How to update to Alchemy v5

Alchemy v5 is a complete ground-up rebuild brimming with powerful new features, functionalities and settings, as well as considerable SEO and performance improvements.

This new version of the Alchemy theme still has all the core features of Alchemy v4 - hero banners, product and collection cards, a strong clean design ethic - but all updated and upgraded. 

New features include: 

• Quick buy: Streamline the shopping experience with a new quick buy for larger screens.
• Cart drawer: Speed up purchases with a slide out cart drawer.
• Free shipping notice: Encourage larger basket sizes with a free shipping notice.
• Announcement bar: Show multiple announcements in a scrolling bar at the top of your store.
• Countdown timer: Create urgency around sales events with an animated timer that counts down in seconds, minutes, hours, and days from a specific date and time. (Available in the Rich text and Image banner sections.)
• Product list section: Choose your own list of promoted products to display in a carousel or grid anywhere in the store. 
• Recently viewed section: Boost sales and simplify the shopping experience with a recently viewed section.
• FAQ section: Keep customers informed with a section for FAQs which can be used anywhere across the store.
• Contact form section: Keep in touch with a flexible contact form section that can be used on any page.
• Scrolling banner: Draw attention to promotions, show images or logos in a new scrolling banner section.
• Product page: Support for complementary products, custom options, barcodes, icons.
• Swatches: Show your customers more with new flexible swatches.

Upgrading to v5

If your store is using Alchemy v4 or an earlier version, you can upgrade to Alchemy v5 for free. Upgrading to Alchemy v5 is optional, but if you decide to proceed, you will need to install and reconfigure it to match your current live store, just as you would with any other new theme. All images, products, collections etc will still be available in the Shopify admin area and will not need re-adding.

Since Alchemy v5 represents a major version update, it cannot be auto-updated. Do note that Shopify may provide the option to auto-update, but it is advised not to use the auto-update option when first moving to v5. The update functionality is controlled by the Shopify platform so the theme cannot prevent this from being displayed as an option.

Once Alchemy v5 is set up, all future updates within the v5.x series should auto-update, making this a one-time setup task to ensure the best coding standards and latest functionality. There are no plans to redesign Alchemy from the ground up for the foreseeable future as this major enhancement future-proofs this incredible theme, making it one of the most powerful, feature-rich, and performant themes on the Shopify Theme Store.

Section renaming

Some sections in Alchemy v5 have been renamed or restructured

In Alchemy v4 we had a separate Background video and Video section, these are now merged into a single Video section with more flexible options for text content and overlays

The Logo/Feature list section is now covered by a new icons with text section and a scroll banner section.

The announcement bar which used to show a single announcement can now show up to 5 different announcements scrolling across the store

FAQs

I've just auto-updated my theme. Why doesn't it look like my live store?

Alchemy v5 is a major version update which means it cannot successfully be automatically updated, even though Shopify may provide the facility to do this [limitation with the platform updating feature].  You will need to install a new copy of Alchemy v5 and configure it to match your current live store, just as you would with any other new theme. 

Do I have to update to Alchemy v5?

No, it is totally optional. However, in order to take advantage of the new features, and functionalities, as well as all future updates, we would recommend that you download the latest version and reset up your store on that version. 

Will I need to set my theme up again any time soon?

No. All future updates within the v5.x series should auto-update, making this a one-time setup task. We have no plans to redesign Alchemy from the ground up for the foreseeable future.