How to test your homepage using a template test
1. Create your alternate homepage template
Shopify doesn’t allow you to add multiple homepage templates directly in the Theme Editor, but ABConvert makes it easy.
In ABConvert, go to Create new test > Template test
In the Create variants section:
Set your current homepage template as the original
Click Create a duplicate to generate a variant template
2. Edit your alternate homepage template
Once the variant template is created:
Click Edit in Shopify next to the variant
This opens the template inside Shopify’s Theme Editor
Make your design changes, then click Save
3. Review and launch
Review your settings and click on Next to launch your homepage test!
How can I find my alternate homepage template in the Theme Editor?
Shopify doesn’t show alternate homepage templates by default. You can:
Click Edit in Shopify button from the ABConvert app when you create or edit your template test
Or view it via theme editor by adding
?previewPath=/?view=template_nameparameter to the url (check the loom video below)
Can I save my test and edit it later?
Yes! Once you create the variant template, you can click Save as draft in ABConvert. You can come back later to finish editing and launch the test.
How to apply the winning homepage template
Currently, there is no “select template” option for the home page. Due to Shopify’s constraint, if you end a successful template test on the home page, you cannot select the template to be applied directly.
Go to theme editor > Go to home page > Edit the live template according to your A/B test results
How to run template tests with page builder apps
ABConvert template tests can only support templates that are published. This is due to Shopify’s constraints. Some page builder apps require templates to be assigned to specific products before they can be published. If the test template is not published yet, please follow these steps to set up your template test:
Assign the template to a product: Navigate to your page builder app. In the product template, assign products to that template.
Publish the template: Click publish on the product template in your page builder app.
Select the original template: Navigate to ABConvert and choose the product template that includes your test product.
Select the variant template: Select any other template you want to test against as the variant. The variant template does not need to be assigned to the same product. In this example, the page builder template can now be selected because it is published.
Your settings should look like this:
Here, the original template is your original product page template, and the variant template is the published page builder template.
Important Notes
Only products selected in the original template will render in your desired theme during product template A/B testing.
Double-check that the products you want to A/B test are correctly assigned in your page builder app before starting your test.
How to run a template test only on certain products
Method 1: Use advanced conditions
This method is ideal if you’re testing only a few products.
Create a new template test
Go to Advanced settings
Select the second radio button: Yes, only include the conditions below
Add a condition:
Choose Page URL
Choose matches exactly
Enter the product page relative path, for example
/products/my-cool-product
Repeat this step for each page you want to include
Method 2: Duplicate the original template
If you want to run the test on a large group of products, adding conditions one by one is time-consuming. Instead, use Shopify’s template assignment to target entire product groups.
In your Shopify theme editor, duplicate your current product template
Name it something like product-template-a
Assign this duplicated template to all the products you want included in the test (for example all lamp products)
In ABConvert, open your test setup and select:
Original template: the duplicated template a you just assigned
Variant template: the new template you want to test
In this setup, only products using product-template-a will be included in the test.
How to set up template tests for multiple product templates
The variant template in your test does not need to be assigned to the same product as the original template. It can be any published template within your theme.