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Stop Coding from Scratch: How to Clone & Customize Any Shopify Section in Minutes

As Shopify developers and store owners, we’ve all been there. You’re browsing a competitor’s store or a top-tier brand site, and you see a hero banner or a product slider that looks absolutely perfect. You think, "I want that on my store."

Traditionally, recreating that design meant hours of "Inspect Element," fighting with CSS classes, and writing Liquid schema from scratch.

But today, there is a faster way. By combining the visual power of Shopify Section Framer with the intelligence of Liquid Architect, you can go from "inspiration" to "implementation" in three simple steps.

Here is why you need this workflow and how to execute it.


Why Use This Workflow?

Before we dive into the "how," let’s look at the "why." Why should you stop coding sections from scratch?

  1. Speed: Why spend 4 hours building a layout when the HTML structure already exists? Grab the structure and spend your time on the unique styling.

  2. Best Practices: By extracting code from successful Shopify stores, you are learning from the best. You get to see exactly how top themes structure their HTML for responsiveness.

  3. Instant Editability: Raw HTML is static. The goal isn't just to copy a design, but to make it dynamic. This workflow turns static code into a fully editable Shopify Section with settings for images, text, and colors.


Step 1: Extract with Shopify Section Framer

The first challenge is getting clean code. Standard browser developer tools are cluttered. This is where Shopify Section Framer shines. It is a Chrome extension designed specifically to visualize and extract Shopify theme sections.

How to use it:

  1. Install the Extension: Get Shopify Section Framer from the Chrome Web Store.

  2. Navigate to a Store: Go to any Shopify store that inspires you.

  3. Activate the Framer: Click the extension icon in your browser toolbar.

    • What happens: You will immediately see glowing animated frames appear around every detected section on the page.

    • Visual Detection: As you hover over different parts of the page, the extension highlights the specific section boundaries, making it easy to identify exactly what you are looking at.

  4. Get the Code:

    • Locate the </> (View Source) button at the top-left of the section you want.

    • Click it to open the Source Code Viewer side panel.

    • Click Copy to save the clean HTML to your clipboard.

Note: The extension processes everything locally in your browser, ensuring your privacy while you browse


Step 2: Convert with Liquid Architect

Now you have the raw HTML, but you can't just paste HTML into Shopify if you want to change the text or images later. You need Liquid Schema.

This is where Liquid Architect comes in. It acts as your AI developer assistant.

How to convert:

  1. Paste the HTML: Open Liquid Architect and paste the code you just copied from Shopify Section Framer.

  2. Generate: Liquid Architect will rewrite the code. It keeps the HTML structure you liked but replaces the static content with Liquid variables (like {{ section.settings.title }}) and automatically generates the % schema % JSON at the bottom of the file.

Step 3: Launch

The final step is the easiest.

  1. Copy the code generated by Liquid Architect.

  2. Go to your Shopify Admin > Online Store > Themes > Edit Code.

  3. Create a new file under Sections.

  4. Paste the code and save.


Just like that, you have "stolen" a design (legally, by using the structure!) and transformed it into a fully functional, customizable part of your own theme.

 
 
 

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