The widget isn't showing

Nine causes cover essentially every case — run this checklist top to bottom and you'll find yours.

The short version: Check in this order: you're on the live store (not the editor preview) · the app embed is on and saved · the button block is added · the master switch is on · the product is enabled for try-on · a Proof test isn't hiding it for you on purpose · the placement didn't move it · your settings just haven't propagated yet · an ad blocker isn't eating it. The app's Home page shows live theme status for the first two.

Run the checklist

  1. Are you on the live storefront? The theme-editor preview is not the real page — placement and the app embed behave differently there. Open your store in a normal tab (an incognito window is even better; it also sidesteps stale caches and your own holdout bucket).
  2. Is the app embed on — and saved? The number-one cause. Shopify theme editor → App embeds → Ello Virtual Try-On must be toggled on and saved. Ello's Home page reads your live theme and shows this status with a one-click fix link; it even detects the embed being present but toggled off.
  3. Is the Try It On button block added? Second theme step: the button block must be in your product-page template. Home shows this too, with an add-button deep link.
  4. Is the master switch on? Widget Design → the toggle at the top. "Try-On is hidden" pauses everything everywhere; it's easy to forget after a theme change.
  5. Is this product enabled? If coverage is set to selected products or collections, the button hides on everything else — and the floating bubble's smart mode hides on those pages too. Check the Products page; the summary line says exactly what's covered.
  6. Is a Proof test running? During a holdout test, a slice of shoppers — possibly including you — deliberately sees no Ello surface at all. That's the control group working. Add ?ello_preview=1 to the product-page URL to always see the widget regardless of test bucket.
  7. Did the placement move it? With the corner-chip placement on, the button lives on the product photo, not under Add to cart. If the theme hides the photo from Ello, the classic button returns automatically — but confirm one of the two is visible.
  8. Did your change just not propagate yet? Settings reach shoppers within about 30 seconds, and your own browser may hold a cached config. Hard-refresh the page (Cmd/Ctrl+R) or use ?ello_preview=1. See changes not appearing.
  9. Ad blocker or privacy extension? Some block the widget's domain (widget.ellotryon.com). Ello fails invisible by design — no error is ever painted on your page — so a blocked load looks like "nothing there." Test in a clean incognito window with extensions off.

Why Ello hides instead of erroring: On any load failure, Ello empties and hides its container rather than showing your shoppers a broken element. Good for shoppers — but it means "widget missing" is the symptom for every cause above, which is why the order of this checklist matters.

Still missing after all nine?: Email andrew@ellotryon.com with your store URL and a product-page link. Headless and heavily customized storefronts sometimes need a store-level adjustment on our side — it's usually a same-day fix.

Common questions

The try-on button shows and then disappears after a second — why?

That's the catalog gate: the button renders, then hides once Ello confirms this product isn't enabled for try-on. Enable the product (or its collection) on the Products page and it will stay.

The widget shows for me but a customer says they can't see it. Who's right?

Probably both of you. If a Proof test is running, a slice of shoppers deliberately sees no try-on — that's the control group. Ad blockers are the other common cause. If analytics show steady try-on activity, the widget is working.

Does the widget work in the Shopify theme editor preview?

The editor preview is not a reliable test — blocks render in design mode and the embed state can differ from the published theme. Always verify on the live storefront.

I switched themes and the widget vanished. What do I re-do?

App embeds and blocks are per-theme: turn on the Ello app embed and re-add the Try It On button block in the new theme. Ello's Home page will show both as missing and deep-link the fixes.

All Ello docs