You wire custom sections into the theme
A developer hand-codes bespoke sections and .liquid straight into your live theme. It looks perfect.
Theme App Extension for Shopify
Custom sections that survive every theme update.
Build custom sections, CSS & metafield displays for your Shopify theme — that live in the app, not in your theme, so updates and theme switches can't touch them. 35 ready-made templates · Scheduling · Version history · Export/import for agencies.
Free for up to 3 sections · No credit card · Works on OS 2.0 & Horizon.
Theme App ExtensionNo write_themes scopeHosted in Germany · GDPR-ready
HTMLCSSJS
product-hero.section1234567
<!-- lives in SectionGuard, not your theme --><section class="sg-hero"><span class="eyebrow">New drop</span><h1>{{ product.title }}</h1><p class="price">{{ product.price }}</p><button>Add to cart</button></section>
yourstore.com/products/aurora-runner-jacket
New drop
Aurora Runner Jacket
$168.00Rendered by SectionGuard
Theme updated to v12.4 → section still live, data still resolving.
section.liquid
<h1>{{ product.title }}</h1>
yourstore.com
Product title
Aurora Runner Jacket
Resolved server-side · no Liquid touched
The theme-update trap
You built it once. The next update erases it.
Custom section work is fragile in exactly the place it matters most — inside the theme files that every update overwrites.
A theme update lands. The work is gone.
Publish a theme update — or accept the vendor's — and the customizations reset with it. Hours of work, wiped in one click.
File-based apps copy .liquid into your theme
Section Store and similar apps write their .liquid files into the theme too — so they inherit the exact same trap on the next update.
theme editor · storefront sections
0 sections lost after the theme update
zsh — theme deploy
$ shopify theme push --livePushing theme “Horizon” to yourstore.myshopify.com …✓ Uploaded 214 files · theme replaced$ sectionguard status✓ 7 app sections re-synced (0 in theme files)✓ tokens resolving · product.title, product.price, metafields
File-based sections
custom-hero.liquid overwritten by the update. Rebuild by hand.
SectionGuard
Still live. Same block, same data — the theme never held your code.
Same theme update. Two very different mornings.
Flip the toggle. Where your sections live is the only thing that decides whether they survive.
File-based sections
Pasted into theme.liquid
New drop
Aurora Runner Jacket
Weatherproof · 3-layer shell
Shop nowSectionGuard
Lives in the app extension
New drop
Aurora Runner Jacket
Weatherproof · 3-layer shell
Shop nowHow it works
Build, publish, place. The theme stays out of it.
Sections live in the app and render through a single Theme App Extension block. Your theme stays clean and fully updatable.
Build
Start from one of 35 templates with plain form fields, or write your own HTML, CSS & JS in the app editor with token autocomplete for live product, collection and metafield data.
Publish
One click compiles the section and stores it as an app-owned Metaobject in Shopify — storefront delivery doesn't depend on our server.
Place
Add the app block "Custom Section" in the theme editor (or use the in-app "Place in theme editor" button) and pick your section from a list. No handle typing, no code.
section.build
$ sectionguard newname: "Hero banner"✓ section registered
Define the section in the app
Step 4 — Stay safe
The theme is never touched — so updates, switches and reinstalls can't erase your work.
Publishing never writes a line into your theme. Switch themes and you place the block once more in the new one; uninstall and reinstall the app and your published sections re-publish automatically. Nothing to rebuild by hand.
We install without the write_themes
What you get
Live data, native placement, zero theme risk.
Real capabilities, not buzzwords — everything below ships in the app today.
Live data, zero Liquid risk
Drop tokens like {{ product.title }} — they resolve server-side to real store data. No Liquid runs in your theme.
Metafield panel with live search
Search your metafields by name and namespace inside the editor, then insert the exact one you need in a click.
Native section picker
Your sections show up by name in Shopify's own theme editor. Pick and place them like any built-in block.
Versions, diff & one-click restore
Every save and publish is a version. Compare two with a line diff, then restore either one in a single click.
Survives uninstall / reinstall
Your section source stays saved in your account. Reinstall and it auto re-syncs and republishes — nothing to rebuild.
Theme stays clean
No write_themes scope, no files copied into your theme. We can't touch your theme code even if we wanted to.
Scheduling, enforced storefront-side
Set "Show from" and "Hide after" dates per section — a weekend sale banner that appears and disappears on its own.
35 ready-made templates
13 for product pages, 11 for collection pages, 11 for standalone pages — fully localized, with example content from the first click.
Export & import for agencies
Export a section as JSON in one shop, import the same file in the next. Build the library once, reuse it across every client store.
Pro
Pro: 35 finished templates, ready to edit
Pro unlocks all 35 templates — 13 product, 11 collection, 11 page — fully localized in German and English, each starting with real example content, not empty fields.
Where the difference is
It comes down to one thing: where the sections live.
Not marketing — architecture. That single choice decides what happens on your next theme update.
| SectionGuardSections live in the app | File-based section apps | Hand-coded into the theme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sections live in… | The app | Your theme files | Your theme files |
| Theme update | Everything survives | Lost or frozen | Overwritten |
| Theme switch | Place one block | Re-insert each section | Rebuild by hand |
| Versions + restore | Built in | None | None |
| No write_themes scope | yes | no | no |
Fair is fair: file-based sections keep working after you uninstall the app — ours live in the app, so they don't. That's the trade for surviving every theme update.
Who's behind it
A focused tool from an independent Shopify developer.
Sinan Sancar
Founder, MADE IT
SectionGuard is built by MADE IT — a one-person studio run by Sinan Sancar. It does one thing: keep your custom sections alive across every theme update, without ever writing into your theme.
Hosted in Germany and GDPR-ready. Support comes straight from the person who writes the code — email support@sectionguard.com and you reach me, not a queue.
Pricing
Start free. Pay when you outgrow three sections.
Billed through Shopify, cancel anytime. Every plan uses the same Theme App Extension — the difference is how much you build.
$0/mo
For a first custom section or two.
- Up to 3 sections
- Code editor & live preview
- Dynamic tokens & metafields
- Scheduling, versions & diff
$14.99/mo
For stores that keep building.
- Everything in Free
- Unlimited sections
$39.99/mo
For agencies and power builders.
- Everything in Basic
- 35 ready-made templates
Billed through Shopify · Cancel anytime.
FAQ
The questions everyone asks first.
What happens when I update my theme?
Nothing. Your sections live as their own Metaobjects in Shopify, not in the theme — an update, yours or the vendor's, leaves them completely untouched. Same block, same content, before and after.
What if I uninstall?
Your sections cleanly disappear from the storefront — no ruins. Reinstall later and your published sections restore automatically, with your content kept retained within the GDPR retention windows.
Do I need coding skills?
No. Pick from 35 ready-made templates and fill them in through form fields — no code required. If you'd rather write your own, a full code editor is right there too.
Does it work with my theme?
Yes — with any Online Store 2.0 theme, which covers essentially every current Shopify theme. The "Custom Section" app block places in the native theme editor just like any built-in section.
Stop rebuilding. Start guarding.
Custom sections that survive every theme update.
Free for up to 3 sections · No credit card · Works on OS 2.0 & Horizon.