Announcement bar

The announcement bar lives in the header group, above the main header. Each Message block is one announcement, with its own text, optional link, icon, and schedule. The section settings apply to every message in the bar.

How message rotation works

Add more than one active message to use rotation. A bar with one active message hides its rotation controls automatically.

Setting	What shoppers get
Rotate messages automatically on	Messages advance after the time set by Time each message shows. A pause button is always provided.
Show navigation arrows on	Previous and next buttons let shoppers move through messages themselves on larger screens.
Rotate messages automatically off	Messages stay still until a shopper uses the arrows on larger screens.

Automatic rotation pauses while the pointer is over the bar or keyboard focus is inside it, then resumes when the shopper leaves. It is disabled for shoppers whose device requests reduced motion.

On screens narrower than 750px, the compact layout hides the previous and next arrows. If automatic rotation is off — including because the shopper requests reduced motion — the first active message is the one they see on mobile. Put the most important standalone message first rather than relying on every shopper moving through the full sequence.

There is no animation picker in this section. Transitions follow the theme’s global motion style and reduced-motion preference, keeping the announcement bar consistent with the rest of the storefront.

Keep the message compact

Aim for 60 characters or fewer. Longer text can wrap, but the storefront limits every message to two lines and hides anything beyond them. Use Link to send shoppers to a page containing the full details instead of forcing an explanation into the bar.

All active messages occupy the same layout row, and the bar reserves enough height for the tallest one. That keeps the header from jumping up and down as messages rotate. An icon has its own column beside the complete text block, so it stays vertically aligned when the text uses two lines.

Add links and icons

Setting Link makes the complete message — icon and text — clickable. Point it directly to the page that fulfills the promise in the message, such as the relevant collection, shipping policy, or campaign page.

Icon can be None, Star, Truck, Tag, Gift, Sparkle, Percent, Globe, Clock, Flame, Heart, or Bolt. Use an icon to clarify the message, not to repeat it. For example, Truck suits a shipping notice and Tag suits a genuine promotion.

Schedule a message

Turn on Schedule this message inside a Message block to reveal its start and end fields. Enter dates in the format shown in the editor:

2026-12-01 09:00

• Leave Show from blank to make the message active immediately.
• Leave Hide after blank to keep it active indefinitely.
• Fill both fields to show it only within that window.

Scheduled messages remain visible in the theme editor so you can find and edit them. On the live storefront, only messages inside their active window are included in the rotation. A Message block with no text is also omitted from the live storefront.

Check the live storefront near the start and end of an important campaign. Date parsing follows the storefront’s server-side date handling, so a quick boundary check avoids surprises around time zones.

Let shoppers close the bar

Turn on Let shoppers close the bar to add a close button. After a shopper closes it, that browser keeps the bar hidden. The bar appears again when its message content changes — including a change to message text, link, icon, or schedule — so a new announcement is not hidden by an earlier dismissal.

Dismissal is stored only in that shopper’s browser. It does not change the section in Shopify or hide the bar for anyone else.

Show it only on the home page

Turn on Show only on home page when the message belongs to the home-page campaign rather than the whole store. Leave it off for information shoppers may need on product, collection, cart, and other pages, such as a shipping threshold or service interruption.

A practical setup

For most stores, start with this:

1. Add one or two Message blocks.
2. Keep each message to one short phrase, ideally no more than 60 characters.
3. Use a link only when there is a clear destination.
4. Leave automatic rotation, navigation arrows, and the five-second timing at their defaults.
5. Turn on dismissal only for campaign copy that shoppers do not need on every visit.
6. Put the most important message first, then preview at a narrow phone width to confirm it fits in two lines.

Twelve blocks are supported, but they should not all compete for attention. If several notices are important at once, move the detail to a dedicated page and let one announcement link to it.