Boardwalk Block Guide

Collection Card Block

Everything you need to set up and customize the Collection Card block — from choosing a collection and configuring the card image to adding titles, descriptions, product counts, and styling the card layout.

About

A collection card is a clickable visual tile that represents one of your Shopify collections. It typically shows a featured image along with the collection's name, and when a visitor clicks or taps the card, they are taken directly to that collection page. Collection cards are a popular way to help customers browse your store by category, brand, or product type.

In the Boardwalk theme, the Collection Card is a parent block that acts as a container for several child blocks. It automatically includes a Collection Media block (the card image), and you can add child blocks for the Collection Title, Collection Description, Collection Count, and Spacer elements. The parent card controls the overall layout, corner rounding, text alignment, and color scheme, while each child block has its own typography and spacing settings.


How to Set Up a Collection Card

Follow these steps to add and configure a Collection Card block in your Shopify store using the Boardwalk theme.

1
Open the Theme Editor

In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes, find Boardwalk, and click Customize. Navigate to the page where you want to display collection cards using the page selector dropdown at the top center of the editor.

2
Add a Section That Supports Collection Cards

Click Add section in the Theme Editor sidebar and choose a section that supports collection cards (such as a collection list or featured collections section). Once the section is added, you can add Collection Card blocks inside it.

3
Add a Collection Card Block

Inside the section, click Add block and select Collection card. A new card will appear with a placeholder image. Click on the Collection Card block in the sidebar to open its settings.

4
Select a Collection

Use the Collection picker in the block settings to choose which collection the card should link to. The card will automatically pull in the collection's featured image, title, description, and product count based on which child blocks you have enabled.

Note: You must create your collections first in the Shopify admin under Products → Collections. Each collection should have a title, and ideally a featured image and description, so the card has content to display.

5
Configure the Card Settings

Adjust the card's corner radius, text alignment, and color scheme. These settings control the overall look of the card container.

6
Add and Arrange Child Blocks

Inside the Collection Card, click Add block to add child blocks such as Collection Title, Collection Description, or Collection Count. Drag and drop the blocks to reorder them. The Collection Media block is included automatically and always appears at the top of the card.

7
Save and Preview

Click Save in the Theme Editor. Preview your page to verify the collection cards are displaying correctly with the image, title, and any other child blocks you've added.


Collection Card Settings

These settings are found on the Collection Card parent block itself. They control the overall appearance of the card container.

Card Settings

Collection

Choose which collection the card links to. The card will automatically display the collection's featured image, title, description, and product count based on which child blocks are present. If no collection is selected, placeholder content is shown.

Corner radius

Rounds the corners of the entire card. Range: 0px to 24px.

Text alignment

Controls the horizontal alignment of all text content inside the card. Options: Left, Center, or Right. This setting applies to the title, description, and product count child blocks.

Card color scheme

Select a color scheme to style the card's background and text colors. Choose a different scheme from the parent section to make cards visually stand out.


Child Blocks

The Collection Card supports five child blocks. The Collection Media block is always included automatically, while the others can be added, removed, and reordered to build your desired card layout.

Collection Media

Displays the collection's featured image at the top of the card. If the collection doesn't have a featured image, a placeholder graphic is shown instead. The image includes a subtle zoom effect when a visitor hovers over the card.

  • Aspect ratio — Controls the shape of the image area. Options: Adapt to image, Widescreen, Standard Landscape, Landscape, Square, or Portrait.
  • Overlay style — Optionally adds a gradient overlay on top of the image. Options: None or Gradient. The gradient fades from the bottom of the image upward, which can help text placed over the image stand out.
  • Overlay color — Sets the color of the gradient overlay. Supports transparency. Only visible when the overlay style is set to Gradient.

Tip: To set or change a collection's featured image, go to Products → Collections in your Shopify admin, select the collection, and add an image in the Collection image area.

Collection Title

Displays the collection's name, pulled automatically from the collection you selected. If no collection is assigned, placeholder text reading "Collection title" is shown instead.

  • Font style — Sets the font family. Options: Heading, Body, Caption, or Menu.
  • Font weight — Controls the thickness of the text. Options: Normal, Medium, or Bold.
  • Font size — Range: 12px to 30px.
  • Line height — Controls the spacing between lines of text. Range: 1.0 to 2.0.
  • Letter spacing — Adjusts the space between individual characters. Options: Tight, Normal, or Loose.
  • Padding top / bottom — Adds spacing above and below the title. Range: 0px to 36px. On mobile, padding is automatically reduced to 75% of the desktop value.
Collection Description

Displays a snippet of the collection's description, pulled from the collection you selected. The text is automatically trimmed based on a word limit and clamped to a maximum of three visible lines. If the collection has no description, this block is hidden.

  • Font size — Range: 10px to 20px.
  • Line height — Range: 1.0 to 2.0.
  • Maximum words — Limits how many words of the description are shown. Range: 5 to 50 words.
  • Text opacity — Controls how prominent the description text appears. Options range from 50% to 100%. Lower values create a more subtle, secondary appearance.
  • Padding top / bottom — Adds spacing above and below the description. Range: 0px to 36px. On mobile, padding is automatically reduced to 75% of the desktop value.

Note: The description is pulled from the collection itself, not from the block settings. To edit the description text, go to Products → Collections in your Shopify admin and update the collection's description field.

Collection Count

Displays the number of products in the collection (e.g., "24 products"). The count updates automatically when you add or remove products from the collection. The label is also translation-aware, so it will display correctly for singular counts (e.g., "1 product") and in other languages.

  • Font size — Range: 10px to 20px.
  • Line height — Range: 1.0 to 2.0.
  • Text opacity — Controls how prominent the count text appears. Range: 30% to 100%.
  • Padding top / bottom — Adds spacing above and below the count. Range: 0px to 36px. On mobile, padding is automatically reduced to 75% of the desktop value.
Spacer

Adds empty vertical space between other child blocks inside the card. Use spacers to fine-tune the layout and create breathing room between elements like the title and description.


Built-In Features

The Collection Card block comes with features that work automatically — no apps or custom code needed.

Feature Overview

Automatic content from Shopify

The card pulls the featured image, title, description, and product count directly from the collection you select. When you update the collection in your Shopify admin, the card updates automatically on your storefront.

Hover zoom effect

When a visitor hovers over the card, the collection image gently scales up for a polished, interactive feel. The card also subtly reduces its opacity on hover to provide visual feedback.

Modular child blocks

You can add, remove, and reorder child blocks to build the exact card layout you want. Show just an image and title, or include a description, product count, and spacers for a more detailed card.

Gradient image overlay

An optional gradient can be applied over the collection image, fading from the bottom up. This is useful for improving the readability of text that overlaps the image area, especially on lighter photos.

Placeholder content

When no collection is selected, the card displays placeholder graphics and text so you can see how the layout will look while you're still setting things up in the Theme Editor.

Smart description trimming

The Collection Description block automatically strips any formatting from the description text and trims it to your chosen word limit. It also clamps the visible text to three lines maximum, so long descriptions don't break the card layout.

Responsive mobile spacing

Padding values on the title, description, and count child blocks are automatically scaled down to 75% on mobile devices, so the card stays well-proportioned on smaller screens without needing separate mobile settings.

Translation-aware product count

The Collection Count block uses Shopify's built-in translation system, so the "products" label displays correctly in all languages your store supports — including proper singular and plural forms.


Frequently Asked Questions

This usually means the collection doesn't have a featured image set. Go to Products → Collections in your Shopify admin, select the collection, and add an image in the Collection image section. Once saved, the card will display the new image on your storefront.
There are two common reasons. First, make sure you've added the Collection Description child block inside the Collection Card. Second, check that the collection itself has a description entered in your Shopify admin under Products → Collections. If the collection's description field is empty, the block will be hidden automatically.
Yes. The child blocks inside a Collection Card can be reordered by dragging and dropping them in the Theme Editor sidebar. The Collection Media block always renders at the top of the card, but you can arrange the title, description, count, and spacer blocks in any order you like below the image.
Yes. Simply remove or don't add any of the text-based child blocks (title, description, count). The Collection Card will display only the collection image. The card will still be clickable and link to the collection page.
Collection card images are loaded at up to 1200 pixels wide. For best results, upload images that are at least 1200px wide and match the aspect ratio you've chosen in the Collection Media settings. For example, if you're using the Portrait aspect ratio, an image around 1200 × 1600 pixels works well. Shopify automatically serves optimized versions for different screen sizes.
A count of zero means the collection currently has no products assigned to it. Go to Products → Collections in your Shopify admin, open the collection, and add products to it. The count on the card will update automatically once products are added.