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In general the Asset API scope changes make sense, as it forces apps to adopt the Online Store 2.0 structures, however there are a few requirements that will make installing apps a much worse experience for merchants.
For example, our app creates a few custom pages on a store which require uploading some alternate page templates to the theme. Under the new rules Shopify says instead of uploading the template files for the merchants we should:
Provide instructions to create the alternate template using the theme editor
So the solution is to make merchants manually create theme files and copy/past code? This seems like a terrible UX for merchants who aren't comfortable with the theme editor (most merchants). Plus it doesn't solve the problem of dead code being left behind by apps.
I'm all for improving the merchant experience with app installs, and most of these requirements will make stores faster and apps easier to use, but these rules are way too strict. Please chime in if you think I'm wrong here, but any solutions that require merchants to start modifying their theme files to install an app is a huge step in the wrong direction. It's hard enough to get people to click "Save" after we give them the deep link to turn on the app embed.
Shopify - please relax some of these rules so we can provide merchants with a seamless, no-code app experience!!
Where is the dialog with partners around these significant changes?
Solved! Go to the solution
This is an accepted solution.
Hey everyone,
Our team has carefully reviewed all of your posts in this thread, and fully understand the solutions you are looking to achieve based on these changes. We have collated and passed on feedback directly to our product team. Although we cannot guarantee how they will act on it, we always strive to communicate and advocate for user experiences and insights like yours.
We also wanted to share some findings with you after working through a few of the points raised:
We appreciate your contribution to this discussion and encourage you to continue the conversation in our partner slack here.
Thank you for your time,
Shopify Developer Support
Developer Support @ Shopify
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- Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
- To learn more visit Shopify.dev or the Shopify Web Design and Development Blog
In my mind, users shouldn't have to do anything in the theme editor to enable app features. Why should users have to spend any time in the theme editor? They should be able to click "go" in the app and have everything magically appear in the storefront in the right spots, all wired up and ready to go.
As Matt has mentioned, app functionality will require a bunch of steps now like
1) configure/setup entities in the app
2) go into the theme editor and configure the app's blocks
and in some cases 3) create custom pages and templates.
What will likely happen in a lot of cases is merchants will end up giving app teams theme access to the store and the app teams will have to go create things in there by hand.
Thinking of the recent Asset API Scope changes…
Similar to Shopify, I too am frustrated when code is left behind when a merchant uninstalls an app. I’d love to have a better procedure for code cleanup because once an app is uninstalled, one cannot make a del request with the Asset API!
However, if we are unable to inject section code into a theme, we must resort to app blocks.
What I’m concerned about is how crucial sections are. With blocks, a merchant only has one layer of editing in the theme hierarchy, sections provide two layers which allows for more flexibility in the Shopify theme customizer.
What I’d like to see is an app section if Shopify is going to depreciate the Asset API scope! Furthermore, until there is a viable solution to handle sections handled by apps, we should be able to continue to use the Asset API del, and put requests!
My app also adds an alternate product template (.json) with 4 sections in a specific order. I try to apply for an exemption with no success. What is the alternative here? The docs ask me to provide instructions to merchants
Now:
New way?
I think the users cannot finish the steps here.
Agreed, this is a horrible "solution":
Vintage themes: Provide instructions to add code snippets for vintage themes or non-sectioned pages. Recommend that merchants to migrate the template to Online Store 2.0
Most of the merchants can't (and shouldn't have to) modify HTML.
Also, it shouldn't be up to app developers to force (beg) merchants to update to 2.0.
There should be a way to execute a cleanup script after the app has been uninstalled.
This is an accepted solution.
Hey everyone,
Our team has carefully reviewed all of your posts in this thread, and fully understand the solutions you are looking to achieve based on these changes. We have collated and passed on feedback directly to our product team. Although we cannot guarantee how they will act on it, we always strive to communicate and advocate for user experiences and insights like yours.
We also wanted to share some findings with you after working through a few of the points raised:
We appreciate your contribution to this discussion and encourage you to continue the conversation in our partner slack here.
Thank you for your time,
Shopify Developer Support
Developer Support @ Shopify
- Was this reply helpful? Click Like to let us know!
- Was your question answered? Mark it as an Accepted Solution
- To learn more visit Shopify.dev or the Shopify Web Design and Development Blog