Apps
Placebo needs no app to work. It is built to receive the apps most stores add: reviews, subscriptions, bundles, and Shopify's own Search and Discovery. This page says where apps go and what the theme does with their data.
App blocks#
An app block is a piece of an app that you place in the theme editor like any other block. Placebo accepts app blocks in these places:
- Product page: in First screen and Below the first screen, inside Buy buttons, on the gallery through Apps on the gallery, inside Reviews, and inside container blocks such as Group, Detail card and Full-width group.
- Featured product: among its blocks.
- Pages and the home page: in the Apps section, which holds app blocks only, and in most content sections.
- Collection and search results: as blocks of the Collection and Search results sections.
- Cart page: as blocks of the Cart section.
- Blog and blog posts: as blocks of the Blog and Blog post sections.
To add one, select Add block in the place you want and choose the app under Apps.
Apps that work as app embeds, such as chat widgets, are turned on under App embeds in the theme editor sidebar. They are independent of the theme.
Apps that give you a code snippet#
Some apps ask you to paste a snippet. Use a Custom Liquid section or block, or the Liquid code setting of the cart drawer. Read the note on custom code first.
Subscriptions#
The theme supports selling plans, which is how Shopify models subscriptions, prepaid plans and pre-orders. It works with the Shopify Subscriptions app and with any app that creates selling plans.
- Install your subscription app and create a plan in the app. Add your products to it.
- In the theme editor, open the product template and check that the Purchase options block sits directly above Buy buttons. Add it if your template does not have it.
- Set Selected when the page opens and the labels. Type what your terms allow in Benefits.
What the theme shows:
- On the product page: one-time purchase and one tile per plan group, the delivery frequency, the saving computed from the plan's real price, and billing details for prepaid plans.
- In the cart: the selling plan of each line.
- A product sold only by subscription opens on its first plan and shows no one-time option.
Subscription management for customers, such as skipping or cancelling, is provided by your subscription app and Shopify's customer accounts, not by the theme. Use Subscription policy page to open your own terms in a panel from the product page.
Bundles#
With the Shopify Bundles app, or another bundle app, a bundle is a product. It works in the theme like any product. Two blocks help:
- Bundle contents lists what the bundle holds on the product page. Shopify gives themes the components of a bundle only in the cart, so pick the products in the block or fill the product metafield
custom.bundle_items. See Bundles. - In the cart, the components of a bundle are listed under its line.
The theme's own Bundle builder needs no app. It adds the chosen products to the cart as separate lines and applies no discount by itself. To discount a set, create an automatic discount in your Shopify admin.
Search and Discovery#
Shopify's free Search and Discovery app controls three things the theme displays.
| In the app | In the theme |
|---|---|
| Filters | The filters of collection pages and search results, and their order. See Filters. |
| Product recommendations, complementary products | The Complementary products block, the Often purchased with block, the add-on in Buy buttons when Add-on product is set to First complementary product, and the cart's suggested products. |
| Product recommendations, related products | The Related products block and section. |
| Search settings, such as synonyms and boosts | The results of the search panel and the search results page. |
Without the app, the theme still shows Shopify's automatic related products and default filters. Complementary products need the app, because that is where you choose them.
Review apps#
The theme does not collect reviews. It displays the rating your review app stores in Shopify's standard product rating metafields, and it gives the app's own block a frame.
- Install a review app that supports app blocks and fills the standard product rating metafields. Most do, including Shopify's partners listed in the Shopify App Store.
- On the product template, add the Reviews block, then add your app's review block inside it. The heading and the rating summary come from the theme, and the list of reviews comes from the app.
- If the app's block shows its own summary, turn off Show the rating summary.
Where the rating appears once the metafields are filled:
- On product cards, when Show rating is on under Theme settings > Product cards.
- Under the product title, when Show product rating is on in the Product heading block. It links to the Reviews block.
- In the buy bar, when Show product rating is on in its settings.
- In the Rating block, wherever you place it.
- In the product's structured data, so search engines can show stars.
Nothing is shown for a product without reviews. The Selected quotes block and the Testimonials section are for quotes you choose yourself. They are labeled as your selection and are not presented as reviews.
Other apps#
- Wishlist and similar buttons on the gallery: add the app block to Apps on the gallery and choose its Corner.
- Store pickup: the Buy buttons block shows pickup availability from Shopify when Show pickup availability is on. No app is needed.
- Translation apps: see Translations.
If an app does not display correctly, contact the app's developer first, because they control the app's code. We can confirm whether the theme's app block areas work as documented. See the support policy.