This section focuses on how Shopify themes actually work in practice, not just tweaking configurations, but understanding the mechanics behind Liquid, data, and dynamic storefront behavior.
You’ll learn how to:
- Work with Shopify Liquid and theme templates
- Build custom sections and blocks from scratch
- Extend Shopify’s data model with metafields and metaobjects
- Add dynamic behavior using JavaScript, AJAX, and section rendering
- Use modern patterns like the Pub/Sub event system and theme blocks
We’ll also look behind the scenes of professional and public themes, with insights from experienced theme authors, so you understand how scalable, maintainable themes are built.Each topic links to a hands-on guide or deep dive you can follow step by step.
Before writing much code, many Shopify developers already earn money working directly inside Shopify’s admin.
A lot of real client work is no-code or low-code: setting up stores, configuring themes, markets, payments, shipping, and automations.
These features impact internationalization, operations, and conversions. Merchants actively pay for this kind of setup and guidance.
Mastering these early lets you deliver value fast, take on real projects, and get paid even before going deep into theme or app development.
Liquid is Shopify's templating language.
It's what turns store data (products, collections, cart, customer, metafields) into HTML.
If you understand Liquid well, you can debug themes faster, build your own template sections, and avoid "random hacks" that break later.
→ Learn more: Shopify Liquid: Complete Guide for Beginners
Sections are the building blocks merchants actually use in the theme editor.
As a developer, most real work is either creating a new section from scratch, or extending an existing one without breaking the schema/settings.
Clients coming from other platforms are oftentimes surprised when they find out that they can replace content without calling a developer, by just using properly build sections.
→ Learn more: Shopify Sections - Complete Guide for Theme Development
Blocks are still relatively new and make sections even more flexible.
Instead of hardcoding one layout, you let merchants add, reorder, and configure content inside a section.
→ Learn more: Shopify Flow Automations Explained
You can extend Shopify’s default data structure with your own custom fields and objects.
This lets you model real-world business data that Shopify doesn’t support out of the box (without hacking themes or using apps.)
Metafields let you extend existing Shopify resources with custom, structured data that Shopify doesn’t provide out of the box.
For example:
- If each product needs a nutrition table, but Shopify has no built-in field for that
- If electronic products require an energy efficiency class
- If you need technical specs, care instructions, materials, or compliance data
Instead of hardcoding this information into descriptions or templates, metafields store it properly on the product, collection, or other resources. This keeps data structured, reusable, and easy to maintain — and allows your theme logic to stay clean and flexible as the store grows.
→ Learn more: Metafields Full Guide.
Instead of attaching fields directly to a product, metaobjects let you define your own content types.
For example:
- An author object with name, bio, birthday, profile image, and social links.
- Store locations with opening hours, address, and contact details.
Metaobjects are especially powerful when the same data needs to be reused in many places.
They help avoid duplication, keep content consistent, and make complex theme setups much easier to manage.
→ Learn more: Metaobjects Full Guide
This is the part where most Shopify developers struggle or get stuck.
JavaScript is what turns static themes into dynamic storefronts.
It’s required for anything interactive:
- variant logic
- cart updates
- dynamic content
- modern UX patterns.
This layer sits between Shopify’s data and user interactions in the Browser.
JavaScript in the context of Shopify themes is covered in depth in our Bootcamp, with tons of examples and projects (building a product quiz, conditional logic, section rendering API, slideshows, 3rd party libraries, theme structure, debugging techniques, AJAX, custom web components, and much more.)
A few core concepts every Shopify theme developer should understand:
Allows you to re-render specific theme sections after an interaction without reloading the page.
This is essential for updating prices, variant information, and dynamic content cleanly.
→ Learn more: Section Rendering API Explained
The AJAX Cart lets you add, remove, and update cart items without a full page reload.
It’s the foundation for modern cart drawers, upsells, and smoother checkout experiences.
→ Learn more: Building an Ajax Cart Upsell Feature
Shopify’s publish/subscribe event system allows different parts of your theme to communicate without tight coupling.
This keeps JavaScript more modular, easier to maintain, and less error-prone as themes grow.
→ Learn more: Shopify PUB / SUB Explained
Speed optimization is another service merchants constantly ask for in the Shopify ecosystem.
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It directly impacts conversion rates, SEO, and user experience.
From a developer perspective, performance work spans multiple layers:
- Image optimization and media handling
- Theme and Liquid optimizations
- JavaScript loading strategies
- Reducing unnecessary app and code overhead
Many improvements don’t require rewriting everything.
Small, well-targeted changes often deliver the biggest wins.
Together with Shopify Academy, we’ve created a full guide on page speed optimization that helps you understand where performance issues typically come from and how to approach them.
If you want a deeper dive, you can also check out my free mini course on page speed optimization, which walks through multiple real-world examples step by step and makes things a bit more digestible.
PS.
Accessibility is closely related to performance and shouldn’t be treated as an afterthought.
Semantic HTML and proper structure improve usability, SEO, and overall site quality.
We also created a full, dedicated guide on accessibility together with Shopify Academy, covering what developers need to know and how to implement it correctly in Shopify themes.
Building a public theme means creating a product that can be used by thousands of merchants.
Themes listed on the Shopify Theme Store must meet strict requirements around code quality, performance, accessibility, and long-term maintenance.
(See Shopify Themestore Requirements)
Because of this, the public theme space is competitive and usually not the best starting point for most developers. That said, if you’re interested in building scalable products or your own SaaS-style business, public themes can be an interesting path.
I’ve also interviewed the CEOs of Archetype Themes and Clean Canvas (Top Theme Companies).
Together, their themes are used by well over 100,000 merchants.
We talked about how they got started and what it really takes to succeed in this space
If you're interested in hearing what they said, find the Interviews right here:
If you’re a more technical person, app development might be the next area that clicks for you.
That said, you don’t need to become an app developer to make a full-time income.
In our bootcamp, the majority of developers earn well without ever building apps, just by focusing on platform work, themes, and client projects.
Still, having a high-level understanding of app development is useful.
It helps you judge what’s possible, communicate better with app developers, and avoid overengineering solutions.
If apps don’t interest you right now, you can skip the next section and move on to freelancing and career topics.
