New Admin Display

Shopify Discussion
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AI-generated summary

A merchant reported being surprised by Shopify’s refreshed admin interface, saying there was no clear advance notice and Sidekick could not explain the change. Main complaints include Sidekick moving to the bottom, the left sidebar turning black, and the shipment “notify customer” control being harder to distinguish.

Others noted the change was announced in Shopify’s changelog on September 15, though the original poster felt a direct notification or updated Sidekick guidance would have prevented wasted time. A related longer thread was shared, where no built-in setting has been found to move Sidekick or change the sidebar color, though a browser CSS workaround may hide the Sidekick bar.

For fulfillment notifications, participants suggested checking the order timeline for a shipping confirmation email entry. A correction clarified that if no email entry exists, the merchant should use the fulfillment menu > Edit tracking and enable customer notification when saving.

No resolution was reached; the discussion remains focused on usability concerns and communication around the rollout.

1

Was anyone else caught off guard by the new admin display with NO advance notice. I spent almost half an hour with Sidekick trying to figure out what was going on - Sidekick had no idea the admin display was refreshed. I had to contact Support to find out and I still see NO advantage to the refreshed display, only problems!

Sidekick is now on the bottom instead of the top.

The left sidebar is now black

When confirming shipment of an order, it is now much harder to tell if the notify customer button is enabled or disabled!

2

@Gapolyglot You’re not the only one. There’s a longer thread about the refresh here: New Admin Visual Refresh issues . Nobody has found a setting yet to move Sidekick or change the sidebar colour, but people there shared a browser CSS workaround that hides the Sidekick bar.

On the notify-customer worry, here’s a quick way to be sure: after you fulfil, scroll down to the order’s timeline. If the customer was notified, you’ll see an entry saying the shipping confirmation email was sent to their address. If it isn’t there, you can resend it from the timeline instead of redoing the fulfilment.

3

Small correction to my last line: if there’s no email entry in the timeline, there’s nothing to resend from there. Instead, open the fulfilment’s ⋯ menu > Edit tracking and tick the option to notify the customer when you save.

4

This new look isn’t all that surprising. It was announced in the changelog on September 15: A new look for the Shopify admin - Shopify Changelog

At first glance, the new look takes some getting used to. That’s true. Still, change is a constant, so the ADmin is allowed to evolve as well. Many changes had already been implemented (e.g., new category pages), so it was only a matter of time before everything was updated to match the new style.

5

Hi there @Gapolyglot
I can feel your frustration, especially when a familiar admin workflow changes without notice. The shipment notification setting is especially critical, since it can impact customer communication. For now I would just recommend to watch the notification toggle closely before finishng each fulfillment and use browser zoom if the contrast is making it hard to differentiate the state. For Sidekick, I’d also take its answers with a grain of salt when the admin interface has changed recently, as its advice may be out-of-date with UI changes.

6

I just found out about the Changelog after Sidekick could not help me and I contacted Human Support. A simple notification or even telling Sidekick about it would have saved me a lot of time. I am just glad my other still has the old display. I much prefer it.