Apps
Themes can be used by storefront apps to enable merchants to easily customize the look and feel of their store. A storefront app, such as Proxima, may implement themes and thereby support the Swell Theme Editor as well as a number of storefront features such as the ability to upgrade, duplicate, and distribute themes.
Themes are optionally implemented by storefront apps to make it easier for merchants to customize the look and feel of their store.
There are two types of apps involved in theme development.
- Storefront apps: Implement the page structure, data interactions, and features of a storefront. Some storefront apps support themes, such as Proxima, while others may not.
- Themes: Implement the look and feel of a storefront. Themes are always dependent on a storefront app. Their structure may vary depending on the implementation of each storefront app.
Themes are a special type of app and are typically configured according to the storefront app they are made for.
Proxima is Swell's first official storefront app intended to help merchants get started quickly by supporting compatibility with the well-known structure of Shopify Online Store 2.0 themes.
Proxima is open-source and allows developers to learn more about how to support themes in their own storefront apps.
The Swell Apps SDK provides a compatibility layer that dynamically converts Swell theme concepts (naming conventions, object properties) in both directions. This approach makes it possible to emulate Shopify's theme standards while maintaining the ability to evolve and iterate on Swell's own standards at the same time.
Shopify compatibility mode is automatically enabled in the SDK with the following conditions:
- The storefront app has implemented the SDK with the necessary configuration.
- The theme has a `config/settings_schema.json` file, indicating to the platform that it is structured as a Shopify theme.
Shopify theme compatibility is currently in beta. Most features of the Shopify Online Store 2.0 environment are fully-functional, however some deprecated features may have limited support at this time.
Swell-native themes follow a similar pattern to that of Shopify themes and should be familiar to developers with experience on the Shopify platform.
Refer to Shopify documentation for more details on how to build a theme that is compatible with Proxima.
| Folder | Description |
| assets/ | Files made publicaly accessible and that can be referenced from content. |
| config/ | Settings and configuration data. |
| snippets/ | Reusable elements that can be rendered within theme sections. |
| layout/ | Global theme layouts. |
| sections/ | Configurable sections that can be used in templates. |
| templates/ | Individual pages configured with sections and blocks. |
| locales/ | Language content for each supported locale. |
More references will be coming soon regarding how to build Swell-native themes for various storefront apps.
Swell is currently developing a Theme Marketplace that will allow partners to distribute and sell themes to merchants.
If you're interested in being featured in the upcoming marketplace, reach out to us.
If you're looking to distribute themes across Swell stores that you already have access to, see our CLI reference which describes the different ways you can work with themes and storefronts from a developer perspective.