Here is a complete guide on migrating to Shopify 2.0

Introduction

The user-friendliness, convenience, and compelling features of Shopify 2.0 are why it’s so popular. Shopify 2.0 is what it sounds like, and it’s better than Shopify 1.0. Read on to find out how to migrate to Shopify 2.0 and what challenges you might encounter.

The company was founded in 2006 by start-up entrepreneurs Tobias Lütke and Scott Lake, who were dissatisfied with their own experiences trying to find eCommerce platforms. Shopify was originally launched in 2004 as an online snowboard store before being revealed as a platform, and has since grown to host 21% of the global eCommerce marketplace and 31% of the American eCommerce marketplace.

In 2021, Shopify announced the release of Shopify Online Store 2.0, providing developers with new tools and features for building awesome themes and apps. Shopify 2.0 is not enabled by default, so many startups and brands haven’t made the switch or aren’t sure if it’s necessary or how to upgrade. Here’s all you need to know about Shopify 2.0, including why it’s better than others.,” and explores the upgrade process.

Why should you use Shopify 2.0?

There is no price tier or plan tied to Shopify 2.0, which represents an upgrade in the Shopify platform with new theme architecture and enhanced customization features.

Along with Shopify’s Liquid template language (open source), JSON templates are now supported for Shopify Online Store 2.0. JSON is a data exchange format for JavaScript elements that is stored in text format, which speeds up processing. The new templates improve the design of pages, making them more dynamic and customizable.

If you are considering growth beyond maintenance, it is important for you to understand everything that comes along with staying with Shopify 1.0 or migrating to Shopify 2.0.

Comparing Shopify 2.0 with Shopify 1.0

It is a big leap forward in performance, capabilities, and user experience in the new version of the software, as with any major release. Shopify 2.0 offers a number of new features as well as explaining why it is so important to eCommerce businesses. Here are some examples:

1. Your Website’s Revised User Interface

Small brands and startups can create their own online stores easily by customizing the default Shopify theme. The default Shopify theme in version 1.0 is called Debut.

The Dawn theme is optimized for Online Store 2.0’s latest features and is suitable for any store size. A visual-forward design, announcement bars, media-optimized product pages, and a very trendy and light UI are some of the best UI and eCommerce trends in the new theme.

2. Loading times are faster

In general, Shopify 2.0 speed has been affected by the following updates:

• There is a 35% speed improvement with Shopify’s default theme (Dawn)
• A new section and JSON template have improved loading speed
• With App Extensions running on Shopify’s servers using Liquid (as opposed to JavaScript on end devices), you can leverage Shopify’s servers more effectively.
• E-commerce stores can check out faster

3. Make your site more personalized by adding sections

Since Shopify 1.0, true customization could only be achieved on the home page, but now JSON templates allow you to customize every page without writing custom code.

There are up to 25 sections (reusable content modules) that can be created in JSON templates on each page of an ecommerce site. Depending on the theme, there may be a limit on the number or type of blocks (red) within each section (shown in blue), which can be reusable content, such as images, text, or headers.

4. With Metafields, you can make your store more flexible

One of Shopify 2.0’s new features is the metafield (or custom field), which is a way apps can add and store information about Shopify resources. Many owner types can be linked to the metafield connection, including articles, blogs, collections, customers, pages, products, and images. Shopify 2.0 introduces a way to describe this directly within the theme editor – with the bonus option of importing data rather than manually entering it.

With the format defined by the theme of the metafield, merchants can connect information to a resource even if an input field isn’t always available. This makes the metafield much more appealing from a UI standpoint. The owner type can be linked to part numbers, size charts, release dates, ingredients, or downloads, for example.

5. Blocks can be used to improve flexibility

A website can be enhanced with any dynamic element, such as a 3D product model, a product review, a price, a rating or any other custom element, by adding app blocks. By referencing a dynamic source, this block ensures that the content stays in sync with its source, but would allow the user to reorder, add, or delete the app block anywhere in the website section/theme.

6. Work More Efficiently with Better Developer Tools

While the changes in Shopify 2.0 are meant to improve user experience, there are updates for developers as well! These include:

• Improving the Theme Editor and Admin interfaces: One of the most basic aspects of the new development has been the improvement of the standard Admin interface, which makes navigating and updating themes much easier.
• Developers and merchants can now use theme app extensions to add dynamic elements to their eCommerce websites without having to dig into Liquid templates and code. With this, eCommerce websites can have apps that work consistently across themes and from anywhere in the world.
• Furthermore, themes can be extended directly without editing the theme’s code, which reduces interruptions to the website, and can be implemented entirely using Liquid (instead of JavaScript), which improves performance.
• Version control is simplified with Github integration.
• Enhanced Shopify Command Line Interface (CLI): The Shopify command line interface (CLI) is a tool that helps developers automate common development tasks and create Shopify apps and themes sooner.
• Visual Studio integration with Theme Check for the purpose of scanning themes for errors.
• A Files API is also available as part of this release.

What is the process of upgrading to Shopify 2.0?

Having decided to upgrade to Shopify 2.0, the next question is how? There are three main ways to add Online Store 2.0 features to an existing Shopify site. Thankfully, the answer is both flexible and easy. When in doubt, hire a Shopify development agency. Shopify offers a migration assessment that helps determine which migration path is best.

Method 1: The first step is to download the new Shopify 2.0 theme

With the Online Store 2.0 theme, you can access all the features of Shopify 2.0 as well as the new theme (design).

Method 2: A second method of obtaining a new theme is by downloading the new version

It is possible to update some existing themes to include Online Store 2.0 features, allowing you to keep the same look and feel of the website.

Method 3: The Manual Method of Migrating Themes

In order to add Online Store 2.0 functionality to a theme, convert the Liquid template into a JSON template (the standard Shopify 2.0 template format) and reorganize the Liquid or HTML code into sections. This path should be followed by following a stringent migration pattern:

• Theme backup: Step 1
• Remove references to sections by identifying them and removing them
• Using the template code, move it into a section of the template
• Liquid template file should be deleted in step 4
• Creating a JSON template is the next step
• The template needs to be tested in step 6
• Section references should be added in step 7
• Adding app blocks to sections is the eighth step
• The process is repeated in step 9

When migrating to Shopify 2.0, what data will be moved?

Having answered the question of how to upgrade to Shopify 2.0, now it’s important to think about everything that needs to be migrated during the migration. For the migration process to be successful, the following is a starting point and reference to ensure that no kind of data is overlooked.

1. Inputs

• This form contains the following fields: Name, SKU, Full Description, Status, Custom Fields (Name, Value), Manufacturer Price, and Special Price
• Title, description, and URL
• Additional Images (Product Image)
• Managing stock, managing quantity, and checking stock status
• Amount
• Labels, UPCs.
• SKUs, weights, and quantities of products

2. Categories of products

• Identify, describe, and prioritize
• Title, description, and URL
• Image categories

3. Those who manufacture

• Identifier

4. Clients

• An email address, a first name, and a last name
• Adresse de facturation du client
• Address of the customer for shipping

5. The order process

• Information regarding the order, such as the order date, order status, order products (name, SKU, options), product price, quantity, subtotal price, discounted price, shipping price, total price, and order comments.
• The name of the customer, the email address, and the billing address
• Adresse de livraison

6. A gift card, a certificate, or a credit

• The number and date of the gift card, as well as any notes
• The name of the customer, the email address, and the billing address
• Amounts owed

7. Keeping a blog

• In this article
• Commentary
• Documentation

8. A page

• Confidentiality
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Get in touch
• Transportation, etc.

9. Observations

• Review data for Shopify products

The risks of migrating to Shopify 2.0

As a rule of thumb, the more customized a website is, the greater the chances of error. Any migration comes with risks that could impact availability, functionality, or performance. It is imperative that you have a thorough understanding of the functionality of JSON templates, as well as Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Migration is associated with the following risks and considerations:

• In the absence of careful redirection management, customers may encounter broken URLs or have an interrupted experience
• For custom work, there may be an unanticipated migration timeline
• The new system will also require all customizations if the existing store has many.
• It is very important to take care if changes are made to core files since they will be overwritten post-migration.
• A website’s entire tech stack needs to be considered to prevent interruptions or data loss
• All data must be accounted for very carefully!

Taking the plunge into Shopify 2.0 could seem intimidating, but with the right preparation you can take advantage of a wealth of advanced features and integrations that can give your customers the experience they expect and allow you to grow your business.

A seamless Shopify 2.0 migration from Revinfotech is the answer to why not use Shopify 2.0?