Palo Alto heme update crashed store & reduced store speed & performance

Technical Q&A
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Topic summary

A Shopify store owner experienced critical issues after updating the Palo Alto theme. The problems began when collections with many items failed to load, prompting a theme update that initially seemed to resolve the issue.

Major Issues Encountered:

  • Complete store outage lasting 2 days, occurring 5 days after the initial update
  • Performance score dropped dramatically from 98 to 27
  • Another Palo Alto update appeared shortly after, compounding concerns
  • All advertising campaigns were disconnected and flagged due to the disruption

Technical Findings:
The TinyIMG: Speed & SEO app identified problematic JavaScript code requiring removal. The store owner cannot access certain elements due to Palo Alto’s firewall restrictions.

Current Status:
The discussion remains open with the original poster seeking solutions. One response provided generic speed optimization tips (compressed images, minimizing CSS/JS files, using single hero images, implementing AMP, optimizing app usage, considering professional help) but did not directly address the theme-specific crash or performance degradation issues.

Note: Some text in the original post appears corrupted or reversed, making portions difficult to interpret fully.

Summarized with AI on November 14. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

website: https://huntedfox.co

I noticed that several collections (with many items) were not loading when a client emailed us. I figured out that I had to update the Palo Alto theme (WHY would I have to hunt this information down? Shouldn’t the developer have alerted me???)

So, I updated the theme. Seemed fixed. 5 days later, my store crashed- went completely dark for 2 days.

Now, I am having all of these issues with my speed score and performance, and ANOTHER Palo Alto update shows up. I use TinyIMG: Speed & SEO app- they shared a screenshot of JS that needs to be removed (but coming from Shopify). I cannot access any of this due to Palo Alto’s firewall surrounding this.

The records CLEARLY show a major drop from a 98 performance rating to a pathetic 27 now. This could not be worse timing. All of our ads disconnected and flagged us due to this mess. This is the LAST thing we can deal with right now.

Does ANYONE have a proposed solution?

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2

Hi @HUNTEDFOX

I hope you are doing good and welcome to the Shopify Community!
I am San from MS Web Designer.

Here are the few tips to Speed Up your Shopify store-

  1. Use compressed images
  2. Optimize use of Shopify apps
  3. Implement AMP
  4. Consider Professional Help
  5. Use a single Hero Image
  6. Minify Js/Css files

Regards,

San