How to safely customize and update your Boardwalk theme — without risking your live store or losing your work.
Before making any changes to your Boardwalk theme — whether it's adjusting colors, rearranging sections, editing code, or applying an update — you should always duplicate your current theme first and make your changes on the copy.
This applies to every kind of change, large or small. It protects you in three important ways:
Important: Never make changes directly to your live, published theme. Always duplicate it first and work on the copy. This is the single most important habit for managing your Shopify store safely.
Follow these steps to create a working copy of your Boardwalk theme before making any changes.
In your Shopify admin, go to
Online Store → Themes. You'll see your
currently published theme at the top, and any other
installed themes below it in the theme library.
On your published Boardwalk theme, click the three-dot menu (…) and select Duplicate. Shopify will create an exact copy of the theme, including all of your customizations, section content, and settings. The copy will appear in your theme library with the name "Copy of Boardwalk."
Click the three-dot menu on the new copy and select Rename. Give it a clear, descriptive name so you can easily tell it apart from your live theme — for example, "Boardwalk — Spring Update" or "Boardwalk — Testing New Layout." This becomes especially helpful when you have multiple copies in your library.
Click Customize on the copy (not the published theme) to open it in the Theme Editor. All of your changes — section edits, color adjustments, code modifications — should happen here. Your live store remains completely unaffected while you work.
Once you're satisfied with your changes, go back to
Online Store → Themes, click the
three-dot menu on your updated copy, and select
Publish. The copy becomes your new live
theme, and the previous version moves into the theme
library where it stays available as a backup.
From time to time, we release updates to Boardwalk that include new features, bug fixes, performance improvements, and compatibility patches. You can check the Change Log to see what's included in each release.
When an update is available, Shopify will show a notification on your Themes page. Here's how to apply it safely:
Before applying the update, duplicate your published Boardwalk theme using the steps above. This gives you a snapshot of your current store that you can revert to if anything unexpected happens during the update.
On your published Boardwalk theme, click the three-dot menu (…) and select Update. Shopify will apply the latest version of Boardwalk to your theme. Your customizations — section content, settings, colors, and fonts — are preserved during the update.
After the update, preview your store and check your key pages — homepage, a collection page, a product page, and your cart. Make sure everything looks and works as expected. Pay special attention to any sections or features mentioned in the Change Log for that release.
If something doesn't look right after the update, you can immediately publish the duplicate you created in step 1. This restores your store to its pre-update state while you troubleshoot. If you need help, don't hesitate to contact us.
Note: If you've made direct code edits to
your theme files (through the code editor or by editing
.liquid or .json files), those
changes may be overwritten by an update. This is another
reason to always work on a copy — you can compare your
customized copy against the updated theme to re-apply any
code changes as needed.
Shopify theme updates are designed to keep your store's content and settings intact. Here's what you can expect:
.liquid template files
Tip: If you need to add custom CSS, use the Custom CSS field in the Theme Editor settings rather than editing theme files directly. CSS added through the Theme Editor is stored as a setting and is preserved through updates.
Over time, you may accumulate several copies of Boardwalk in your theme library. This is normal and even encouraged — each copy serves as a snapshot of your store at a point in time. Here are a few tips for staying organized:
The safest way to work with your Boardwalk theme is to always duplicate it before making any changes. This gives you a safety net for every edit, every update, and every experiment. Duplicate first, customize the copy, preview your work, and publish only when you're confident everything looks right. If you ever run into trouble during an update or customization, reach out to us — we're happy to help.