Setting a different page as your landing page / home page

Topic summary

Core Issue:
Shopify does not natively support setting a custom page as the homepage, unlike WordPress. Users cannot directly assign a different page as the landing page through the admin interface.

Community Frustration:
Multiple participants express disappointment with this limitation, calling it a “terrible gap” and criticizing that basic functionality requires hiring experts or workarounds.

Primary Workaround Solution:
The accepted solution involves adding JavaScript redirect code to the theme.liquid file:

  • Navigate to Online Store → Edit Code → theme.liquid
  • Insert redirect code before the <head> tag that checks for the index template
  • Modify the URL to point to the desired landing page
  • Code example: window.location.href = '/products/[your-url]';

Advanced Method:
One user provides a detailed 4-step process involving:

  1. Creating a custom page template
  2. Building a landing page with custom URL (/pages/welcome)
  3. Creating a separate home page for logo navigation
  4. Adding conditional redirect code in theme.liquid

Open Question:
One user asks about removing “/pages/” from the visible URL structure but receives no response.

Status: Multiple workarounds provided; discussion remains helpful for future users facing this limitation.

Summarized with AI on November 2. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.

I was trying to find a way to set the Black Friday landing page I created as the temporary homepage until the end of the month and this work! Thank you!