A developer is encountering limitations when trying to add app blocks to third-party theme sections. The core issue: Shopify restricts sections with app blocks from having multiple settings of the same type (e.g., two ‘link_list’ settings in a header section for mobile and desktop navigation).
Current workaround being explored: The developer wants to render app blocks directly in templates without using the theme editor, bypassing the need to convert sections to support dynamic rendering.
Shopify’s response: Suggested using deep links for app embed blocks (which activate automatically) or having merchants manually add app blocks through the theme editor. However, this doesn’t address the core limitation.
Status: The issue remains unresolved. The developer seeks a method to include app block code directly in theme snippets without copying the entire block code or being constrained by section setting restrictions.
We can not really convert a section in a third party theme to a dynamically rendered section with app block support ( the section does have more than one block of an autofill setting, which is not supported as per this link)
Instead, can we render an app block directly without using the theme editor support? example:
{% render '@app/xxxxx/embed/' %}
Hi there Wmeligy,
Thanks for getting in touch - just to confirm is your extension an app block or an app embed block? If the former, you could use a deep link, that merchants can use following installation, to activate the app embed block automatically - without needing to interact with the theme editor. Otherwise if your extension is an app block, merchants will need to add this to a section (or create a new section) on the theme editor. Is there a specific issue with a third-party theme that you’re running into? It would be great to learn more about your specific use case.
Hello,
The problem is the limitation for using App blocks in a section, namely The limitation of not having more than one setting of the same type in a section rendering app blocks ( as mentioned here ).
This is stopping us from adding an app block in place ( real life example: A theme has two ‘link_list’ types in header section for mobile and normal navigation, that stops us from adding an app block in header ).
That is why as an alternative, we wanted to check if we can directly include the app block in place, without having to copy the whole code of the block in a theme specific snippet.
Thank you for your reply and time