Advanced: update workflow, backups, partners

The final chapter, for merchants and developers who want to operate Hyprism long-term.

20.1 Theme update workflow

When Hyprism releases a new version, you’ll want to update — both for new features and for compatibility / security fixes.

⚠️ Updating overwrites your code changes, but preserves your theme settings. So:

• Customizations through the theme editor (color scheme tweaks, section settings, etc.) survive updates.
• Custom code (Custom CSS, Custom Liquid, edited Liquid files) does NOT survive — you need to re-apply after update.

Safe update procedure

1. Note your current version. Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Hyprism → Theme info → version.

2. Read the release notes. Check release-notes.md for the new version. Are there breaking changes? Settings reorganized? Removed features?

3. Back up your settings. Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → ⋯ → Download theme. Save the zip as a backup.

4. Install the new version as a duplicate (not direct replacement). Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Add theme → Upload zip. Don’t publish yet.

5. Pull your current settings into the new version:

   shopify theme pull --live --store yourstore.myshopify.com --only="config/settings_data.json"

6. Push the settings into the new theme:

   shopify theme push --store yourstore.myshopify.com --theme-id NEW_THEME_ID --only="config/settings_data.json"

   Or copy config/settings_data.json from the live theme to the new theme via the Shopify code editor.

7. Preview the new theme thoroughly. Click through every page type.

8. Compare with the live theme side-by-side. Notice any visual differences? Test the cart flow. Test mobile.

9. When confident, publish the new theme.

10. Keep the old theme for 7+ days in case rollback is needed.

Updating with custom code changes

If you’ve edited .liquid files (Custom Section, Custom Liquid, or direct file edits):

1. Before updating, document every custom change (git diff, screenshots, notes).
2. Install the new version as duplicate.
3. Re-apply each custom change in the new version.
4. Test thoroughly before publishing.

This is more work than updating without code changes, so think twice before editing Liquid files directly.

20.2 Backup discipline

A common merchant horror story: “I customized my theme for months, then a single setting change broke something, and I had no rollback path.” Avoid this.

What to back up

• settings_data.json — all your customizer settings. Theme editor saves to this file. Lose this, lose all your work.
• Locale overrides in locales/*.json if you’ve edited them.
• Custom Liquid sections — the content of any Custom Liquid section you’ve added carries CSS / Liquid you wrote. It’s stored in settings_data.json as part of the section’s data, so backing up that file covers it.
• Edited theme files — if you’ve edited .liquid / assets/critical.css / etc. directly, those changes live in the theme files themselves. Download the full theme zip to back them up.

How to back up

Quick backup (before risky changes):

shopify theme pull --live --store yourstore.myshopify.com --only="config/settings_data.json"
git add config/settings_data.json
git commit -m "backup: pre-experiment $(date +%F)"

Full backup (periodic):

# Download the entire theme as zip
# Shopify Admin → Online Store → Themes → Hyprism → ⋯ → Download theme
# Save the zip with a date suffix: hyprism-backup-2026-05-12.zip

✅ Recommended: full backup before any custom code change, monthly backups for active stores.

Recovery

If something breaks:

1. Recent issue? Revert in the Shopify code editor — every file has a version history.
2. Older issue? Restore from settings_data.json backup via shopify theme push.
3. Catastrophic? Restore the entire downloaded zip via Shopify Admin → Add theme → Upload zip.

20.3 Working with Shopify Partners

For custom development beyond what theme settings allow, hire a Shopify Partner.

When to hire a Partner

• Adding a new section type
• Custom checkout extensions (Shopify Plus)
• App integration that requires Liquid changes
• Performance optimization beyond what theme settings offer
• Custom Liquid logic that affects multiple pages

How to find one

Shopify Partners Directory — official directory with vetted partners. Filter by:

• Service type (development, design, marketing)
• Industry expertise
• Location (timezone-friendly partners help)
• Price range

✅ Look for partners with theme-experience specifically (not just app development) and ideally block-first / @theme-architecture experience (Hyprism is built on this Shopify pattern).

Brief the partner

Before they start:

1. Share CLAUDE.md — the engineering reference. It saves them hours of orientation.
2. Share this manual — so they understand what’s customer-facing vs developer-facing.
3. Share release-notes.md — the most recent version they’re working from.
4. Be specific about the goal — “Add a custom ‘Frequently Bought Together’ section” is clearer than “Improve product pages”.

Cost expectations

Rough ballpark (2026):

• Adding a new section: 4–12 hours of partner time
• Custom Liquid features: 2–8 hours per feature
• Performance optimization: 4–16 hours
• App + theme integration: 6–20 hours

Partner rates: $60–$200/hour depending on tier and location.

20.4 Performance monitoring

Once your store is live:

Tool	What it shows	Cadence
Shopify Web Performance Dashboard	Real-user CWV from your actual visitors	Weekly automatic
Google Search Console — Core Web Vitals	Real-user CWV from Google’s perspective	Daily
Google Analytics 4	Page load times, bounce-rate correlation	Daily
Lighthouse CI (for power users)	Run Lighthouse against every deploy automatically	Per deploy

Set up at least the Shopify Web Performance Dashboard (free, built-in). It alerts you if Lighthouse Mobile drops below 75 (the Theme Store gate).

20.5 Shopify Theme Store submission (developers)

For developers planning to submit Hyprism-based themes (or Hyprism itself) to the Shopify Theme Store:

Pre-submission checklist

⚠️ These are items to verify, not items already ticked. An earlier version of this list marked every line with a checkmark, which read as a statement about the theme’s current state. Three of them were not true. Check each one against your build.

Verified in this theme:

• Robots.txt — Shopify auto-generates it and the theme ships none, which is correct. If you added the optional AI-crawler drop-in (§13.6), verify it resolves.
• .shopifyignore present, excluding dev artifacts from theme.zip
• Theme version in config/settings_schema.json is 1.0.0
• Default locale complete in English, German complete as well (2,809 schema keys in both)
• Four presets in config/settings_data.json: Hyprism, Signature, Editorial, Atelier

Still to do before submission:

• ⛔ release-notes.md in the theme root — Shopify requires it, and it is not there. One entry for the first version is enough to start.
• ⛔ A /listings/ folder if you want per-preset template and section overrides. The four presets currently differ in theme settings only; without /listings/ a reviewer sees the same layout under four names.
• Lighthouse Mobile ≥75 and Accessibility ≥85 on every template — measure, do not assume (§14.5)
• All schemas validate (schema.org Validator + Google Rich Results Test)
• Every template renders without console errors on a dev store
• Browser matrix (Chrome / Edge / Firefox / Safari / iOS Safari)
• External merchant documentation site live, linked prominently from the listing
• Public support contact form, mobile-friendly

Submission flow

1. Shopify Partner Dashboard → Themes → New theme submission.
2. Upload theme.zip (shopify theme package builds this).
3. Fill in listing details: name, description, screenshots, demo store URL.
4. Submit for review.
5. Shopify reviewer responds within 4–8 weeks with feedback or approval.
6. Address feedback, resubmit.
7. Once approved, theme goes live in the Theme Store.

See Shopify’s Theme Store submission documentation.

20.6 Long-term Hyprism strategy

For merchants planning multi-year commitment to Hyprism:

Stay current

• Subscribe to release notes (manually check release-notes.md quarterly, or watch the GitHub repo if applicable).
• Update theme once or twice a year — not every release. Major versions need more testing.

Build a custom-code library

Document your custom changes (Custom CSS, Custom Liquid, app integrations) in your own repo or notebook. When Hyprism updates, you have a checklist of what to re-apply.

Plan for v1.0 → 1.x updates

Minor version updates (1.0 → 1.1) generally don’t break customizations. Major version updates (1.x → 2.0) may. Read release notes for breaking changes.

Have a backup theme ready

Keep a second theme published (e.g., Dawn) as fallback. If Hyprism breaks during an update, you can quickly switch to the backup, fix things, then switch back.

Manual complete

You’ve reached the end of the operating manual. Twenty chapters covering every section, block, template, setting, and pattern in Hyprism.

Where to from here

• Building → start with chapter 2 — Foundation, then sections you need.
• Going live → run through chapter 21 — Pre-launch checklist.
• Stuck → check chapter 19 — Troubleshooting, or the engineering reference CLAUDE.md.
• Updates → watch release-notes.md for new features.

Welcome to Hyprism. Have fun building.