How to Streamline Your Shopify Dawn Theme: Removing Unwanted Sort Options

We were sipping our morning coffee one fine Tuesday when Laura, a small business owner from Norway, stumbled into our Shopify break room—virtually speaking, of course. Her virtual storefront, a quaint candle shop she’d lovingly crafted from scratch, was flickering with a dilemma. “Do we really need all these sort-by options?” she queried, eyes wide with bewilderment. She wanted to tidy up things—to cut down on the clutter and make her Dawn theme more like a minimalist’s dream. Let's journey through this digital decluttering adventure, shall we?

The Fire of Inspiration

Laura, much like us when faced with an overflowing closet, felt overwhelmed by the sort-by choices that had bloomed beyond control on her site—Featured, Best Selling, Alphabetically A-Z, Alphabetically Z-A. They just didn't fit the vibe she was going for. She sought a space that reflected simplicity yet elegance, where only the most relevant sorting options would light the way for her customers. Fueled by the desire to streamline, she ignited the idea of customizing her Shopify Dawn theme’s sorting fate.

Setting Up Your Virtual Workspace

Before we deep dive into the untangling process, here’s a reminder—we need to guard against any hiccups along the way.

First off, backing up the theme. It's akin to bringing an umbrella on a cloudy day: often unnecessary, but nothing short of a lifesaver during drizzle—I mean, disasters.

You'll want to duplicate your theme. Head over to Online Store in your Shopify Admin and select Themes. Clicking the Actions menu will grant access to the Duplicate option. Now, if the digital apocalypse descends, you can simply revert and retry.

Dive Into the Code: Surf's Up

Now, let's roll up our virtual sleeves and tweak our Dawn theme to our heart's content. Remember, we're going to keep things tidy and logical, like alphabetizing a vinyl record collection.

Navigate to the Theme Code: Under the mighty shield of your Shopify admin, click on Actions next to your Dawn theme and select Edit Code.
Locate the Product Sort File: Ah, the treasure map awaits! Look within the Snippets folder – agents of change are we – and open up the collection-products.liquid file.

Spot the Sort By Dropdown: Hunt down the section dealing with sort-by options. It’ll look something like this:

{% for option in collection.sort_by_options %}
  <!-- Notice the array of available sort options here -->
{% endfor %}

Exterminate the Overgrowth: Just like we toss out expired soup cans in a pantry overhaul, removing the unwanted options is a breeze. Let's excise the clutter:

Replace or edit the lines to remove unwanted options:

<!-- Example of removing specific options -->
{% assign options_to_remove = "title-ascending,title-descending,best-selling" | split: ',' %}
{% for option in collection.sort_by_options %}
  {% unless options_to_remove contains option.value %}
    <!-- Display your desired sort option -->
  {% endunless %}
{% endfor %}

Voila! With those lines, the options for sorting our online candlelight adventure home have been neatly trimmed.

Review the Illumination Brought by These Changes

Our efforts were like untangling a necklace chain, in hopeful attempts resulting in a beautiful, streamlined sort-by experience for our customers. The clutter gone, the visual pathway led to more engaged visits and less confusion from sorting options that felt more like puzzle pieces cast into a board game. Laura’s shop was now bathed in new-found simplicity.

The Candle Burns Brighter

Laura emailed us not long after to express her delight at the effortless browsing now radiated by her shop, thanks to the refined lineup of sort options—a harmony reflected in her sales surge. Personal triumphs like these fuel our shared experiences, leaving us eagerly anticipating the next chapter in our collective e-adventures.

Our day brightened, just like Laura’s shop, with clarity and simplicity—the satisfaction of knowing a small tweak can lead to a big change. We are architects of our online experiences, tailoring them to suit our unique stories.

So next time, as you sip your own morning brew and ponder over menus on Shopify, remember this little candle fable. May we continually craft the paths to digital serenity.