Mastering Backorder Badges in Shopify: A Journey of Code and Customization

It was one of those rainy afternoons when the world outside felt like a gray watercolor painting, blurry and quiet. I sat at my desk, sipping on my second cup of badly brewed coffee, staring at my Shopify collection page. The products looked great, but there was one nagging issue—distinguishing what was and wasn't available at a glance. That's when the concept of a "Backorder Badge" hit me. It was all gung-ho until I encountered the inevitable: code quirks. And now, dear reader, we're here to tackle how to add a reliable backorder badge that appears only when needed.

A Date with "card-product.liquid"

Anyone who's ever dabbled with Shopify knows the thrill of editing a Liquid file—it's part goldmine, part minefield. So there I was, hands poised over the keyboard like a pianist gearing up for a sonata, ready to strike a note that would fix the awkward badge behavior. Here's the kicker: the badge displayed whether the product was battling out-of-stock demons or not.

The file in question was card-product.liquid. It’s where the visual magic—or in our case, the optical illusion—happens. Let’s dive right in with the base code snippet, wrangling it into submission:

<div class="card__badge {{ settings.badge_position }}">
  {%- if card_product.available == false -%}
    <span
      id="NoMediaStandardBadge-{{ section_id }}-{{ card_product.id }}"
      class="badge badge--bottom-left color-{{ settings.sold_out_badge_color_scheme }}"
    >
      {{- 'products.product.sold_out' | t -}}
    </span>

  {%- elsif card_product.tags contains 'Pre Order' -%}
    <span
      id="NoMediaStandardBadge-{{ section_id }}-{{ card_product.id }}"
      class="badge badge--bottom-left color-{{ settings.sale_badge_color_scheme }}"
    >
      {{- 'products.product.Pre_Order' | t -}}
    </span>

  {%- elsif card_product.tags contains 'Back Order' -%}
    <span
      id="NoMediaStandardBadge-{{ section_id }}-{{ card_product.id }}"
      class="badge badge--bottom-left color-{{ settings.sold_out_badge_color_scheme }}"
    >
      {{- 'products.product.Back_Order' | t -}}
    </span>

  {%- elsif card_product.tags contains 'Sale' -%}
    <span
      id="NoMediaStandardBadge-{{ section_id }}-{{ card_product.id }}"
      class="badge badge--bottom-left color-{{ settings.sale_badge_color_scheme }}"
    >
      {{- 'products.product.on_sale' | t -}}
    </span>
  {% endif %}
</div>

The gal in my forum post faced an issue with this—a badge for backorder appeared merrily even if the product was snugly in stock. Not ideal. So, how do we target this glitch with surgical precision?

Taming the If-Else Logic

The crux of the issue lay in distinguishing visibility just when stock was nil. One might think, "Just add an inventory check!" But oh, it's never that simple. Let's untangle this:

Firstly, confirm your inventory logic. Ensure the check complements inventory conditions you have set. You want that badge to come out only when inventory sounds the SOS horn—zero.

Here’s the code ninja move:

Modify the badge rendering for the backorder scenario:

{%- elsif card_product.tags contains 'Back Order' and card_product.inventory_quantity <= 0 -%}
  <span
    id="NoMediaStandardBadge-{{ section_id }}-{{ card_product.id }}"
    class="badge badge--bottom-left color-{{ settings.sold_out_badge_color_scheme }}"
  >
    {{- 'products.product.Back_Order' | t -}}
  </span>

This eloquent twist ensures only tagged products with zero inventory proudly display their backorder status. The universe—your collection page—balances itself once more.

Tests, Tea, and Triumphs

Now it's crucial not to set your code adrift without a compass. Test it! Refresh your collection page like a caffeinated squirrel. Inventory zero? Backorder badge alive. Fully stocked? Badge blissfully invisible.

And there you have it, a harmonious Shopify realm where badges arise not willy-nilly but on point. Necessity is the mother of creative coding, my friends.

Let’s close this loop. Remember that rainy day feeling? The coffee gone cold, the desk a battleground of sticky notes, and yet there’s joy in piecing things together as if solving a cosmic puzzle. But the relief upon untangling code—a sip of victory, if you will—is incomparable.

Here’s to many more coding ventures filled with “Ah-ha!” moments, fueled by determination, perhaps some snacks, and definitely more coffee. Here’s to getting things rightly done in a world of backorders.