Setup

Getting started.

Installation

Strata installs like any Shopify theme. No apps, plugins, or third-party accounts required.

Add Strata to your store

From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Themes. Click Add theme, then search for Strata — Sidebar Commercein the Shopify Theme Store. Click Try theme or Buy theme.

Choose a palette

After installing, go to Customize. Open Theme settings (gear icon). Strata ships with three palettes — Midnight (cool dark), Clay (warm neutral), and Dark (deep black). Select one as your starting point. You can also pick from seven accent colours: Auto, Electric, Clay, Volt, Ember, Iris, and Blush.

Upload your logo

In Theme settings under Brand, upload your logo as an SVG or transparent PNG. Strata displays a text logo with a coloured dot (your store name) in the sidebar when no image is uploaded.

Set up navigation

Strata's sidebar reads from multiple menus in Shopify admin > Navigation:

main-menuShop group — your primary product categories and collections

collectionsCollections group — featured or seasonal collections

houseHouse group — brand pages like Our Story, Journal, About, Help, Contact

The sidebar also automatically shows Wishlist, Orders (for logged-in customers), and Account links in the "You" group.

Configure your homepage

The homepage template includes pre-configured sections: Hero Slideshow, Benefits Strip, Category Rail, Product Grid, Shop the Look, Most Loved, Story Teaser, UGC Gallery, and Reviews Showcase. Each section is drag-and-drop from the theme editor sidebar. Remove what you don't need, reorder, and assign collections.

Configure the bag rail

In Theme settings under Layout, toggle Bag rail dockedto show a persistent cart rail on the right side of desktop pages. When disabled, the cart opens as a slide-out overlay. Set the Free shipping threshold to display a progress bar in the cart.

Publish

When you're happy with the customisation, go back to Online Store > Themes and click Publish on Strata. Your previous theme remains available as an unpublished backup.

Recommended image sizes

For the sharpest results on retina displays:

Hero slides2400 x 1350 px (16:9)

Product images1600 x 2000 px (4:5)

Collection banner1600 x 900 px (16:9)

UGC / lifestyle800 x 1000 px (4:5)

Blog article cover1200 x 800 px (3:2)

Logo (SVG preferred)240 x 80 px (any)

Product setup tips

Colour swatches: Name your variant option "Color" or "Colour". Strata automatically generates colour dot swatches on product cards using a built-in colour map. Supported colour names include Oatmeal, Stone, Indigo, Washed Black, Heather Grey, Sky, Olive, Charcoal, Camel, Natural, Navy, Black, and White.

Size quick-add: Name your variant option "Size". Strata shows size buttons directly on product cards in collection grids, allowing one-click add-to-cart without leaving the page.

Collection filtering: Enable filters in Shopify admin > Online Store > Navigation > Collection and search filters. Add Color, Size, Price, and any other filter groups. Strata renders these as accordion facets with swatches for colour, checkboxes for other values, and min/max inputs for price range.

Development / CLI

If you're a developer customising Strata locally:

shopify theme dev --store your-store.myshopify.com
# Serves at http://127.0.0.1:9292
# Hot-reloads Liquid, CSS, and JS changes

Run shopify theme check before deploying to catch Liquid errors and performance warnings.