What Are Shopify Section Groups?

What are Shopify section groups?

Shopify section groups are a new feature that level-up theme architecture and provides merchants with more design flexibility. It allows merchants to add sections and app blocks in areas that were previously not possible.

Before section groups, merchants and apps had to add code into the header and footer areas of themes which restricted their ability to make changes and take advantage of theme updates.

Why use section groups?

Shopify section groups are a new feature that allows merchants to break their themes into flexible and extensible groups of sections and blocks. These groups can be customized by merchants through the theme editor without having to edit the theme code.

This feature levels up theme architecture by enabling merchants to add sections and app blocks in areas that were previously not available, such as the header and footer. This level of design flexibility gives merchants the ability to customize their store's look and feel in an intuitive way and gives developers a better way to integrate apps into theme layouts.

A merchant can also use section groups to create a homepage that features different content blocks, such as featured products, promotions, and testimonials. These pages will automatically be reloaded when visitors return to the site, improving customer experience and conversion rates.

These blocks can include images and text side-by-side, as well as links to social media accounts. A merchant can even include a blog feature in a section group.

Another reason to use section groups is that they are easier to manage than static sections. Static sections are created and managed through the theme editor in Shopify, but they are limited in functionality compared to section groups. They are also difficult to migrate from one layout file to another.

However, section groups are easy to create and add to the template, so merchants can quickly make changes to their site's layout. Then, they can easily re-add the section group on any page in their store without having to manually re-add all the content and settings each time.

To create a section group, you need to create a Liquid tag called "sections" and place it where you want the section to render in the layout. This Liquid tag should contain a section object, which contains the properties and setting values of the section, and a block object, which contains the properties and setting values for any blocks within the section.

How do section groups work?

Shopify section groups are a new feature that allows merchants to customize and optimize their store's layout. They can create a dynamic homepage design and include sections such as featured products or a blog section, which help boost user engagement and increase sales.

They can also include a newsletter sign-up section, which makes it easier for customers to stay updated with news and promotions from the store. This helps them make more informed decisions about their purchase.

Section groups level up theme architecture for developers and give merchants more control over their store's look and feel, while allowing apps to integrate into the theme layout seamlessly and without code injections. It also allows merchants to remove system sections, or add them anytime they wish using the theme editor and without changing code.

This feature enables merchants to replace the static-rendered sections found in headers and announcement bars with section groups, which are more flexible and allow merchants to customize them using blocks in the theme editor. This is a major upgrade to Shopify's previous system of statically-rendered sections.

Before section groups, merchants had to use app blocks to customize areas such as the header and footer, which was limiting their ability to change the theme's look and feel. With section groups, merchants can now customize these areas with block-based app modules without affecting the theme's overall layout.

To use section groups, open a notebook and click the section tabs in the top bar of the page. Right-click and choose New Section Group, then type a name for the group and press Enter.

Then, drag and drop section tabs into the group to add them. When you're done, click the group's name to view all the sections in the group.

Using section groups is the best way to manage large notebooks with many sections, as they keep them all together. They're also a great option for teachers and course assistants, who can easily create a single-parent course with multiple sections grouped into it.

They're a bit like folders on your hard drive, as they can keep all related sections together. They're a great way to organize your notes and make it easy to find the pages you need.

How to render section groups?

Section groups replace statically-rendered sections, like headers and announcement bars, with a set of modular sections that merchants can add, remove, or reorder in the theme editor. They also allow third-party apps to target specific theme section groups, so you can integrate custom content without having to edit your theme's code.

Before Shopify introduced section groups, it was a bit tricky to customize page content outside of the out-of-the-box Shopify template layouts. In the theme editor, you could add a static section to a page, but it wasn't easy to create custom page sections.

However, with Shopify section groups, you can now replace statically-rendered sections with a set of modular sections that are more flexible and user-friendly. This helps you meet the unique needs of your customers and increase conversions.

Creating section groups is straightforward. You create a JSON file called a section group in the sections directory of your theme and then place a Liquid tag that references the section group to the layout file where you want it to be rendered.

Once the section group is included in your layout, the sections and app blocks referenced in it are rendered as part of your theme's layout, in the order you specified when you added them to the section group. You can also optionally use a section group to render your template content.

You can create a section group using Shogun Page Builder--just add your theme to the builder, choose the layout you want to build, and click + Create. Once you've completed your section, it will be available to add via the Shopify theme editor.

When you're ready to publish the theme, you can then preview it in real time to see how it will look on your store. You can then make adjustments if you need to before deploying it live.

As with all new theme features, you should test your store before launching it live to ensure it works properly. You should also make sure you have a backup of your store in case something goes wrong.

Adding custom-coded sections to your Shopify theme isn't the easiest thing to do, but it's certainly possible with an experienced developer. Luckily, Shogun Page Builder makes it easier to do so with its new section-building capabilities.

Rendering section groups

Shopify section groups replace statically-rendered sections and allow merchants to easily manage and customize their theme layouts without having to change theme code. They level up theme architecture, give merchants more flexibility and control over their themes, and make it easier for developers to integrate apps into their layouts seamlessly and without injecting any code.

When a merchant adds a new section to their theme, that new section gets a new set of values in the backend "Customize" settings of the theme. The theme editor will also use the new settings to render a section in the layout file.

These values are defined in the theme's section settings schema. Each setting can be a free-form string, a block type ID, or an array of block IDs ordered as they should be rendered. All setting IDs must be unique within each section, and duplicate IDs will cause an error.

You can also use a snippet to reference a section or block objects from outside the section they belong to. You can do this by adding a % sections 'filename>' % Liquid tag to a snippet and referencing the section or block object from there.

Another great feature of rendering section groups is the ability to animate them. This is particularly useful when you want to animate a section's position and rotation as SketchUp moves it from scene to scene.

The coolest thing about rendering sections is that they act very differently than ungrouped geometry in SketchUp. For instance, a root-level section plane cuts everything below it no matter how deeply it's nested.

This is a huge advantage in many situations, like when you want to create a construction layout with sections that move and cut out of place as the scene evolves. It's a very useful tool in product deconstruction, too!

For example, you might want to have a section with a title that moves out of the way when the customer scrolls down a page. Or you might want to have an image carousel that includes a title for each image and doesn't have to be scaled if the number of images changes.

Shopify Development Trends

Most Shopify store owners focus on their digital marketing alongside their web development. Keeping up with the cutting-edge Shopify Apps in ensuring a frictionless checkout for their online store, with additional tools to fill the Shopping Cart. Online shopping continues to grow year-over-year as the user experience improves with tailored customer service practices. Behind the scenes, are Shopify partners such as TheGenieLab. We are helping business owners and shopkeepers to drive continuous improvements through digital marketing services. Furthermore, they are providing Web Development in Shopify, BigCommerce, and other eCommerce store architectures. If you need a hand in any aspect of eCommerce, feel free to reach out to us at wish@thegenielab.com