Custom templates not showing up to be assigned to pages

Store Design

Topic summary

Core Issue:
Custom templates created in Shopify themes don’t appear in the dropdown menu when trying to assign them to pages.

Primary Solution:
Templates can only be assigned to pages when the theme is live. The workaround is to:

  • Temporarily publish the draft theme
  • Assign the custom template to the desired page
  • Switch the theme back to draft status

This process takes about a minute and can be done during low-traffic periods if the store is already active.

Alternative Workaround (for avoiding theme publishing):
One user shared a detailed method to test templates without making the theme live:

  • Create duplicate “-test” versions of templates and sections in the live theme
  • Create a test page and assign the test template to it
  • Use Preview mode on the unpublished theme to view the test page URL
  • Copy over any missing snippets as needed
  • Keep the test page hidden until ready

Status:
Multiple users confirmed the “publish first” solution works. The alternative method allows testing without disrupting the live site, though it requires more setup and may initially show errors for missing files.

Summarized with AI on October 26. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

I created a custom template in flow theme but when it comes to assign the template to pages the template don’t show up

2 Likes
2

@fiji

oh sorry for that

if you have work draft theme so doesn’t show

if work with draft theme so please first create live theme that custom template after create draft then will show this

3 Likes
3

What??

3 Likes
4

Thank you!

1 Like
5

@NB5

its my pleasure to help us

6

Just in case someone is having trouble understanding this solution:
You cannot assign a template to a page if the theme you’re working on is not live. You’ll need to make it live first, at which point you can set the template in the pages section, and then set it as a draft again.

3 Likes
7

@asia-acorn

oh sorry for that issue can you please share store url so i will check and let you know

8

Could you kindly clarify if when you are creating a theme on a shop that is currently not live, and you don’t want to push life until the launch date, there’s any other way to make the theme appear? I’m using the latest version of Dawn, and I successfully created one new theme and was able to assign it, but the second theme I created doesn’t show up on the dropdown ‘‘Online Store- Theme Template’’ when I want to assign it to a Page (On Sales Channels- Online Store- Pages- The page I want to connect with a theme’'. I tried Shopify’s customer service and they didn’t know why it wasn’t showing up, so I have no solution. I’m able to see the theme and edit in on the Customise portal of the website, just not assign it.

1 Like
9

I am having the exact same problem

10

I was having trouble with it, but I fixed mine by publishing my store, the option then came up.

11

@SGIVD and @mrmclau
So sorry for the late response, I hope you were able to get an answer to your question.
Based on my current experience, there is no way to apply a template to a theme’s page without first making that theme live. The switch only takes maybe a single minute, make the theme live, assign the template to the page, switch the theme back. If you have high traffic to your site already you could always pick a low-traffic moment to do it, but alas it doesn’t seem to be possible without first making the theme live.

1 Like
12

You can get around this by making duplicate “-test” versions of the template and section on your live theme, then creating a test page or article, then applying the test template to your “-test” page. You can go into Preview mode on your unpublished theme, then go to the test URL in your browser (while you’re in Preview mode) and you should be able to tweak from there.

Keep in mind that your new theme will probably have very different styles and Liquid structure. Be prepared for a mess when you first copy over and view your test file this way. You’ll get errors for any snippets that you haven’t copied over yet. Just edit the template or CSS in your test theme, copy over any snippets you’re missing, and you can preview anything you want before going live.

It will look like this:

  • Live theme

    • templates
      • mycustompage-test.liquid (new file name)
    • sections
      • mycustomsection-test.liquid (new file name)
    • snippets (you can use the same file names as your unpublished theme as long as those files don’t already exist in your live theme)
      • snippet-1.liquid
      • snippet-2.liquid

  • Unpublished theme

    • templates
      • mycustompage.liquid
    • sections
      • mycustomselection.liquid
    • snippets
      • snippet-1.liquid
      • snippet-2.liquid

  • Shopify admin

    • duplicate page/article “My Stuff”
    • rename page/article “My Stuff Test”
    • assign template “mycustompage-test” or “mycustomarticle-test” accordingly
    • keep it hidden
    • keep it safe save
    • make note of the page slug; probably a handleized version of the page name

Visit “yourshop.com/pages/my-stuff-test” or “yourshop.com/blogs/blogname/my-article-test” and edit your unpublished theme to make changes.

(You can use different file names for the new files on your live theme; “-test” is just what I use. It doesn’t matter what you name them as long as you can identify them in the template selection dropdown on the page/article admin page.)

1 Like
13

you saved my day bro, GOD BLESS YOU