TheFluidX
Shopify theme enhancement adding visual color swatches to product pages, implemented with minimal admin overhead while proactively addressing code quality issues discovered during review.
The Problem
TheFluidX needed to enhance their Shopify product pages by adding visual color swatches to replace traditional dropdown selectors. The initial request was straightforward: implement color swatches on product detail pages to improve the shopping experience.
Constraints & Considerations
- Minimal Admin Overhead — The solution needed to be simple and not require additional administrative work for the client.
- Existing Theme Architecture — Work within the constraints of the existing Shopify theme structure and Alpine.js variant selection system.
- Backward Compatibility — Ensure new features don't break existing functionality or accessibility features.
Approach & Execution
Implemented a comprehensive color swatch system that automatically detects color options and displays them as visual swatches. The solution integrated seamlessly with the existing Alpine.js variant selection system, requiring no additional admin configuration.
Color Swatch Implementation
Built color swatch functionality across product tiles, collection pages, and product detail pages. The system automatically detects color options using translation keys, supports both "color" and "colour" naming conventions, and includes intelligent fallbacks for hex codes and color images.
Active Variant Highlighting
Added visual feedback with aqua border highlighting to clearly indicate the selected color variant, improving user guidance throughout the selection process.
Code Review Discovery
During the initial code review and investigation phase, several critical issues were discovered that needed to be addressed before implementing the requested features.
Suspicious Script Removal
Identified a suspicious third-party script (`global-script.js`) hosted on Shopify's CDN that was causing site breakage on Linux systems and appeared to manipulate speed test results. The script was removed to improve site stability and security.
Media Handling Bug Fix
Discovered and fixed a critical bug in the product template where the code incorrectly referenced a `media` variable instead of `featured_media`, causing broken image galleries and zoom functionality.
Script Loading Issues
Resolved script loading conflicts that were causing functionality problems throughout the site by ensuring proper script execution order.
Outcome & Impact
Feature Implementation
Successfully implemented color swatch functionality across product pages, collections, and recommendations with zero additional admin overhead for the client.
Proactive Issue Resolution
Identified and resolved critical bugs during code review, including removal of suspicious scripts and fixing media handling issues, improving overall site stability and security.
Clean Implementation
Delivered a maintainable solution that integrates seamlessly with existing theme architecture while preserving accessibility and backward compatibility.
