Step 1: Identifying and Addressing Speed Issues
Ensuring your Shopify store performs optimally is crucial for retaining visitors and improving your search engine rankings. One common issue that can impact website speed is the presence of unused JavaScript. To address this problem and enhance your Shopify store’s performance, follow these steps:
Step 2: Seeking Help for Third-Party App-Related Speed Issues
If you suspect that third-party apps are causing speed issues on your Shopify store, it’s a good practice to reach out to the respective app’s support team first. They can provide guidance on optimizing their app’s performance or help resolve any conflicts that may be affecting your site’s speed.
Step 3: Accessing Your Theme’s Code
To tackle unused JavaScript within your Shopify theme, you’ll need to access and edit your theme’s code. Follow these steps:
- From your Shopify admin dashboard, click on “Online Store,” then select “Themes.”
- In the “Themes” section, click “Edit Code” for the theme you want to optimize.
Step 4: Locating JavaScript Files
Inside your theme’s code editor, you’ll see a list of files and folders on the left-hand panel. To find and manage JavaScript files, navigate to the “Assets” folder and click to open it.
Step 5: Identifying Unused JavaScript Files
Within the “Assets” folder, you’ll encounter a list of JavaScript files. To identify unused files, examine your website’s functionality and script dependencies. Determine which JavaScript files are no longer necessary for your site to operate correctly.
Step 6: Deleting Unused JavaScript Files
Once you’ve identified unused JavaScript files, proceed to delete them. However, exercise caution to ensure you don’t remove any files that your website relies on for its functionality. Deleting essential scripts can result in broken features or errors.
Step 7: Minifying Remaining JavaScript Files
To further optimize your website’s performance, consider minifying the remaining JavaScript files. Minification involves removing unnecessary characters and spaces from the code, reducing file size and improving loading times.
To minify JavaScript files:
- Copy the contents of each JavaScript file.
- Use a JavaScript minifier tool (e.g., online minifiers or code editors with minification features).
- Paste the copied code into the minifier.
- Obtain the minified code and replace the original code in your theme’s JavaScript files.
Step 8: Save and Test Your Changes
After making these adjustments, remember to save your theme files. Then, refresh your website to ensure that everything is functioning correctly. Test various pages and functionalities to verify that the changes haven’t caused any issues.
Step 9: Creating a Backup
Always create a backup of your theme before making any code changes. This precaution ensures that you can quickly restore your website to its previous state in case any unexpected issues arise.
By following these steps, you can effectively reduce unused JavaScript in your Shopify theme, leading to improved website speed and a better user experience for your visitors.
Reference: Shopify – Edit code for your theme.
