Have you ever wanted to create custom content once in Shogun and have that content show up on multiple pages of your Shopify store automatically? Shogun Sections for Shopify are here to take your store to the next level!
Overview
Before creating Sections for your Shopify theme using Shogun, It's important to understand Shopify's Themes > Page Templates > Sections ecosystem.
Page templates are sections configured to give your online store a consistent look and feel.
In the Shopify Theme Editor, you control which templates are applied to specific pages and choose the sections displayed in each template.
The sections in your templates have typically depended on the theme you've purchased...but Shogun gives you section superpowers!
Check out this Shopify Help Center article for more information on themes + sections: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/themes/theme-structure/sections-and-blocks
Using Shogun To Create Your Own Theme Sections
Here's the workflow:
Create a custom section using Shogun's drag and drop editor
Publish that section so it's available in your Shopify Theme Editor
Use the Theme Editor to apply the Shogun Theme Section to any or all of your page templates.
Creating A Section In Shogun
To get started, go to the "Pages & templates" menu in the Shogun dashboard then select the "Sections" option.
Click the "Create new" button in the upper-right corner of the "Sections" view. In the pop-up that appears, enter a memorable name for your new Section then click the "Create" button.
You'll then be taken to the Shogun visual editor where you can add any content into your new Section using the library of elements, blocks, or AI Designer.
Publishing A Section In Shogun
When you're happy with the section in the Shogun editor, you can publish it.
Publishing the section in the Shogun UI does not change anything with your live Shopify store.
It simply makes the section available to you in your Shopify Theme Editor.
Applying Sections In The Shopify Theme Editor
In the Shopify Theme Editor UI, you can add the section you created in Shogun to any page template.
The created section will show in the Shopify theme editor, if you click on Add Section, in the Template area of the page template.
Please note that while some of your native Theme Sections may be limited to specific Page Template types, sections built in Shogun can be used in any template.
When you're happy with how things look in the Shopify Theme Editor, click "Save" and your site will be updated to include your new sections now!
Updating Sections In Shogun
If you use the Shogun Editor to change a Shogun section already being used in your live store, the section will update immediately (everywhere it's being used).
This also means that if you delete a Shogun section from your Shogun UI, the section will immediately be removed from your live store (everywhere it's being used).
You can't change the Shogun section from within the Shopify Theme Editor. Still, we provide a link from the Shopify Theme Editor directly to edit that section in Shogun.
Popular Use Cases For Creating New Sections
Use Case #1: I want to apply the custom content I've created in Shogun to multiple Products in my store.
Let's say you've used Shogun to create a beautiful "Value Prop" section for your Product Page. You'd like this section to live on every single one of your product pages but don't want to add it one by one manually. Now you can create the section once in Shogun, send it to the Shopify Theme Editor, and then add it to your product page template.
Pro Tip: You can create multiple Product Page Templates to change things up between different Product Types. Say you have one section that you want to show up on all of your Shoe product pages but a separate section on all of your Hat product pages...just create different Page Templates for Shoes and Hats and apply the corresponding Shogun Sections to the appropriate templates.
Use Case #2: I want to use sections that came with my theme in combination with Sections I built in Shogun.
By creating a Section in Shogun and making it available in your Shopify Theme Editor, this allows you to build your homepage with a combination of sections from your theme and from Shogun.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if my store is not running a 2.0 theme?
You can still use the feature, but it will only be applicable to your home page and not to other page templates.
How many sections can I create?
The number of sections you can create depends on your Shogun subscription plan.
What if I have multiple themes?
Shogun only ever integrates with your currently published theme. If you change themes, you won't see your previously created Shogun Theme Sections, but you can republish them and they will appear in your new theme.
Can I use custom fonts in my Section?
Yes. However, custom fonts added through the Shopify theme do not render within the Section editor or preview. They will load correctly on the live page.
If you are using Shogun's Typekit integration to add your custom fonts, the fonts will render in the Section editor, preview, and live page.
My Section is stuck publishing; why?
Have you used special characters in the section title, such as "? Some special characters aren't allowed in a section title, so if your section is stuck publishing, you could try removing those special characters, which will usually resolve the issue.