The bare bones
I’ve done it! I’ve cracked the hardest problem in computer science:
Writing an actually simple Shopify email template.
The total consistency of the email notifications from any/every Shopify store, even the ones with wild custom web storefronts, is in most ways a virtue: a subliminal confidence boost for customers. Okay, I guess this is a real thing.
But of course I can’t leave well enough alone. I mean, I think I’m right, though: every single channel, even (and maybe especially) a channel as functional as this, is an opportunity for communication, for delight, for the production of vibes. Why would I cede that to Shopify?
Easier said than done: the default templates are dense hairballs, thanks to the requirement that they accommodate every single one of the platform’s possibilities, all its edge and corner cases. Reading the code, one murmurs: I didn’t know Shopify did that … or that … or THAT …
Because I understand my own specific commercial context, I can skip 90% of those if-thens, so: I did.
In the Shopify-verse, it’s surprisingly difficult to find truly bare-bones examples for anything, email templates and shop themes alike. I think the code I ended up with might provide a fair start for anyone looking to develop bespoke emails by adding, rather than subtracting. (In the Shopify-verse, somehow you are always gutting a house … )
That code should probably stretch to accomodate a few more features and situations, and I’ll add those over time. Feel free to email me if something leaps out at you.
P.S. It’s 2025, and you don’t actually have to build your entire HTML email out of <table>s anymore.