From the file to a live store.
Eight steps. No code, and nothing you can permanently break. Most people are selling the same day.
You need two things to start: the theme file you downloaded from your account, and your licence code — it's the TB- code on your order, the same one you wrote in the transfer note. Both are on your account page if you've lost them.
- 01
Download the theme
Sign in and open your account. Your order will say Payment received, with a Download theme button on it. That gives you a .zip file — leave it zipped, Shopify wants it exactly as it is.
The button works as many times as you like, so there's nothing to keep safe. If you don't see it yet, your payment hasn't been marked received — send the transfer screenshot to 01005292234 on WhatsApp with your order code and it'll be minutes.
themebase.app → Account → your order → Download theme
- 02
Upload it to Shopify
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store, then Themes. Scroll to the bottom, and under Theme library choose Add theme, then Upload zip file. Pick the file you downloaded.
It takes a minute or two. When it finishes, the theme sits in your library — not live yet. Nothing your customers see has changed.
Shopify admin → Online Store → Themes → Add theme → Upload zip file
- 03
Pick your look
Find the new theme in your library and click Customize. In the left sidebar open Theme settings, then Look.
There are two in the file. Light gives you Off-Duty and Safa; Premium gives you Sahil and Noir. Choose the one you want to launch with, then Save.
Customize → Theme settings → Look
This is the one choice you can't take back. Once the theme is set up on a look, Shopify has no way to swap it to the other one. Take a minute here. If you do pick wrong, message us — we can release it, but it's easier to get right the first time.
- 04
Paste your licence code
Still in Theme settings, open Licence and paste your TB- code. Save.
That ties the theme to this store. You'll know it worked because nothing happens — no message, no banner. If the code is wrong or the store isn't yours, you'll see a note here in the editor, and only here; your customers never see it.
Customize → Theme settings → Licence
The code works on one store. It binds to the first shop it's used on, so if you're testing on a development store, do that with the theme unlicensed and save the code for the real one.
- 05
Put your own products in
The theme arrives full of the demo's products so you can see what it looks like working. Those aren't real — they live in the demo, not your store, and they disappear the moment your own products are in.
Add products the normal way, in Products → Add product. Photos matter more than anything else here: the theme is built around a tall photo shape, so shoot or crop everything to the same ratio and the grid will look deliberate rather than accidental.
Shopify admin → Products → Add product
- 06
Make it yours
Back in Customize, Theme settings holds your colours, your fonts and your logo. Change them there once and they apply everywhere — you never edit the same colour twice.
The homepage is built from sections. Click any part of the page in the preview and its settings open on the left. Drag sections to reorder them, hide the ones you don't need, and change every word without touching code.
Customize → Theme settings → Colours · Type · Logo
- 07
Sort the boring pages
Refund policy, shipping, contact, size guide. They feel like admin, and they're the reason a hesitant buyer either checks out or leaves.
Shopify can write the legal ones for you: Settings → Policies has templates for refunds, privacy and terms. Fill in your own delivery times and prices — the fewer surprises at checkout, the fewer abandoned carts.
Shopify admin → Settings → Policies
- 08
Publish
Preview it properly first: open the theme preview on your own phone and walk through it like a customer. Find a product, pick a size, add to cart, get to checkout. That five-minute walk catches nearly everything.
When it's right, go back to Online Store → Themes, find your theme in the library and hit Publish. That's the moment it's live.
Online Store → Themes → your theme → Publish
If something's wrong
Most of it is one of these four. If it's none of them, message us — that's what support is for, and it doesn't expire.
The upload failed or Shopify says the file is invalid+
The zip has probably been opened and re-zipped, which changes its structure. Download it again from your account and upload it without unzipping. On a Mac, Safari sometimes unzips automatically — check your Downloads folder for a folder rather than a .zip, and if that's what happened, download again in a different browser.
The licence code is refused+
Three usual reasons. Your payment hasn't been marked received yet — send us the screenshot and we'll confirm it. Or the code has already been used on another store. Or there's a stray space at the start or end when you pasted it. If none of those, message us with the code and we'll look.
I picked the wrong look+
Message us with your order code. We can release the licence so you can set it up again on the other look. Do it before you've filled the store with products and content, because that work doesn't carry across.
It looks nothing like the demo+
That's the photos, almost always. The demo uses tall images all cut to the same shape; mixing square, wide and tall pictures makes the grid look broken even though nothing is. Re-crop everything to the same ratio and it snaps into place.
Anything at all, and we mean anything — contact@themebase.app.
Open your account