Shopify has recently rolled out several new themes, bringing along a host of updates and enhancements. Among these, one update stands out as a true game-changer for merchants and developers alike — the ability to upgrade your theme without losing your custom sections. In this article, we’ll explore what this update is, how it works, and why it’s such a valuable improvement for Shopify users.
Theme Upgrades Have Changed — For the Better
In the past, Shopify users faced a common challenge when updating themes: custom sections would not carry over to the new version. For example, if you were using the Dawn theme and created custom sections by manually coding them, these sections would not migrate automatically during a theme upgrade. This meant users had to copy and paste code and content manually every time — a tedious and error-prone process.
But with the release of new themes like Horizon and Refresh, Shopify has introduced a powerful improvement. These themes now support creating custom sections using existing blocks — and the best part is, these sections persist through theme upgrades.
Creating Custom Sections the Smart Way
Let’s take the Horizon theme as an example. Say you want to create a section like “Icon with Text.” Instead of building it from scratch, you can use existing theme blocks to assemble it. This makes the section fully compatible with Shopify’s upgrade system.
Once the theme is updated to a newer version, such as from version 1.0.0 to 1.0.4, any section built using existing blocks will automatically appear in the upgraded theme. No code duplication. No manual re-entry. Everything remains intact.
AI-Generated Sections Also Upgrade Seamlessly
Another exciting feature in the Horizon theme is integration with AI tools like Sitekick. Shopify now allows users to generate sections using AI — for instance, an FAQ section.
Here's how it works:
- You open Sidekick, ask it to create a FAQ section, and it instantly generates the layout for you.
- Once saved, this AI-generated section becomes a part of your theme layout.
- And just like manually created sections using existing blocks, these AI-generated sections also carry over during theme upgrades.
This means you can experiment, iterate, and build smarter — all while ensuring your work is future-proof.
