Shopify Liquid Templates

Best practices for Liquid templates, snippets, logic flow, image handling, and SVG usage in Shopify themes.

When to Use

• Creating or modifying Liquid templates
• Working with snippets
• Handling images and media
• Writing Liquid logic
• Using SVG icons

Snippets

Usage

• Use {% render %} only (never include)
• Inside each snippet, add a Usage block at the top

Snippet Structure

{%- comment -%}
Usage:
{% render 'snippet-name', param: value, another_param: value %}
{%- endcomment -%}

<div class="snippet-name">
  {{ param }}
</div>

Snippet Parameters

Pass data to snippets via parameters:

{% render 'product-card', 
  product: product, 
  show_price: true, 
  image_size: 'large' %}

Why render Instead of include

• render is more performant
• Better variable scoping
• Recommended by Shopify

Liquid Logic

Use {% liquid %} Tag

For long or complex logic, use the {% liquid %} tag:

{% liquid
  assign discount = product.compare_at_price | minus: product.price
  assign discount_percent = discount | times: 100 | divided_by: product.compare_at_price
  if discount_percent > 20
    assign is_big_discount = true
  endif
%}

Logic Best Practices

• Avoid deeply nested conditionals
• Prefer readable, linear logic
• Break complex logic into multiple liquid blocks if needed
• Use meaningful variable names

Example: Clean Logic Flow

{% liquid
  if product.available
    assign button_text = 'Add to Cart'
    assign button_class = 'btn--primary'
  else
    assign button_text = 'Sold Out'
    assign button_class = 'btn--disabled'
  endif
%}

<button class="{{ button_class }}">
  {{ button_text }}
</button>

Images

Always Use image_tag

• Always use image_tag filter
• Use responsive srcset and sizes
• Do NOT hardcode <img> tags
• Use <image_url> to generate a URL for an image.
• Always specify either a width or height parameter for <image_url>.

Image Tag Syntax

{{ image | image_url: width: image.width | image_tag: widths: '360, 720, 1080', loading: 'lazy' }}

Responsive Images

{% assign image_widths = '360, 540, 720, 900, 1080, 1296, 1512, 1728, 1944, 2160' %}

{{ product.featured_image | image_url: width: product.featured_image.width | image_tag: 
  widths: image_widths,
  sizes: '(min-width: 1200px) 50vw, 100vw',
  loading: 'lazy',
  alt: product.featured_image.alt | escape }}

Image Settings

Common image_tag parameters:

• widths: Comma-separated list of widths for srcset
• sizes: Sizes attribute for responsive images
• loading: 'lazy' or 'eager'
• alt: Alt text (use | escape filter)

SVG Files

Inline SVGs

Inline SVGs using the inline_asset_content filter:

{{ 'icon-arrow.svg' | inline_asset_content }}

Do NOT Paste Raw SVG

• Do NOT paste raw SVG markup into templates
• Store SVG files in assets/ directory
• Use inline_asset_content filter to include them

SVG Example

<button class="icon-button">
  {{ 'icon-close.svg' | inline_asset_content }}
  <span class="visually-hidden">Close</span>
</button>

SVG Styling

SVGs can be styled with CSS when inlined:

.icon-button svg {
  width: 24px;
  height: 24px;
  fill: currentColor;
}

Shopify Theme Documentation

Reference these official Shopify resources:

• Liquid Documentation
• Liquid Objects
• Liquid Filters
• Liquid Tags
• Theme Templates
• Snippets
• Image Filters

Common Liquid Patterns

Product Card Snippet

{%- comment -%}
Usage:
{% render 'product-card', product: product, show_vendor: false %}
{%- endcomment -%}

<div class="product-card">
  <a href="{{ product.url }}">
    {{ product.featured_image | image_tag: widths: '360, 720', loading: 'lazy' }}
    <h3>{{ product.title }}</h3>
    <p>{{ product.price | money }}</p>
  </a>
</div>

Conditional Rendering

{% liquid
  if section.settings.show_title
    assign title_visible = true
  else
    assign title_visible = false
  endif
%}

{% if title_visible %}
  <h2>{{ section.settings.title }}</h2>
{% endif %}

Instructions

1. Use render for snippets, never include
2. Add Usage comments to all snippets
3. Use liquid tag for complex logic
4. Always use image_tag - never hardcode <img>
5. Inline SVGs using inline_asset_content filter
6. Keep logic linear - avoid deep nesting
7. Use responsive images with proper srcset and sizes