay in your copy. Compare with a fresh copy as above. If the problem only shows on your edited copy, the person who made the edit is best placed to fix it. Our support doesn’t cover custom code.

Check the right theme and the right browser

Make sure you’re editing your published theme, not a draft. Changes in a draft don’t show on your live store until you publish it.
Click Save in the theme editor. Unsaved changes show only in the editor.
Open the page in a private browser window, which skips your browser’s saved copies of old files.
Check the page in a browser Pawsome supports. Supported browsers lists them.
Edits made with a market picked in the theme editor’s market selector show only to shoppers in that market. To change what every shopper sees, switch the selector back before you edit. Shopify explains theme customizations for markets.

Common problems

Placeholder illustrations instead of images

An image setting is empty, and Pawsome shows a placeholder illustration in its place. Open the section or block in the theme editor and choose an image. Installing a theme never copies the demo store’s photos, so every section that showed a photo on the demo needs one of yours.

The header shows the menu chosen in its Menu setting. Pick a menu there and check that it has links in Content > Menus in your admin.
A Mega menu block shows its cards only when its Menu item matches the title of a top-level link in that menu. Check the spelling.

See the Header reference.

Filters are missing

Pawsome shows filters on collection and search pages when Enable filtering is on in the Collection or Search results section, and the store has filters. Filters are created in Shopify’s free Search & Discovery app, under Filters. If the app has no filters, the theme has none to show. See Shopify’s guide to Search & Discovery filters.

Swatches don’t show

Pawsome draws a swatch only for an option value with a color or image set in Shopify. Values without one show as pills with their names. Connect the option to a color metafield or set a swatch for each value in the product’s Variants section in your admin.
On the product page, check that the Variant picker block’s Variant picker style is Swatches.
On product cards, check that Show color swatches is on in Theme settings > Product cards.

Quick view doesn’t open

Check that Enable quick view is on in Theme settings > Quick view. With it off, the card’s Choose options button goes to the product page instead.
A product with a single variant goes straight into the cart. To open quick view for those too, set Open quick view for to Every product.
If cards show no button, turn on Show quick add button in Theme settings > Product cards.
If quick view is on and still doesn’t open, check the page with app embeds turned off, as described in First steps.

A video shows a still image instead of playing

A video that should play on its own shows its poster image when one of these applies:

Playback is set to Click to play in a Featured video or Media with text section, so the video waits for the shopper to press play. Choose Autoplay on loop for a muted loop.
Autoplay on is set to Desktop only, so phones show the poster until the shopper presses play. In Image with text overlay, this is the starting setting.
Animation style is None in Theme settings > Animations. Videos that play on their own then show their poster for every shopper.
The shopper’s device asks for reduced motion, with Reduce motion on iPhone and Mac or Animation effects turned off on Windows. Pawsome shows that shopper the poster.
The shopper’s iPhone or iPad is in Low Power Mode, which stops Safari from playing videos on its own. No theme setting can change that.

The cart drawer doesn’t open

Cart type in Theme settings > Cart must be Drawer. With Page, shoppers go to the cart page.
The Cart drawer section’s Open the drawer after adding to cart must be on for the drawer to open when a product is added. With it off, only the cart count changes.

Text is in the wrong language or wording

Pawsome’s storefront text comes in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Dutch, and shoppers see the language they’re browsing in. To change the theme’s wording, such as a button label, go to Online Store in your admin, click the menu icon next to the theme, then Edit default theme content.
Text you typed into sections stays as you typed it. Translate your own content with Shopify’s free Translate & Adapt app.
For a language to appear on your store, it has to be added and published in Settings > Languages. See Shopify’s guide to languages.

Shoppers see a password page

Your store is in private mode, so visitors see the password page instead of your storefront. To open the store, go to Online Store in your admin, click Private, select Public, and click Update. See Shopify’s guide to private mode. The page shoppers see is Pawsome’s Password page section, which you can edit in the theme editor.

Contacting support

If none of this fixes the problem, write to us through the support form. Include:

your store URL, such as yourstore.myshopify.com
a link to the page where the problem happens
the steps that make it happen, and what you expected to see
a screenshot that shows the problem
whether it also happens on a fresh copy of Pawsome or with app embeds turned off

The more of this we have, the fewer messages it takes to fix. We reply within two business days. Support explains what we help with.