Auro Ritual Documentation

Auro Ritual is an editorial Shopify theme being developed by Auroinfo for specialty coffee, tea and brewing equipment merchants. This guide describes development version 0.3.0.

This guide describes a development version. The theme is not ready for a production launch. The theme is not approved, listed or available for purchase on the Shopify Theme Store. Storefront validation and release checks are still in progress, and sections, settings and behaviour can change before release.

Working safely while the theme is in development

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

1. Work on an unpublished copy of the theme. In Shopify admin, open Online Store › Themes, add the theme to your theme library, and leave it unpublished.
2. Use Customize on that unpublished copy. Changes you save there do not affect the live storefront.
3. Preview each change at desktop and mobile widths inside the theme editor before saving.
4. Keep a note of which theme version you are testing, so that any issue you report can be reproduced.

Do not publish this development build to a live storefront. Treat everything in this guide as preparation for a future release rather than as production setup.

What this guide does not cover

• Theme specific setting names, section names and control layouts are not final and are deliberately not listed here.
• Image dimensions, performance figures and app compatibility are not claimed, because they have not been verified for this build.
• No screenshots are included. Any screenshots published later will be genuine captures of the shipped build.

The home page is assembled in the Shopify theme editor from sections. The sections available to you depend on the theme build you have installed.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

1. Open Online Store › Themes and choose Customize on your unpublished copy of Auro Ritual.
2. Use the page selector at the top of the theme editor to select the Home page.
3. In the left sidebar, select a section to open its settings. Reorder sections by dragging them; hide one with the visibility control rather than deleting it while you are still testing.
4. Where a section offers an image picker, choose an image from your library or upload one.
5. Switch between the desktop and mobile previews in the theme editor and check the result at both.
6. Select Save.

Section settings vary by theme, so use the sidebar labels in your build rather than expecting a fixed list.

Suggested reading order for a storefront home page

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

Auro Ritual is being designed around a simple editorial sequence: an opening statement, a small number of curated product groupings, supporting origin or brewing context, and a clear path into collections. Use that as an editorial plan for your own content while the matching sections are being finished.

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

The editorial hero is the opening statement of the home page: a short headline, a short supporting line, one call to action and one strong photograph. It is intended to read like the opening of an article rather than a banner advert.

Editing the hero

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Open the theme editor on an unpublished copy, select the home page, open the hero section in the sidebar, edit its text fields, use the image picker if the section provides one, preview at desktop and mobile, then Save.

Preparing the photograph

General, theme independent advice for storefront photography:

• Use the largest clean original you have and let Shopify generate the sizes it needs. Do not upscale a small image.
• Keep the important subject away from the edges. A wide image is cropped differently at narrow widths, so anything near an edge can be cut.
• Leave an uncluttered area where the headline sits, so that text stays readable over the image.
• Check contrast between the headline and the part of the image behind it, at both desktop and mobile widths.
• Write descriptive alternative text for the image in your Shopify media library.

No specific pixel dimensions are given here. Published dimension guidance will follow once the hero section is finalised and measured.

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

A tasting collection is intended to present a small, curated group of coffees or teas side by side, with enough information to compare them: what they taste like, where they are from and how they are best prepared.

Making sure products appear

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

A product only appears in a storefront collection when all of the following are true:

• The product status is Active.
• The product is published to the Online Store sales channel.
• For a manual collection, the product has been added to that collection.
• For an automated collection, the product matches the collection’s conditions. Conditions are evaluated against product data such as tag, type, vendor, title, price or inventory, so a product missing that data will not be included.

Check these in Products and in Products › Collections. If a product is still missing after all three are satisfied, note the product handle and collection handle and report it.

Writing comparable product information

Keep the same shape of information across the products in one collection so that a customer can compare them. Short, consistent tasting descriptors are more useful than long prose that differs product to product.

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

The origin dossier is intended to present provenance for a product: producer, region, altitude, process and harvest, laid out as a compact reference rather than marketing copy.

Optional product metafields

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Auro Ritual is being developed to read two optional product metafields. Both are single line text fields:

• Namespace ritual, key origin — full key ritual.origin.
• Namespace ritual, key tasting_notes — full key ritual.tasting_notes.

Create the definitions first, then enter values on individual products:

1. In Shopify admin open Products and open any product.
2. Scroll to Metafields and choose Add definition.
3. Enter a name, then set the namespace and key to ritual and origin.
4. Choose the type Single line text, with a single value rather than a list.
5. Save the definition.
6. Repeat for ritual and tasting_notes.
7. Return to each product and enter the actual values in the new metafield inputs, then save the product.

Creating a definition only creates the field. Products stay empty until you enter values. Whether and where the current development build displays these values is something to confirm in your own preview; it is not claimed here.

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

The brew field guide is intended to carry preparation guidance next to the products it applies to: method, ratio, grind and time, written for someone standing at a kitchen counter.

Preparing the content

Write brewing guidance once per method and keep the wording consistent between products. Short steps with explicit quantities are easier to follow than paragraphs. Where a recipe is specific to one coffee or tea, keep it on that product rather than in a shared block, so that it stays accurate when the product changes.

Placement

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Content of this kind is normally placed either in a theme section on a page, or in product content such as the description or a metafield. Which of those Auro Ritual will use is being finalised. Until the matching controls are verified, keep your brewing text in a form you can move, such as a plain document you can paste from.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Theme settings

Typography, colours and the logo are standard Shopify theme settings. Open Online Store › Themes › Customize on your unpublished copy and use the theme settings area of the theme editor. Which typography and colour controls exist, and how many colour groups a theme exposes, varies by theme; use the settings your build actually provides rather than expecting a specific list.

When you upload a logo, upload the largest clean version you have and give it descriptive alternative text. Check it against the header background at both desktop and mobile widths.

Navigation

Storefront navigation is not part of the theme. Menus are managed in Shopify admin under Content › Menus. Edit the main menu and footer menu there, then choose which menus a theme section uses from the theme editor where the theme offers that setting.

Editorial restraint

Design concept This describes what Auro Ritual is being developed towards. The matching theme controls are still in development and are not verified in this build.

Auro Ritual is being designed for a restrained palette: warm neutral backgrounds, a single strong ink colour for text and a small accent. Fewer colours and two type families usually read better in an editorial layout than many of either.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Product data lives in the admin

Variants, inventory, pricing, media and purchase options are product data managed in Shopify admin under Products, not settings inside the theme. The theme displays what the product record contains.

• Variants — create options such as size or grind on the product. Each variant carries its own price, SKU and inventory.
• Inventory — inventory is tracked per variant and per location. Availability shown on the storefront follows that data and your inventory policy.
• Media — images and video are uploaded on the product. Order them deliberately; the first media item is normally the one used in listings.
• Purchase options — available choices follow the product and selling-plan configuration. A product can be configured for subscription-only sales; do not assume a one-time purchase option is always available. Selling plans, such as subscriptions, must be created and configured through Shopify Subscriptions or another suitable app and applied to the product.

Test before release

Before any launch, place a test order path through the unpublished copy and confirm, for at least one product with multiple variants:

1. The variant price updates when you change the selected variant.
2. Availability is reported correctly for an in stock and an out of stock variant.
3. The correct variant reaches the cart as a cart line, with the right price and quantity.
4. Where selling plans exist, the selected plan is carried through to the cart.

Treat these as release checks for your store. They have not been completed for this development build.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Cart

Cart behaviour combines Shopify cart data with whatever cart presentation the theme provides. Check that quantities update, that line items show the correct variant, and that totals match the product prices you expect.

Local pickup

Local pickup is configured in Shopify, not in the theme. It depends on your locations, on inventory being available at a pickup enabled location, and on the product and order being eligible. A theme cannot enable pickup on its own; if pickup is not configured in Shopify, no theme will offer it.

Gift cards

Gift cards are a Shopify admin feature. Issuing, selling and redeeming gift cards is handled by Shopify. How a gift card product is rendered in the current development build is something to test in your own preview rather than assume.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Storefront filters

Storefront filters are configured with the Shopify Search & Discovery app. Filters require a compatible theme, and they operate on your product data, so a filter only produces useful results when products carry the matching values. Shopify also applies limits to how many filters and filter values can be used.

Product recommendations

Recommendations are generated by Shopify from eligible products. Eligibility generally requires products to be active, published to the Online Store sales channel and priced, with inventory conditions applied; gift cards are not recommended. A theme section that displays recommendations must also be present on the page.

What this means in practice

If either side of the pair is missing — the Shopify configuration or a supported theme section — nothing appears. Display is therefore not guaranteed, and no guarantee is made for the current development build of Auro Ritual.

General Shopify guidance These steps describe standard Shopify admin behaviour. Exact theme controls vary by theme.

Whether comments are accepted, and whether they are published immediately or held for moderation, is controlled by your blog settings in Shopify admin under Content › Blog posts, with the comment setting on the blog itself. This is a Shopify setting, not a theme setting.

If comments are enabled and moderated, new comments stay hidden until you approve them. A missing comment on the storefront is usually a moderation state rather than a theme problem. Confirm the blog setting before reporting a display issue.

Known limitations in this build

• Auro Ritual 0.3.0 is a development build. Sections, settings and behaviour can change without notice before release.
• Shopify storefront validation and release checks are still in progress, so the theme has not passed them.
• Design concepts described in this guide — editorial hero, tasting collections, origin dossier and brew field guide — have theme controls that are still being finalised and are not verified.
• This guide does not assert verified compatibility with third-party apps.
• No verified performance, accessibility or image-handling results are supplied here. Validate the current build before any production launch.

Reproducing an issue

1. Reproduce the problem on an unpublished copy of the theme, so that nothing changes on your live storefront.
2. Record the theme version, the page where it happens and the exact steps you took.
3. Record what you expected to happen and what happened instead.
4. Note whether it happens at desktop width, mobile width or both, and in which browser.
5. Attach a screenshot if it helps show the problem.

What not to send

Never include passwords, staff account details, API keys, access tokens, preview tokens or customer records in a support request or a screenshot. Auroinfo does not need them, and support will ask you to resend without them.

Quick checks before reporting

• Missing products in a collection — check status, Online Store publication and collection conditions.
• Missing filters or recommendations — check the Search & Discovery configuration and product eligibility.
• Missing subscription options — check that a subscription app has created selling plans and applied them to the product.
• Missing pickup option — check locations, inventory and pickup eligibility in Shopify.
• Missing blog comments — check the blog comment and moderation setting.

Answers below reflect development version 0.3.0 and will be updated before release.

Is Auro Ritual available to buy?

No. Auro Ritual is in development at version 0.3.0. It is not approved, listed or available for purchase on the Shopify Theme Store, and there is no download. When a listing exists it will be published on this site and will link to the official Shopify Theme Store.

How do I change the homepage image?

Work on an unpublished copy of the theme. In Shopify admin open Online Store › Themes, use Customize on that copy, select the home page from the page selector at the top of the theme editor, open the relevant section in the left sidebar, and use its image picker if the section provides one. Preview at desktop and mobile widths, then Save.

Image controls differ between sections and themes, so the exact picker you see depends on the build you are using. If the section you expect is missing in this development build, that is a known limitation rather than a configuration mistake.

Why are products missing from a tasting collection?

A product appears in a collection when it is active, published to the Online Store sales channel, and matches that collection’s conditions, or has been added manually to a manual collection. Check all three in Products and Products › Collections. Automated collection conditions are evaluated from product data such as tags, type, vendor or price, so a product with missing data will not be included.

How do I add origin and tasting notes?

Create two product metafield definitions, then enter values per product. Both are single line text fields: namespace ritual, keys origin and tasting_notes. Creating a definition does not populate any values; you still enter the text on each product. Whether the current development build renders those values is something to verify in your own preview rather than assume.

Why are filters or recommendations not appearing?

Both depend on Shopify configuration and on theme support, not on the theme alone. Storefront filters are configured in the Search & Discovery app and need a compatible theme plus product data that matches the filters. Product recommendations only consider eligible products and need a theme section that displays them. If either requirement is missing, nothing is shown.

Does the theme create subscription plans?

No. A theme cannot create subscription plans. Subscriptions require Shopify Subscriptions or another suitable subscription app, with selling plans configured and applied to products. The theme can only display purchase options that already exist on the store. Compatibility between Auro Ritual and any particular subscription app is unverified at this stage.

How do I report an issue?

Email support@auroinfo.com. See the theme support page for current contact options. Include the theme version, the affected page, the steps you took, what you expected and what happened instead. Do not send passwords, access tokens or customer records.

Getting help

Email support@auroinfo.com. See the theme support page for current contact options. The theme support policy explains what is covered and how requests are handled.

For an urgent theme defect, state the impact in the subject line and include full reproduction steps, so that Auroinfo can assess it and escalate where appropriate. Quote your request reference in any reply. No on-call availability, response time, coverage hours or resolution time is promised at this stage.

Version history

The current development version is 0.3.0 — Development. Full entries are on the release notes page. There is no public Theme Store release yet.

Official Shopify references

These public Shopify Help Center pages cover the standard admin behaviour described in this guide. They are general Shopify documentation, not documentation of Auro Ritual.

• Customizing themes — the theme editor; available settings vary by theme.
• Creating custom metafield definitions — namespace, key and type, then entering values per product.
• Search & Discovery filters — filters need a compatible theme and matching product data.
• Search & Discovery recommendations — product eligibility and the theme section requirement.
• Subscriptions — selling plans come from an app, not from a theme.

Guide last updated 20 October 2026 for 0.3.0 — Development.