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Signal Theme Docs

Launch checklist

Work down this once before you remove the password page. Most of it is five minutes; the testing section is the part people skip and regret.

Brand

Section titled “Brand”
  • Logo uploaded under Theme settings → Brand. A wide wordmark suits the header better than a square mark.
  • Favicon set. It is the icon in every browser tab and bookmark.
  • Brand name set — it feeds structured data, the loading screen, the age gate and gift cards. Note the header and footer wordmarks are set on those sections, not here.
  • Colours done. See Change your colors.
  • Typography chosen.
Section titled “Navigation and pages”
  • Main menu built under Content → Menus, nested where you want panels. See Set up your navigation.
  • Footer menu built and selected.
  • Every page created and assigned its template — creating a page does not apply a layout. See Assign page templates.
  • A wishlist page exists if the wishlist is switched on, with its URL matching the Wishlist page setting. Without it the header heart leads to a 404.
  • Policy pages written — refund, privacy, terms, shipping. Shopify links these in the footer and at checkout.

Products

Section titled “Products”
  • Every product has at least two images, so the card hover swap works.
  • Alt text on every image. Screen readers announce it and search engines index it. Product media, blog post featured images and Files are three separate places in admin — check all three.
  • Colour options match your swatch map under Theme settings → Swatches, or they render as plain text instead of colour chips.
  • Prices, compare-at prices and inventory correct.
  • Product descriptions written — the product page shows a truncated lede with the full text in an accordion below.

Cart and checkout

Section titled “Cart and checkout”
  • Free shipping threshold set, if you offer one, and it matches your actual shipping rules.
  • Gift wrap product created and selected, if you offer it.
  • Shipping rates configured in Shopify settings.
  • Payment providers active, including accelerated checkout if you want the Buy it now button to appear.
  • Taxes configured.

Test before you launch

Section titled “Test before you launch”

  1. Buy something. Place a real order with a test payment, start to finish. Nothing else finds the problem where the variant adds but the shipping rate is missing.

  2. Do it on a phone. Not a narrow browser window — an actual phone. Check the drawer menu, the image gallery, the buy column, the cart drawer.

  3. Click every menu item, including the panel links and the row at the top of each expanded item in the mobile drawer.

  4. Search for something that does not exist. Confirm the empty state reads sensibly.

  5. Try the wishlist and compare, if they are on. Add, remove, reload the page, and confirm things persist.

  6. Open a product with a sold-out variant. Its colour or size should read as unavailable before anyone clicks it.

  7. Check your emails. Order confirmation, shipping notification. They come from Shopify rather than the theme, but customers do not know that.

Final checks

Section titled “Final checks”
  • Preview in an incognito window. It catches anything that only works because you are logged into the admin.
  • Storefront password removed — Online Store → Preferences.
  • Store title and meta description written, under the same Preferences.
  • Google Analytics or your tracking connected, if you use one.
  • A custom domain connected, so customers never see the .myshopify.com address.

After launch

Section titled “After launch”

Watch the first few orders closely. The failures that matter are rarely visual — a shipping rate that does not apply, a variant that cannot be bought, a confirmation email that does not arrive.