Add Smooth Scroll Buttons in Shopify Express Theme

Are you looking to enhance your Shopify store’s user experience by adding a smooth scroll feature to your buttons? This guide will walk you through the process of implementing a smooth scroll effect in Shopify’s Express theme, allowing your customers to effortlessly navigate to specific sections of your page with a simple click.

Understanding Smooth Scroll in Shopify

What is Smooth Scroll?

Smooth scroll is a popular web design feature that creates a fluid, animated transition when users navigate to different parts of a webpage. Instead of an abrupt jump, the page smoothly glides to the target section, providing a more pleasant and engaging user experience.

Why Use Smooth Scroll in Your Shopify Store?

Implementing smooth scroll in your Shopify store can significantly improve user engagement and navigation. It’s particularly useful for:

1. Guiding customers to important information
2. Enhancing the overall aesthetic of your site
3. Improving user experience on both desktop and mobile devices

Compatibility Considerations

While smooth scroll is widely supported, it’s important to note that some browsers, particularly older versions of Safari on iOS, may not fully support the behavior: 'smooth' CSS property. We’ll address this issue and provide a solution that works across different platforms.

Implementing Smooth Scroll in the Express Theme

Step 1: Identify Your Target Elements

Before adding the smooth scroll functionality, you need to identify two key elements:

1. The button that will trigger the scroll
2. The section of the page you want to scroll to

In our example, we’ll be working with:

• A “Find Out More!” button in the top banner
• A “Where It Started” section lower on the page

Step 2: Remove Existing Link from the Button

If your button currently has a link attached to it, you’ll need to remove it. This is because we’ll be using JavaScript to control the scroll behavior instead of a traditional link.

Step 3: Add the Smooth Scroll JavaScript

To implement the smooth scroll functionality, we’ll add a JavaScript code snippet to your theme. Here’s how to do it:

1. Go to your Shopify admin panel
2. Navigate to Online Store > Themes
3. Find your active theme and click “Actions” > “Edit code”
4. Locate the theme.liquid file in the Layout folder
5. Just before the closing “ tag, add the following code:

<script>
function scrollToSmoothly(pos, time) {
    var currentPos = window.pageYOffset;
    var start = null;
    if(time == null) time = 500;
    pos = +pos, time = +time;
    window.requestAnimationFrame(function step(currentTime) {
        start = !start ? currentTime : start;
        var progress = currentTime - start;
        if (currentPos < pos) {
            window.scrollTo(0, ((pos - currentPos) * progress / time) + currentPos);
        } else {
            window.scrollTo(0, currentPos - ((currentPos - pos) * progress / time));
        }
        if (progress < time) {
            window.requestAnimationFrame(step);
        } else {
            window.scrollTo(0, pos);
        }
    });
}

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function(){
    let windowToScroll = document.getElementById('shopify-section-image-with-text-2').getBoundingClientRect();
    let bannerButton = document.querySelector('.banner__button');
    
    bannerButton.addEventListener('click', function(e){
        scrollToSmoothly(windowToScroll.top, 1000);
    });
});
</script>

This code creates a custom smooth scroll function and attaches it to your button. The 1000 value represents the duration of the scroll animation in milliseconds.

Step 4: Adjust the Selector and Target

In the code above, make sure to replace:

• .banner__button with the appropriate class or ID of your button
• 'shopify-section-image-with-text-2' with the ID of your target section

Step 5: Test and Refine

After adding the code, save your changes and preview your theme. Click the button to ensure it smoothly scrolls to the desired section. If it doesn’t work as expected, double-check your selectors and make sure the target section ID is correct.

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Button Not Appearing

If your button disappears after removing the link, it may be due to conditional rendering in your theme. To fix this:

1. Locate the section file that contains your button (likely in the Sections folder)
2. Look for any conditional statements that check for a link before displaying the button
3. Adjust the condition to always show the button, or add a new setting to control its visibility

Smooth Scroll Not Working on iOS

If you notice that the smooth scroll effect isn’t working on iOS devices, it’s likely due to lack of support for the behavior: 'smooth' property. The JavaScript solution provided above should work across different platforms, including iOS devices.

Cursor Appearance on Hover

Some users may notice that the cursor changes to a “not-allowed” symbol when hovering over the button. To fix this and show a regular cursor:

1. Add a unique class to your button, e.g., smooth-scroll-button
2. Add the following CSS to your theme’s stylesheet:

.smooth-scroll-button:hover {
    cursor: pointer !important;
}

This will ensure that the cursor appears as a pointer when hovering over the button.

Customizing Your Smooth Scroll Effect

Adjusting Scroll Speed

To change the speed of the scroll animation, modify the time parameter in the scrollToSmoothly function call. For example, to make it faster, you could change:

scrollToSmoothly(windowToScroll.top, 1000);

to:

scrollToSmoothly(windowToScroll.top, 500);

Adding Easing Effects

For more advanced animations, you could incorporate easing functions to create different scrolling effects. This would require modifying the scrollToSmoothly function to use easing equations.

Multiple Smooth Scroll Buttons

If you want to add smooth scrolling to multiple buttons on your page, you can extend the JavaScript to handle multiple elements. Simply add more event listeners and adjust the target sections accordingly.

By following this guide, you should now have a fully functional smooth scroll effect in your Shopify Express theme. This enhancement will not only improve the user experience of your store but also add a touch of modern interactivity that can help set your site apart from the competition.

Remember to always test your changes thoroughly across different devices and browsers to ensure a consistent experience for all your customers. Happy scrolling!