Aethora
Monochrome, cinematic, and art-directed for premium launches and visual storytelling.
Build with intention
Aethora documentation
Practical guidance for configuring an editorial Shopify storefront - from the first preset choice to advanced 3D product presentation.
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01 - Start
From upload to storefront
Use this path for a clean first setup. Each destination below takes you directly to the settings that matter most.
02 - Installation
Install safely
Aethora installs as a Shopify theme ZIP. Duplicate your live theme first so your current storefront remains recoverable.
- In Shopify admin, open Online Store - Themes.
- Duplicate the current live theme as a backup.
- Select Add theme - Upload zip file and choose
Aethora-2.1.1.zip. - Open Customize and configure Aethora without publishing it.
- Test navigation, products, variants, cart, search, Markets, customer accounts, apps, and checkout.
- Publish only after desktop and mobile previews match your store data.
Theme Store installationsWhen Aethora is installed directly from the Shopify Theme Store, Shopify adds it to the theme library automatically. Start from Customize and follow the same testing sequence.
03 - Presets
Three starting points
Presets change the starting composition, typography, color relationships, and merchandising emphasis. Every underlying feature remains available.
Galene
Soft, spacious, and composed for considered catalogs and calm product narratives.
Kinesis
High-energy layouts and assertive typography for culture-led and modern lifestyle brands.
Changing presets laterPreview a preset before applying it. A preset can replace current settings and template arrangements, so duplicate the theme first if it already contains merchant content.
04 - Theme editor
Understand the editor
Aethora follows Shopify’s native sections, blocks, templates, and global settings model. Most storefront work requires no code.
Sections
Add, remove, reorder, hide, and duplicate page-level compositions.
Blocks
Arrange product information, content, links, media, FAQs, and compatible app content.
Templates
Create reusable structures and assign them to products, collections, blogs, or pages.
Dynamic sources
Connect compatible settings to Shopify metafields without hard-coding resource content.
Theme settings
Control typography, colors, controls, icons, cards, cart, localization, layout, and motion.
Preview modes
Check desktop and mobile, switch templates, and preview market or language contexts before saving.
05 - Design system
One system, many expressions
Global settings establish the base. Section color schemes and local controls provide art direction without breaking visual consistency.
| System | Where to configure | Guidance |
|---|---|---|
| Typography | Theme settings - Typography | Set display and body families, scale, and rhythm. Section sizes remain proportional to these choices. |
| Color schemes | Theme settings - Colors | Create accessible surface and text pairings, then assign schemes per section. |
| Buttons and inputs | Theme settings - Controls | Choose shape, border, and interaction treatment once for consistent controls. |
| Icons | Section and block icon pickers | Aethora uses a consistent outlined SVG system across browsers and operating systems. |
| Product cards | Theme settings - Product cards | Choose one of four presentations and configure media ratio, badges, swatches, quick actions, and hover media. |
| Collection tiles | Theme settings - Collection tiles | Select overlay, editorial, or panel styling plus image source, ratio, tint, opacity, and arrow visibility. |
| Motion | Theme settings - Motion | Use restrained entrances and hover feedback. Reduced-motion preferences are respected automatically. |
06 - Navigation
Header and menus
Configure the header structure separately from the menu presentation. This keeps branding and navigation behavior predictable.
| Setting | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Header layout | Choose standard, centered, navigation-below, or split navigation. This controls logo and navigation placement. |
| Menu presentation | Choose simple dropdown, structured mega menu, or gallery-led mega menu. This controls how nested links and promotional media appear. |
| Adaptive contrast | Use on transparent headers over split or high-contrast hero media. Header elements adapt across light and dark regions. |
| Localization | Enable country and language selectors only after the relevant Shopify Markets options are published. |
| Customer account | The account icon appears when customer accounts are enabled in Shopify admin. |
Mega menu matchingThe top-level menu item must match the mega-menu block trigger exactly. Keep menu labels unique and test both pointer and keyboard interaction.
07 - Sections
Compose the storefront
Sections are grouped by merchant task in the editor so each page exposes relevant building blocks without unnecessary clutter.
Hero and campaign
Visual hero, diptych hero, image banner, video banner, countdown, and product promotion.
Products and collections
Product showcase, featured product, spotlight, recommendations, collection gallery, and collection list.
Editorial storytelling
Split feature, product story, brand rail, feature tiles, social proof, blog feed, and image hotspots.
Conversion and trust
Announcement bar, email signup, email popup, trust strip, FAQ, contact, and store map.
Media behavior
Compatible sections accept Shopify-hosted images or videos. Images include focal-point-aware responsive crops. Videos should include an accessible title or nearby contextual heading, and decorative autoplay media remains muted.
08 - Products
Product experiences
Build product pages from reorderable information blocks, then assign specialized templates where a catalog needs a different selling model.
| Capability | Configuration |
|---|---|
| Product information | Arrange title, price, variants, quantity, inventory, SKU, description, sharing, pickup, installments, and Custom Liquid as blocks. |
| Variants and swatches | Uses Shopify options and native color or image swatch data. Availability and price update with the selected variant. |
| Purchase controls | Quantity, add to cart, and accelerated checkout share the theme control system. Shopify determines eligible wallet buttons. |
| Product media | Supports responsive images, hosted video, external video, and Shopify 3D models with thumbnails and accessible controls. |
| Special templates | Alternate, brand story, high-variant, modal, preorder, and Aethora 3D product templates are included. |
| SEO | Every product template outputs Shopify’s native Product structured data for current product and variant information. |
Aethora 3D template
Assign the Aethora 3D template to a product containing Shopify 3D media. The viewer adapts to valid model dimensions automatically. Optional product metafields can override scale, exposure, shadow intensity, camera orbit, and auto-rotation for art direction.
| Optional definition | Namespace and key | Type and validation |
|---|---|---|
| 3D model scale | aethora.model_scale | Decimal - 0.5 to 1.5 |
| 3D model exposure | aethora.model_exposure | Decimal - 0.25 to 2.0 |
| 3D shadow intensity | aethora.model_shadow_intensity | Decimal - 0 to 2.0 |
| 3D camera orbit | aethora.model_camera_orbit | Single-line text - optional advanced value |
| 3D auto rotate | aethora.model_auto_rotate | True or false |
Automatic fitting firstLeave every metafield blank to use the model’s natural dimensions and the template defaults. Add overrides only when a particular asset needs art direction.
09 - Discovery
Collections and search
Discovery components share product-card settings while preserving page-specific filtering, sorting, pagination, and editorial collection imagery.
- Configure Shopify Search and Discovery filters for the collection catalog.
- Choose the global product-card and collection-tile presentations in Theme settings.
- Set collection images, descriptions, and SEO content in Shopify admin.
- Enable predictive search and configure searchable resource types in Theme settings - Search.
- Test long titles, sale prices, sold-out variants, mixed image ratios, and empty results.
Shopify-generated resultsPredictive search and product recommendations vary according to catalog data, active language, market, and Shopify’s recommendation services.
10 - Conversion
Cart and checkout
Choose a drawer or page cart. Both experiences stay synchronized and inherit the same control geometry, colors, typography, and accessibility behavior.
Cart controls
Quantity updates, removal, line properties, unit prices, notes, terms, subtotal, and empty-cart recovery.
Discount codes
Enable discount entry in Theme settings - Cart. Shopify applies and validates manual codes through its discount and checkout flow.
Accelerated checkout
Wallet availability and appearance depend on Shopify Payments, market, browser, device, and customer context.
Shipping and tax
Taxes, duties, delivery rates, payment methods, and checkout branding are configured in Shopify admin.
11 - International
Markets and RTL
Aethora uses Shopify localization forms and localized routes so language, country, currency, and direction remain aligned with Shopify Markets.
- Publish countries, currencies, languages, domains, or subfolders in Settings - Markets.
- Enable the country and language selectors in the header, drawer, or footer.
- For Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Urdu, select the appropriate text direction in Theme settings.
- Review navigation, drawers, carousels, form fields, prices, and icon direction in each published locale.
12 - Troubleshooting
Resolve common issues
Start with storefront context before editing code. Many differences come from Shopify configuration, catalog data, apps, or cached previews.
Why is an accelerated checkout button different in preview?
Shopify selects eligible wallets using the customer, browser, device, market, and merchant payment configuration. Theme code cannot force a specific wallet.
Why are recommendations or predictive search results empty?
Confirm the feature is enabled and that eligible catalog data exists. Results depend on Shopify’s services and can vary by market and language.
Why does a mega menu block not appear?
Confirm the block trigger exactly matches a unique top-level menu label and that the chosen presentation supports promotional content.
Why does a product template not appear in Shopify admin?
Upload or push the template to the same theme that is published or being customized, then refresh product admin. Templates are listed per installed theme.
Why is a section animation not visible?
Check whether reduced motion is enabled, confirm the section is visible, and test outside the Theme Editor. Aethora keeps content visible when animation APIs are unavailable.
How should I test an app conflict?
Duplicate the theme, disable the app embed or app block in the duplicate, and retest. Share both outcomes with the app developer or Aethora support.
13 - Updates
Release notes
Keep the current customized theme as a backup and test every update in an unpublished copy before replacing production.
- Added cart and drawer discount-code entry.
- Added global collection-tile presentations and media controls.
- Improved mobile product-card composition and PDP media ratios.
- Added Product, Organization, and WebSite structured-data coverage.
- Expanded submission presets and accessibility validation.
- Introduced Aethora, Galene, and Kinesis preset architecture.
- Added Aethora 3D product template and editorial mega-menu presentation.
- Expanded localization, RTL, product templates, and premium content sections.
14 - Developers
Extend carefully
Duplicate the theme before custom development. Theme updates do not automatically merge custom Liquid, CSS, or JavaScript changes.
App blocks
Supported in the main product and featured product experiences. Prefer app blocks over editing theme files.
Custom Liquid
Use the provided block for small integrations. Avoid embedding secrets or unsupported remote scripts.
Performance
Optimize uploaded media, limit third-party scripts, and test Lighthouse after installing apps.
Third-party notice
Selected interface icons use Iconsax V1 Outline geometry under the applicable Iconsax free icon terms.
Tell us what happened
For installation help, documented settings, or reproducible theme defects, contact Aethora support. Clear context helps us reproduce the issue faster.
Store contextYour myshopify.com URL and theme versionIssue contextAffected page URL and reproduction stepsEvidenceExpected result, actual result, and screenshots