Theme Preview & Development

Elevate works seamlessly with Shopify's theme system, but there are situations where Elevate's redirect behavior can interfere with theme development and preview workflows. This guide explains why that happens and how to work around it.

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The Problem

Elevate manages theme experiments by redirecting visitors to their assigned theme. This redirect logic also applies to anyone viewing the store — including you, your developers, and your team.

This means two things can happen while you're developing or previewing themes:

1. After a theme test ends: If your browser was part of the test and was assigned to the variation theme, Elevate will redirect you back to the published theme. This can be disruptive when you're trying to preview or work on the unpublished theme.

2. During normal theme previews: If your browser doesn't have Elevate tracking data and you're previewing an unpublished theme, Elevate may redirect you to the published theme — because from Elevate's perspective, an untracked visitor on a non-published theme looks like something that shouldn't be happening.

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How to Bypass Redirects: The eabUserPreview Parameter

To tell Elevate you're a store owner or developer (and should not be redirected), append eabUserPreview=true to any theme preview URL:

https://yourstore.myshopify.com/?preview_theme_id=1234567890&eabUserPreview=true

This sets an eabUserPreview cookie in your browser that disables Elevate's automatic redirect behavior. Once set, you can freely preview and develop on any theme without interference.

This works for:

• Preview links you share with team members — Anyone who opens the link gets the cookie set

• Incognito / private browser sessions — Add the parameter when opening the preview in a fresh session

• Automated testing tools — Tools like Selenium, Puppeteer, or Playwright that use browsers

Tip: When sharing theme preview links with your team or clients, always append ?eabUserPreview=true (or &eabUserPreview=true if the URL already has parameters). This prevents confusion from unexpected redirects.

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How to Remove the Bypass

The eabUserPreview cookie persists until you manually remove it. To re-enable normal redirect behavior:

1. Open your browser's developer tools

   • Mac: Cmd + Option + I

   • Windows: Ctrl + Shift + I

2. Go to the Application tab (Chrome) or Storage tab (Firefox/Safari)

3. Expand Cookies in the sidebar and find your store's domain

4. Look for the eabUserPreview cookie

5. Right-click it and select Delete

After removing the cookie, Elevate's redirect behavior resumes normally — you'll be treated like a regular visitor.

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How to Check Your Current Status

Not sure if you're currently bypassing redirects? Check your cookies:

1. Open developer tools (Cmd + Option + I on Mac, Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows)

2. Go to Application → Cookies → [your store domain]

3. Search for eabUserPreview

Cookie State	What It Means
eabUserPreview = true	You're excluded from redirects — Elevate won't redirect you during development
Cookie doesn't exist	Normal visitor behavior — Elevate's redirects apply to you

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Best Practices for Theme Development

While a Theme Experiment Is Running

• Always use eabUserPreview=true when previewing themes in the Shopify theme editor

• Let your development team know about the parameter — one unexpected redirect during a client demo can be confusing

• Avoid publishing the variation theme while the experiment is active

After a Theme Experiment Ends

• Clear the eabUserPreview cookie if you set it during development, so you experience the store like a normal visitor

• If your browser keeps getting redirected after a test has ended, clear your Elevate cookies (ABTL, ABAU, eabThemeTest) to reset your visitor state

General Tips

• Clear browser cache after theme updates — hard refresh (Cmd + Shift + R / Ctrl + Shift + R) to ensure you're seeing the latest version

• Check for JavaScript errors in the browser console if experiments aren't behaving as expected

• Use incognito mode when you want to experience the store as a fresh visitor without any existing cookies or assignments

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Troubleshooting

I keep getting redirected to the published theme when previewing Add eabUserPreview=true to your preview URL. This is the most common issue during development.

My team can't preview the variation theme Share the preview link with eabUserPreview=true appended. Without it, Elevate may redirect them.

Redirects are happening even after the experiment ended Your browser still has test assignment cookies from the experiment. Clear cookies for your store domain — specifically ABTL, ABAU, and eabThemeTest — or use an incognito window.

Theme editor changes aren't showing up Hard refresh the page (Cmd + Shift + R / Ctrl + Shift + R). If you're on the variation theme, make sure you're editing the correct theme in the Shopify editor.