FAQ - Docs

Will the app slow down my store?

Spec & Compare app does not have a significant impact on your store's performance. This is because the app uses modern web technologies to limit the usage of slow JavaScript, and leverages Shopify Online Store 2.0 architecture and metafields to further improve performance. Additionally, unless you are using the dynamic compare (reserved to Pro plan), the app does not load any extra CSS or JavaScript on pages where it is not used (hence having a zero performance cost on home page or collection pages, where specification tables are typically not visible. When being visible on the page, the app loads:

A 4.3Kb CSS file
A 4.0Kb JavaScript file
An extra 1.8Kb JavaScript file that is loaded only if you are using the dynamic comparison feature on collection pages.

Will the app cause Google Core Vitals issues?

Google Core Vitals is a set of performance, SEO, and accessibility best practices. Our app takes Google Core Vitals very seriously. Especially, CLS (a very important metric for ranking) is not impacted by our app, even if you display specification tables at the top of a product page. This is because tables are rendered directly in Liquid (Shopify programming language) and not in JavaScript.

Can I compare products on collection pages?

Yes. However, this feature is restricted to merchants on the Pro plan of the app. Learn more about dynamic compare.

Are specifications indexed by search engines?

Yes. Contrary to other specification apps, Spec & Compare uses Shopify metafields and Liquid programming language to render the table without any JavaScript. To put it simply, the specification and comparison tables content is already on the page and can therefore be fully indexed by search engines to benefit SEO.

Difference between attributes and metafields

You can find more information about the difference between attributes and metafields by clicking here.

Is the app mobile-friendly?

Yes. Both specification and comparison tables are 100% mobile-friendly. The appearance of tables will automatically adapt based on the available space to guarantee that your customers can read the content easily.

Does the app follows accessibility best practice?

Yes. Our app generates semantic HTML suited for specification and comparison tables. It is fully accessible by using a keyboard and is fully compatible with assistive technologies. All your users will therefore be able to enjoy the best possible experience without any compromise.

Can I customize the appearance of tables to match my brand?

Yes. The app offers a table editor allowing you to control appearance settings such as font size, border color, or spacing.

Learn more about appearance customization.

If you need to customize the appearance of tables further to create a unique design, you can take advantage of the Liquid metaobject that the app is creating automatically and create your own custom layout (coding knowledge is needed).

Learn more about developer customization.

Can I translate the tables into multiple languages?

Yes, Spec & Compare app natively integrates with Shopify native localization system to offer a seamless, SEO-friendly translation.

Can I use the app on a development store?

If you are an agency/developer creating a store on a development plan, you are eligible to use the app for free for an unlimited period of time. However, once the theme is converted to a paid plan, you need to subscribe to the app. We reserve the right to report your store to Shopify legal team if you are using our app on a paid store without a valid app subscription.

Can I reuse existing metafields as part of the specification tables?

Yes. Spec & Compare app supports three ways to extract data from your product:

Basic product information: basic information such as vendor, price, product options, or weight can be automatically retrieved by the app.
Metafields/metaobjects: if you have already created metafields and/or metaobjects as part of your product information, you can connect those fields to a specification table attribute to automatically re-use them in the app.
Custom attributes: finally, you can create extra attributes inside the app whose goal is only to show on specification and comparison tables. Those attributes are, internally, also saved as Shopify metafields for best performance.

Those three approaches can be mixed (we actually recommend that).

Learn more about specification tables.

Can I import/export product attributes?

Spec & Compare app saves all the information as product metafields. While the app does not offer a built-in import/export service, you can use a dedicated app such as Matrixify.

Where is the data hosted?

All the data (including table schema and product attributes) is saved on Shopify servers exclusively. No data is
hosted on our servers. This ensures the best possible performance and better safety for you.