The overall visual appearance of your eCom store is decided partially by the theme you have installed and partially by the headlines and what you feature on your homepage. Professional web developers have distilled their know-how and skill into these themes to make it possible for you to install and start working with them without prior knowledge of web development.

1. Decide on a theme

   The first step in designing your eCom store is deciding on a theme. You have the option of using the theme that's already installed by default called Ignite or selecting and installing a new theme.

   Prerequisites 

   • None.

   Deciding on a new theme

   1. In your eCom Back Office, click Design.
   2. You're using the default theme if you see the name Ignite on the right-hand side of the screen. Decide if Ignite is right for your eCom store by investigating the theme:
      1. Click Edit theme to review the settings.
      2. Click here for more information about what each setting will do.
      3. Click Back to home in the left sidebar, then click View store in the top right-hand side of the screen to view your eCom store using Ignite.
   3. If you would like to view other themes, access the theme store located here.
   4. Choose a new theme and click Install.
   5. Login to your eCom store and click Buy > Buy.

   For a more detailed approach to selecting a theme, click here.

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2. Customize your theme

   • Add the logo - An important part of your eCom store, helps customers identify they are in the right place.
   • Add links to social media - Most themes are designed to allow you to create links to your social media accounts. They make these links accessable on most pages of your eCom store.
   • Add company information - Most themes will take certain pieces of company information and display them on your website.
   • Add banners - Most themes are designed to display images in well designed strategic places.
   • Pick your colors - All themes can be customized to be practically any mixture of colors.
   • Customizing other theme settings - Depending on the theme you have installed, there may be other important theme settings that are required.

   Prerequisites 

   • Images collected of your logo as covered in Session 1.

   Customizing your theme

   1. Login to your eCom Back Office and click Design.
   2. Click Edit theme on the right-hand side of the screen.
   3. Make sure to locate and edit your:
      1. Logo
      2. Social media links
      3. Company information
      4. Colours
      5. Other theme settings.
   4. Review the theme's manual and make sure you've located and edited all required theme settings.

   For more information on how to find a theme's manual, click here.

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3. Add a headline

   Grab your visitors’ attention with a headline. Use an image that represents your category to attract customers to your products.

   Prerequisites 

   • Having gathered images as covered in Session 1.

   Adding headlines

   1. Login to your eCom Back Office and click Design > Headlines.
   2. Click Add headline.
   3. Enter the title of your headline as it relates to your category.
   4. Select your language (eg: English US).
   5. Click Save.
   6. In the LINK TO section, select the following:
      • Type: Category.
      • Category: The top-level parent category of your products.
   7. In the IMAGE section, click Browse.
   8. Select the image file that represents your category.
   9. Click Open.
   10. On the top right of your page, click Save.
   11. To view your new headline, click Back to Home from the left-hand sidebar and click View Store.

   For more information on adding headlines, click here.

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4. Display featured products and categories on your webpage

   In order to make it easier for your customers to see what you have to offer, add featured products and categories to your eCom store.

   Prerequisites 

   • Products to be showcased online should be available in your eCom store as covered in Session 1.
   • Your products set up as covered in Session 2.

   Selecting featured products and categories

   1. Login to your eCom Back Office and click Design > Featured products.
   2. Click Add Product.
   3. Click Choose beside a product you want to feature on your homepage.
   4. When finished, click Close.
   5. In the left-hand sidebar, click Featured categories.
   6. Click Add Category.
   7. Click Choose beside a category you want to feature on your homepage.
   8. Click Back to Home from the left-hand sidebar and click View Store to see how the products and categories appear on your homepage.

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You've completed Session 3, begin Session 4 here.