Start from a template

You do not need an account to look at templates. The Templates page (/templates) and the Templates section of the home page are open to everyone; an account is only needed at Use this template, because the new store is created in your name.

"Every template is a real, published store. Open the live version, then create an account to build your own site from it — everything stays editable."

Two phrases in there are worth more than the rest of this page.

"A real, published store"

A template is not a screenshot or a build made for the showcase. It is a store that is running, operated by the platform, and View live opens exactly that store in a new tab. It is the one preview that cannot go stale, because it is the template.

The picture on the card is a screenshot of that store's home page. A template without one is ordinary — the shot is only taken when its home page is published from the editor — so the card says "No preview yet" rather than showing a broken image. View live shows you regardless.

"Everything stays editable"

Using a template creates a store of your own, copied from it. It is yours from the first second: rebrand it, swap the products, delete the home page if you like. The platform editing the template later does not touch the store you already made.

The copy carries the design and the catalogue, never anyone's trading history — the same list as an organisation's template library: no orders, no customers, no domain, no team.

Choosing before you have an account

Press Use this template while signed out and you are taken to sign-up. Above the form is one line saying why you are there:

"You chose the template “Fashion starter”. Sign in or create an account to build your site from it."

That choice follows you through every step — registering, entering the six-digit verification code, or signing in if you already have an account and press Sign in under the form. After the last step you are back on the templates page with the name dialog already open for the template you chose. Nothing to find again.

If the platform withdrew the template in the meantime, the page says so: "The template you chose is no longer offered. Pick another one below." — rather than quietly dropping you on an empty dashboard.

Naming it and waiting for the build

The Start from {template} dialog suggests the template's own name. That is a suggestion, not a default: two stores both called "Fashion starter" are yours to tell apart later, so name it after your store.

Press Create site, the build runs in the background, and you land on the Sites dashboard with a building card — exactly as when a template is picked in the create dialog. Once it finishes the card is an ordinary store; the next page is Your first store.

Already signed in

Once signed in, /templates sits inside your dashboard and Use this opens the name dialog straight away. The New site dialog on the dashboard lists the same templates, only without pictures — the templates page is where you look before you choose.