In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, Karl and Taylor are joined by Brenda Storer, a solo theme developer who launched her own Shopify theme, Whisk. Brenda shares her journey from a non-technical background to becoming a theme developer. She discusses the challenges she faced in creating her theme, including financial risks and client work, to make her dream a reality.

In this Liquid Weekly Podcast episode, hosts Karl and Taylor are joined by Sam Isseyegh, co-founder of Discount Kit, a leading Shopify app. They explore Sam's journey from gaming and web development to full-stack Shopify expertise. The team goes way back on Sam's experience in web development experiences, all the way from playing Age of Empires to creating Geocities websites.

Sam shares his Shopify journey, from working on Pizza Hut's ecommerce platform to app development, reflecting on the challenges of launching Stackable Discounts just before Black Friday. The conversation shifts to Shopify's Checkout Extensions, emphasizing their significance, sandboxing benefits, and differences in running Shopify Functions compared to Scripts.The power of Shopify Functions is explored further, with insights into enhancing customization and configuration using GraphQL schemas, input variables, and metafields. Sam shares tips on effectively utilizing metafields and passing settings between functions.

Explore the provided resources and links to dive deeper into the topics discussed in this episode. Don't miss out on further Shopify insights—subscribe to the Liquid Weekly Podcast for your weekly dose of developer insights.

// Guest Information //

Follow Sam Online

- Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/SammyIsseyegh

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sammyisseyegh/

- Discount Kit: https://discountkit.app/

- Optizio: https://optiz.io/

// Resources //

Cart Transform API: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/functions/reference/cart-transform

Shopify Devs Shopify Functions Playlist - https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvQF73bM4-5W79CMjKV9GoDE58c9jS5TD&si=mQ99N-oUmMZiu7zb

// In the Community //

Collab Request default - John Speed Twitter Thread: https://x.com/John_Speed/status/1734287034133492087?s=20

DMCA Takedowns - Tobi Lutke Twitter Thread: https://x.com/tobi/status/1734345068868157547?s=46

Public Roadmap for Shopify Apps - Sam Twitter Thread: https://x.com/sammyisseyegh/status/1732095102367957490?s=46

// Changelog //

Customer Accounts Extensibility in Preview: https://shopify.dev/changelog/customer-accounts-extensibility-is-now-available-in-developer-preview

Automatic discount functions for B2B: https://shopify.dev/changelog/automatic-discount-functions-now-apply-to-b2b-sessions

// Picks //

Karl - That Mitchell and Webb Look Sketch Comedy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOBhf8f7cXM

Sam - Gleam (Luey Pillford) - a new programming language that brings types to the Erlang ecosystem: https://gleam.run/

Taylor - Bicycle trainer: https://amzn.to/3vKgoNw

// Sign Up for Liquid Weekly //

Don’t miss out on more Shopify insights—subscribe to Liquid Weekly at https://liquidweekly.com/

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Taylor and Karl are joined by the innovative Mohammad Hashemi from Gadget. Mohammad shares his remarkable journey, from starting school in Biochemistry to becoming a key figure at Shopify, where he played a pivotal role in building Shopify Payments and other critical financial services.

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, Taylor and Karl are joined by the dynamic Daniel Beck, CEO of Ablestar, a Shopify app development company known for its popular app, Bulk Product Editor. Daniel shares insights into his journey, experiences during the holiday season, and the tech stack at Ablestar.

Tags in Shopify: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/shopify-admin/productivity-tools/using-tags

Metafields in Shopify: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/custom-data/metafieldsMetaobjects in Shopify: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/custom-data/metaobjects

In Excel you can now disable the automatic conversion of long product IDs to scientific notation: https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/control-data-conversions-in-excel-for-windows-and-mac

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, Karl and Taylor are joined by Thomas Kimura, a Shopify developer, founder of Brickspace Lab, and the creator of Paper theme.

Thomas shares insights into his path into web development, starting with building Tumblr themes and eventually transitioning to Shopify.

The episode also delves into Thomas's experience with building the Paper theme, including his decision to use the Alpine.js framework and the open-sourcing of a toolkit for developers interested in customizing the theme. Thomas provides valuable insights into handling customer support for theme developers and the submission process for themes in the Shopify Theme Store.

Join Karl, Taylor, and Thomas as they explore the world of Shopify development, from themes to community collaboration, in this insightful episode.

To stay updated with the Liquid Weekly Podcast and explore the resources mentioned in the episode, be sure to check out the podcast description for links and details.

// Guest Information //

Follow Thomas Online

Twitter: https://twitter.com/brickspacelab

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimurathomas

Website: https://brickspacelab.com

// Resources //

Submitting a Shopify theme to the theme store: https://shopify.dev/docs/themes/store/review-process/submit-theme

// In the Community //

DMCA takedowns: https://twitter.com/tobi/status/1712924152238047379?t=0ANCMakj31rCZWNz6qK2qQ&s=19

Verbiage between native or headless Shopify: https://x.com/timothypeckover/status/1717582921538634090?s=20

Negative Reviews on Apps: Developers should respond to it - https://twitter.com/kirplatonov/status/1718969903410008522?t=LWbrUXnKyYNv1PVQWS8lig&s=19

// Picks of the Week //

Thomas: Four-day work weeks https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/the-4-day-work-week-explained

Karl: Pepperidge Farm Outlets https://www.pepperidgefarm.com/where-to-buy/

Taylor: Level Up Tutorials https://levelup.video/

// Sign Up for Liquid Weekly //

Join the conversation and gain more insights by subscribing to Liquid Weekly at https://liquidweekly.com/

Don't miss out on more Shopify insights—subscribe to the Liquid Weekly Podcast for your weekly dose of developer knowledge.

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, hosts Karl and Taylor

In this episode of the Liquid Weekly Podcast, Karl and Taylor are joined by the innovative Trudy MacNabb, who not only heads the Shopify dev agency Up at Five but also co-created the Shopify app Design Packs and pens the insightful Code Shopify blog.

// Guest Information //Follow Trudy Online- Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/dear_trudence- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trudy-macnabb-7b19104a/- Up at Five: https://www.upatfive.ca/- Design Packs: https://apps.shopify.com/design-packs- Code Shopify Blog: http://www.toomanytabs.xyz/

// Resources //

// In the Community //Background replacement tool from Shopify: https://huggingface.co/spaces/Shopify/background-replacement Edit metafield values from the theme editor: https://x.com/liam_at_shopify/status/1707010479304884376?s=20Admin action extensions now generally available https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/admin-action-extensions-ga DMCA takedowns on Shopify Broken: https://twitter.com/JackCulpan/status/1709836780722139607?t=AdxTqWeVsOdss3xRMqM1Lw&s=19

// Changelog //

// Picks //Screen Studio - General link: https://www.screen.studio/- Affiliate link: https://screenstudio.lemonsqueezy.com/?aff=GkqpdLife in Code (book): https://www.amazon.com/Life-Code-Personal-History-Technology/dp/0374534519

In this insightful episode of Liquid Weekly, Karl and Taylor delve into the intricate process of migrating from BigCommerce to Shopify, spotlighting Karl's recent endeavor in transitioning a client with over 250,000 orders. The narrative unfolds as Karl recounts the hurdles and triumphs experienced during this migration, with a keen focus on the instrumental role of Ruby scripts and tools like Matrixify in facilitating a smooth transition.

The discourse deepens as they navigate through the technical intricacies involved, shedding light on the meticulous planning and execution required to ensure data integrity and seamless functionality post-migration. Karl, drawing from his hands-on experience, shares invaluable insights into tackling common challenges such as data discrepancies and the pair touches on SEO implications.

One can't talk about migrations and not talk about SEO. The team talks SEO and the role metaobjects may play in the future as well. Taylor and Karl explore the innovative solutions that helped in not just retaining, but enhancing the SEO metadata amidst the transition, ensuring a solid digital footprint for the online store on its new platform.

As the dialogue progresses, they also touch upon the future-proofing aspect of migrations, emphasizing the need for a well-thought-out strategy to mitigate potential hiccups, ensuring a robust and scalable e-commerce setup on Shopify.

// Resource Links //

Shopify Functions: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/functionsCheckout Extensions: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/checkout-extensions

// Dev Changelog //

POS UI Extensions: https://shopify.dev/docs/api/pos-extensions/ui-extensions-reference/versions Renderable and Online Store capabilities for metaobjects API: https://shopify.dev/changelog/renderable-and-online-store-capabilities-for-metaobjectsDev Docs - Metaobjects capabilities: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/custom-data/metaobjects/capabilities

// Picks of the Week //

Warp Terminal: https://www.warp.dev/ Ollama: https://github.com/jmorganca/ollama

Don’t forget to subscribe to Liquid Weekly for more insightful discussions and developer resources delivered straight to your inbox: https://liquidweekly.com/

Karl and Taylor chat with Harshdeep Singh Hura, Lead App Developer at Theory Digital, open-source author of several Shopify app starter templates and helpful Shopify-specific tools, and now a course creator with his new course How to Create Shopify Apps. 

Harshdeep talks about how he got his start coding, from writing code on paper to creating an app out of high school that skyrocketed to 4.5+ million users to finally landing in the Shopify space.
The devs talk about what's happening in the Shopify community, including themes partnering with app developers to promote apps directly in themes. Eventually, the discussion turns towards deployment strategies, exploring the merits and demerits of Shopify CLI for apps versus themes. Harshdeep, with his rich experience, emphasizes the importance of developers choosing what's effective rather than simply adhering to popular choices. As the dialogue progresses, Harshdeep advocates for using the right tools and focusing on one's comfort zone rather than being swayed by popular opinion.

From open-source tools to opinions about starting in app development and how to choose the right path, Harshdeep provides insights for veteran and novice developers alike with a focus advocating for thinking like an entrepreneur while using one's skills as an engineer.

// Where to find Harshdeep Online //
Harshdeep on Github: https://github.com/kinngh
Harshdeep on Twitter/X: https://x.com/kinngh
Website: https://harshdeephura.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KinnghHeura

// Resources //
Themes Partnering with App Devs: https://twitter.com/thommaskelly/status/1697629729631637735?s=20
Shopify App Name Trademark Issue with "Back in Stock" https://twitter.com/0xfluke/status/1686760912361824257?s=20
How to Create Shopify Apps: https://gumroad.com/a/25244115/tweldi?utm_campaign=liquid_weekly
Harshdeep's thoughts on Shopify creating apps that compete with other apps on the app store: https://kinngh.substack.com/p/shopify-stole-my-app-idea
Mock.shop API: https://mock.shop/
RunJS: https://runjs.app/
Shopify.dev Docs AI: https://kapa-widget.vercel.app/widget/shopify 

*Special shoutout to Patrick Pierre for our first listener-submitted question!

Karl and Taylor talk music and video games, everything from Taylor's limited cultural upbringing and getting to experience classic rock for the first time to the ins and outs of the Nintendo Switch.

Taylor speaks to building a custom bundler into a Shopify theme and new issues related to applying a discount, including problems with a method that used to work well in the past with URL parameters. In addition to this, another gift with purchase issue when applying a discount doesn't work perfectly and other ways to approach this with customers.

Karl provides more background on the difficulties involved with a major migration from BigCommerce to Shopify for a merchant with over 250,000 orders.

Karl and Taylor then dig into Shopify Editions for summer 2023 and what it means for Shopify and app and theme devs.

// Resources //
https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023
Flex sections: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#flexible-sections-featured
B2B Features: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#b2b-on-shopify-drives-growth-featured
Optimize your Shop: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#shop-store-updates
Updates to Shop Minis SDK: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#shop-minis-developers 
New APIs for custom validation at cart and checkout: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#checkout-extension-updates-featured 
APIs to support more than 100 product variants: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#product-variants 
Generated test data for development stores: https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2023#dev-onboarding-improvements 

// Changelog // 
App review summaries: https://shopify.dev/changelog/app-review-summaries
Preview the one-page checkout, thank you page, and new customer account pages directly in the checkout editor: https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/checkout/best-practices/testing-ui-extensions#test-the-extension-in-the-checkout-editor

// Picks of the Week //
Matrixify Shopify App: https://apps.shopify.com/excel-export-import
Shopify Display: https://shopify.supply/products/display 

// Other resources discussed //
Existing Shopify Plus feature, catalogs: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/b2b/catalogs 
Shop channel: https://apps.shopify.com/shop
Set up the Shop channel: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-sales-channels/shop/setup 
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell [book]: https://amzn.to/45IfaiH, https://www.amazon.com/Blink-Power-Thinking-Without/dp/0316010669 
Baymard Institute, ecommerce UX research: https://baymard.com/