Guide
How to update Pixelion without losing your design
New Pixelion versions bring fixes and features, but on Shopify a theme installed from a .zip doesn't update by itself. Here's why, and how to update while keeping everything you've designed.
Why updating can lose your design
Themes from the Shopify Theme Store have an «Update» button. Pixelion, like any theme installed by uploading a .zip, doesn't: to update, you upload the new version, which Shopify adds as a new theme in your library.
Your design doesn't live in Pixelion's code but inside your installed copy of the theme. A new upload comes with factory settings, so if you published it as is you'd lose your colors, fonts, page layouts and edited texts.
What makes up your design:
config/settings_data.json— theme settings: colors, typography, logo, cart, social media…templates/*.json— the sections and blocks of each page: home, product, collection, custom page templates and customer account pages.sections/*-group.json— header, footer and overlay groups (announcement bar, menus, popups…).locales/*.json— storefront texts you changed in «Edit default theme content».
The Pixelion updater (recommended)
The updater, in your customer account, does the whole job: it reads the theme you export from Shopify, downloads the latest version with your license and builds a new .zip with your design inside. Everything happens in your browser; your theme isn't uploaded to our servers.
Before downloading it shows a compatibility report: sections or blocks that no longer exist (removed so Shopify doesn't reject the page), texts kept and code edited by hand that needs your attention.
- Duplicate your current theme in «Online Store › Themes» (button «⋯» › «Duplicate») as a backup.
- On the same theme, click «⋯» › «Download theme file». Shopify emails you a link to the .zip.
- Open the updater in your account, select that .zip and review the report.
- Download the updated theme, upload it with «Add theme» › «Upload zip file», preview it and publish it.
Only for Pixelion customers: sign in with the email you bought with.
Manual method
If you'd rather do it by hand, or you work with a developer, this is what the updater does:
- Duplicate your current theme and download its theme file («⋯» › «Download theme file»).
- Download the latest Pixelion version from your account and unzip both files into separate folders.
- Copy from your theme into the new version, replacing the files:
config/settings_data.json, everytemplates/*.json(includingtemplates/customers/*.jsonand alternate templates such as product.custom.json) and everysections/*.json(header-group.json,footer-group.json, overlay groups…). - For each storefront language file you edited (
locales/es.json,locales/en.default.json…), don't replace the whole file: copy only the texts you changed into the new version's file, so new texts keep their default. Don't touch the *.schema.jsonfiles. - Don't copy anything else (sections/*.liquid, snippets, assets, layout,
config/settings_schema.json): that's the new code. If you edited code by hand, re-apply those changes on top of the new files. - Zip the contents of the folder (config, layout, sections… at the root of the .zip, not inside another folder), upload it with «Add theme» › «Upload zip file», preview it and publish it.
If Shopify reports an error with a template when uploading, it usually references a section or block removed in the new version: open that .json, delete that entry and zip again.
After updating
- Check the home page, a product, a collection, the cart, search and the header and footer on mobile and desktop before publishing.
- Apps that add blocks to your theme are kept, but some apps inject code: if one stops showing, re-enable its app embed in «Customize» › «App embeds».
- Keep the old theme in your library for a few days. If something goes wrong, publish it again and contact us.