Question about Product Images/Color Swatch Functionality in Kalles Theme

Technical Q&A
1

Hi everyone,

I recently hired a Shopify developer to create a children’s fashion store for me. I purchased the Kalles theme, and we have been working on it. One of the features I was hoping to implement is what I believe is called a Product Images/Color Swatch functionality.

Here’s what I am looking to achieve:

  1. If a product comes in two colors (for example, a t-shirt in black and white), I want only the images of one color (e.g., white) to appear by default, and when I select a different variation (e.g., black), the corresponding images for that color are displayed.
  2. I also want to display the product in its respective category as two separate products, where each color appears as an individual product (e.g., one listing for the white t-shirt, and another for the black t-shirt).

However, the developer responded by saying that this feature has been discontinued by Shopify and cannot be implemented. When I asked about it being available in the Kalles theme demo, the developer stated that it may still work for stores that implemented it previously, but it is no longer available for new stores.

My question is:
How accurate is this? Is it really not possible to implement these features anymore in Shopify stores, or are there any workarounds or third-party apps that can help achieve this functionality?

Thanks in advance for your insights!

2

Hi @Omar1994 both are possible, the devs’ probably referring to implementations for vintage themes vs OS2.0 themes

  1. is a selected-variant-images advanced theme customization ; not to be confused with the select-variants-by-clicking-images customizations.

  2. two separate “products” is an advanced theme customization to only show specific variant options on certain pages, …

or alternatively at it’s simplest is literally done by having two actually separate products aka product families aka flat products aka sibling products aka combined listings .. and then using theme customizations to present them as a single product or separate in tandem backend automation for inventory syncing etc.

Merchant that need this customization to increase revenue can contact me for services.
Contact info in FORUM signature.
ALWAYS please provide context, examples: store url, theme name, post url(s) , or any further detail in ALL correspondence.

3

Thanks @PaulNewton for your reply! Just to make sure I understand, could you briefly explain how these customizations would be implemented in a simple way? I’d like to have a better idea of how feasible it is before discussing it further.

Also, how would you suggest I respond to the developer’s claim that these features are no longer possible to implement? It seems like from your explanation, it’s still very much achievable, and I want to make sure I’m communicating that correctly.

Thanks again!

4

advanced does not equal simple , making tutorials for either implementation is beyond the scope of a forum post.

grossly, selected-variant-images is typically done using a text convention in the images alternate-text , or metafields, to map images to the variants somehow and so it’s somewhat manageable in the product admin by the merchant

separate-collection-variants is adjust product loops and swatch display logic etc to set the proper variant.

The description of which don’t even begin to address the actual underlying business logic.

“not possible” is sometimes a response to a client making project going out of scope or low budget with bad expectations trying to do to much instead of just asking for more money to solve more problems.

Be a better client, paying more money to solve bigger problems is a good way to get to goals.

5

Thank you very much @PaulNewton for the explanation. My intention was simply to confirm that these features are indeed possible and to demonstrate that to the developer, even with my limited understanding of the subject.

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