Common questions we encounter in Theme Support with helpful answers and additional context.
- Does Out of the Sandbox Offer Phone Support?
- Can I Combine Features from Different Themes?
- Can You Update My Theme For Me?
- Do You Offer Non-Profit or Educational Discounts?
- Are Your Shopify Themes Compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act?
- Are Your Themes ADA, WCAG, or WAI Compliant?
Does Out of the Sandbox offer phone support?
Short answer
No.
More context
If you emailed Out of the Sandbox requesting a callback, please note that we do not offer phone callbacks so we will be unable to call you to handle support inquiries. See more important notes in the "Callback requests" section below.
In order to maintain the best value for our customers, Out of the Sandbox does not offer phone or live chat technical or sales support as outlined in our support policy and terms and conditions.
However, we are always more than happy to hear from you via email or our help center.
Before contacting support, however, please consider these points:
- We have hundreds of articles that outline the basic functionality, setup, and even more advanced changes in our support center. We always recommend searching this site first to see if your question has already been answered — and you can resolve the issue right away.
- If your site is not working, please see this article for more details and some troubleshooting steps. We also suggest reading this blog post.
- While our Facebook page does feature a Facebook Messenger feature, this is not real-time support. We review and respond to messages subject to the same timeframes as email tickets.
- While we try to respond as soon as possible to all emails, it may take up to 2-3 business days to receive a response. All requests are handled on a first-come, first-served basis and there is no way to expedite a request.
- If you have urgent needs or need to talk to someone via telephone, you may want to try calling or live chatting with Shopify support. However, please be aware that Shopify support may need to refer you back to us via email.
Please note that if you emailed Out of the Sandbox requesting a callback, your request will be processed via email only. Out of the Sandbox does not provide phone or live chat support for sales or technical issues.
If you sent an email requesting a callback, we suggest replying to the confirmation you received with the following information if you have not provided it already:
- Provide your store URL and, if necessary, storefront password.
- Provide a detailed description of the problem, including steps to reproduce it and screenshots, if available.
- Check this article for more tips.
We strongly recommend providing this information as soon as possible. Otherwise, you will receive a response requesting this information and your issue will be placed on hold until we receive details, which will increase the time it takes for us to provide you with a full response.
We suggest reading this article for tips on how to submit a detailed support request.
To submit a request to our support team, click here and complete the form.
Can I combine features from different themes?
Short answer
It is possible, but not within the scope of our support services.
More context
Often users want to take a feature or layout from one of our themes and include it in another theme or add a new feature to an older version of the same theme.
While these types of changes may be possible, adding new features requires extensive development work to the theme's code. Our support team is unable to assist with such tasks and we don't have any guides on how to do this, unfortunately.
Combining theme files is likely to be very complex, costly, and time-consuming, so if you really need a feature in one version, you're likely better off upgrading rather than trying to customize the code.
If you're unable to upgrade your theme, you can always reach out to us with a feature request as we're always happy to hear suggestions from merchants.
Can you update my theme for me?
Short answer
We cannot complete a full update for you but can provide tools and resources to make this process easier.
More context
If you need some help with updating your theme, we have some great tips and resources to help make the process as smooth as possible:
- Upgrading a theme without customizations is fairly simple using the steps outlined here.
- If your theme does have customizations, be sure you're following these best practices to make upgrading easier.
- Our Theme Updater App is a quick and easy way to facilitate the updating process.
- Learn about the difference between manual and 'automated' Shopify theme updates.
If you require further assistance upgrading your theme, we suggest reaching out to one of the Shopify experts listed here (or your favorite Shopify developer) – unfortunately, Out of the Sandbox does not update themes for merchants at this time.
Do you offer non-profit or educational discounts?
Short answer
Sometimes, but only for Flex, Turbo, or Superstore.
More context
At this time, we do not have specific discounts available to nonprofits, educational institutions, or students.
Please note: Due to contractual agreements, we are only able to offer discounts of any type on Turbo or Flex.
We do, however, frequently run promotions on our popular Turbo and Flex Shopify themes that are open to any customer who meets the eligibility requirements, which generally would include charities, educational organizations, and students.
The best way to stay informed of the latest offers is to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
Also, if you're just getting started in ecommerce and don't have the budget for a theme, you may want to consider starting with one of the many free themes Shopify offers. These are a great way to get your store off the ground until funds are available to purchase a premium theme.
Are your Shopify themes compliant with the California Consumer Privacy Act?
Short answer
We are unable to advise on this topic and legal professionals should be consulted if this is a concern.
More context
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice and, per the terms and conditions of purchase, Out of the Sandbox cannot guarantee compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act. For detailed information about compliance issues for your business, consult a licensed attorney.
The California Consumer Privacy Act, or CCPA, became effective Jan. 1, 2020.
All of the information Out of the Sandbox has about CCPA is listed on this page. We are unable to provide specific or additional advice on CCPA compliance.
In general, the CCPA applies to residents of the State of California in the United States. However, because of California's large population, many companies that are affected by CCPA are updating their terms of service, privacy policies, and business practices to apply to the entire United States or even worldwide.
In general, the CCPA applies if your company or business has customers in California and meets one or more of these criteria:
- Has gross annual revenues of $25 million or more
- Buys or sells personal information of 50,000 or more consumers or households
- Earns more than half its annual revenue from selling consumers' personal information
If you believe your Shopify store may meet one or more of these criteria, you should contact a licensed attorney to discuss your options and compliance requirements.
Out of the Sandbox cannot provide additional advice or information about CPPA or compliance.
Please keep in mind that additional laws or regulations may still apply, in particular GDPR and COPPA, even if you determine your business is not required to comply with CCPA.
Are your themes ADA, WCAG, or WAI compliant?
Short answer
We are unable to guarantee compliance and recommend being cautious about predatory legal action.
More context
Disclaimer: This is not legal advice. As with any legal requirement or compliance issue, the Out of the Sandbox terms and conditions do not guarantee that any theme is compatible or compliant with any legal or regulatory requirements or guidelines.
Shopify has announced significant efforts to improve accessibility issues surrounding the Shopify platform, themes, apps, and other aspects of the ecosystem.
At this time, Out of the Sandbox themes are not guaranteed to be fully compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA), or W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) regulations or standards.
However, some features of Out of the Sandbox themes, such as microformats, miscellaneous markup, and image alt tags may improve your compliance with some or all of these regulations or standards.
At this time, we plan on making all Out of the Sandbox themes updated to comply with WCAG 2.0 when further directives and requirements are released and subject to the timeline and deadlines provided by Shopify.
Please note, however, that even if WCAG 2.0 is implemented on the Shopify platform, these requirements may not fully meet the requirements in certain jurisdictions or industries and it is the responsibility of each store owner to ensure full compliance.
It's also important to note that, as with any legal requirement such as the recent GDPR regulations, just because theme code or a platform becomes compliant, there may be additional steps that the store owner needs to take to be fully compliant (or, on the flip side, there may be actions that the store owner takes that impacts compliance or compatibility negatively).
There are numerous settings and content that you, as the store owner, set up independently of the theme that could cause your store to become non-compliant even if the original theme files are "compliant."
There is a growing trend of predatory legal professionals targeting small business owners, such as Shopify store owners, and filing lawsuits or threatening legal action against them due to lack of accessibility features.
If you are served with such a complaint or lawsuit, it is important to immediately consult a licensed legal professional in your jurisdiction for the next steps. However, you should carefully consider who you hire and ensure that they do not engage in predatory practices that require you to pay costly legal bills for their advice or legal expertise.
Out of the Sandbox cannot provide legal advice for these situations and, as outlined in our terms and conditions, our themes are not guaranteed to be compatible with any law or regulation, and may require customization or changes based on the advice of your attorney.