Install OptionWise
Getting OptionWise running takes a few minutes: install the app, then follow the short setup flow that opens. It walks you through choosing a theme, adding the OptionWise plugin to it, picking products, and reviewing your first options — by the end, your options are live.
Step 1 — Install from the Shopify App Store
Open the OptionWise listing
Open the OptionWise listing in the Shopify App Store and click Add app.
Approve the permissions
Shopify shows the permissions OptionWise needs to read your products and store the options data. Click Install to approve.
Land in the setup flow
After installing you’re taken to OptionWise inside your Shopify admin, which opens on “Welcome to OptionWise” — the guided setup below.
Step 2 — Follow the setup flow
The setup flow is self-guided; here’s what each step does so you know what to expect.
Choose your theme
Under Theme to install on, select the theme where you’d like to install OptionWise. This is usually your live theme, but you can pick an unpublished draft to try OptionWise there first. OptionWise checks the theme’s compatibility as you pick — see Theme compatibility below. Click Get started.
Add OptionWise to your theme
On the Add OptionWise to your theme step, click Add OptionWise to theme. Shopify’s theme editor opens in a new tab with the OptionWise plugin ready to place on your product page. Click Save in the theme editor, then return to the OptionWise tab — the step confirms “OptionWise is on your theme” on its own. Click Continue.
If your store has no products yet, OptionWise asks you to add one first (“Your store has no products yet”) — click Create example product for an unlisted sample product customers never see.
You add the plugin once per theme. After that, every option set you publish appears automatically — you don’t return to the theme editor for each one. Where to position the plugin is covered in Plugin placement.
Pick products to add options to
Pick the products (or a collection) your first options should appear on — from your recent products and collections, or via search. Click Continue. You can add more products later.
Preview your options
You land in the option set editor, where OptionWise looks at the products you picked and drafts starter options for them — the kinds of choices shops selling similar products offer. Each one is marked Suggested: click Keep or Remove, edit anything, or click Add option to build your own. The preview shows your options on a product page as you go. Click Continue to publish them and finish setup.
If no suggestions come back, choose Set up manually and build your options yourself. Nothing goes live until you click Continue.
Theme compatibility
OptionWise needs an Online Store 2.0 theme — the modern format that supports product-page app blocks. Most themes qualify, including Dawn and the other free Shopify themes.
The check runs automatically when you choose your theme in setup. If it finds a problem, a banner under the theme selector says what it is and what to do — for example “This theme isn’t compatible with OptionWise” for an older vintage theme. Pick a different theme from the selector, or fix the issue and the check re-runs. The full list of messages is in Theme integration. Switching from another options app? Turn the old one off before you publish — see If another product options app is installed.
You’re set up
After setup, the OptionWise home page shows your dashboard: a Complete your setup checklist for the finishing touches, Your option sets, and a Recommended list. If the plugin ever goes missing from your theme, a “Your options aren’t visible to customers” warning appears at the top. Next: