This article discusses features and capabilities available only for Shopify merchants. If you're using another platform, visit this article.
Your campaign's Theme controls how your referral emails, pages, and supported widgets look to your customers. The Visual Editor lets you customize text, branding, fonts, and supported block content without touching code. Branding set at the Theme level (logo, colors, fonts) cascades to every email and ReferralCandy-hosted page using that Theme — with separate fine-tuning available for emails vs pages when you need it.
What this article covers (and what it doesn't)
This article is for Shopify merchants using ReferralCandy.
It covers how to edit your ReferralCandy campaign Theme in the Shopify embedded app, including:
Shared branding across your campaign emails and ReferralCandy pages
The available emails, pages, and widgets shown in the Visual Editor
Where to edit common theme content
This article does not cover Shopify checkout blocks/extensions and campaign Widget settings, which are edited elsewhere:
Referral extension (Shopify checkout "Thank you" page block) → edited in Shopify Checkout Editor + your campaign's Widgets settings
Customer referral details extension (Customer Account block) → edited in Shopify Theme/Customer Account Editor + your campaign's Widgets settings
Join block (storefront embedded signup block) → edited in your campaign's Widgets settings (not in your Shopify theme editor)
If you're trying to edit something and cannot find it in the ReferralCandy Visual Editor, check whether that element is edited in Shopify or in your campaign's Widgets settings instead.
Quick map: where to edit what
Use this as a quick routing guide when you're trying to figure out where something should be edited.
Edit in ReferralCandy → Campaigns → select your campaign → Themes → Customize:
Campaign emails shown in the Theme
ReferralCandy pages shown in the Theme
Theme assets and shared branding
Content for editable blocks shown inside the Visual Editor
Edit in Shopify and/or your campaign's Widgets settings:
Referral extension on the Thank you / Order status page
Customer referral details extension
Join block placement or Shopify-side block settings
Shopify app block / app embed layout or placement
Rule of thumb:
If the item appears inside the ReferralCandy Visual Editor, edit it there
If it does not appear there, it is likely edited elsewhere
Open the Visual Editor
In your Shopify admin, go to ReferralCandy.
Click Referral campaigns.
Select the campaign you want to edit.
Click Themes.
Find the Theme you want to work on.
Click Customize.
This opens the Visual Editor for that Theme.
Editing content inside the Visual Editor
Inside the Theme, the available emails, pages, and widgets are grouped into sections. Depending on the Theme, you may see sections like:
Entry
Engagement
Friend Experience
Notification Emails
Advocate Account Pages
Open the section you want, then click the specific email, page, or widget you want to edit.
Examples of items you may be able to edit here include:
Thank You Page
Notification emails (reward issued, friend offer reminder, etc.)
Other supported emails or account pages included in that Theme
Note: Some Themes may also show legacy Post-Purchase Widget and Referral Widget assets in the Entry section. These are kept for back-compatibility with older campaigns. For your current widgets — Referral extension, Friend offer popup, Join block, Customer referral details extension, Cookie consent — manage them in your campaign's Widgets settings, not the Theme editor.
Once opened:
Click the block or section you want to edit in the preview
Update its settings in the left sidebar
Use the right sidebar preview options when needed
Click Save when finished
Common examples:
Click the email subject area to edit the subject
Click the header area to edit the logo or banner-related content
Click the main content block to edit headings, body text, CTA text, and similar content
Click footer areas to edit footer text such as opt-in reminders or unsubscribe-related text
Click form sections on pages like the Join Page to edit labels, placeholders, descriptions, button text, and similar fields
Languages and translations
If your campaign uses multiple languages, ReferralCandy provides default translations for the standard content in supported languages. After you enable a language for your campaign, the default translations are immediately available on the Theme — we recommend reviewing each one to make sure the wording matches how you'd describe your campaign, and editing any that don't fit your preferred tone or terminology. See Enabling multiple languages for your campaign to add or remove languages.
What kinds of things can usually be edited here?
The Visual Editor is best for standard content and branding edits, such as:
Logo and banner images
Colors and fonts
Email subject lines
Headings and body text
CTA button text
Form labels, placeholder text, and descriptions
Footer text
"How it works" section text
Supported widget text shown in the Theme
Not every block will expose the same settings, and available options can vary by Theme.
Not everything visible in the preview is edited the same way
When you see something in the Visual Editor preview, it may fall into one of these categories:
Directly editable in the selected block
Click the relevant block in the preview
Edit the available fields in the left sidebar
Controlled by the parent block
Some visible items do not have their own separate editing controls
Instead, they are part of a larger selected section, and only certain fields from that section are exposed for editing
Generated from campaign settings
Some content is rendered automatically from campaign settings, rewards, offers, conditional logic, or other dynamic values
In those cases, update the campaign setting that feeds that content, then return to the preview to confirm the result
Important:
A visible item in the preview is not always independently editable
If clicking a specific item does not open dedicated controls for that exact item, check whether it belongs to a parent block or is generated from campaign settings
How the Visual Editor is organized
If you open one of the panels, let's say the "Welcome Email", you'll usually see three main areas:
Main preview area
This shows the current email, page, or widget preview
Click a block or section in the preview to edit that specific item
Some editable items are not immediately obvious at first glance, such as the email subject line at the top of email previews
Left sidebar
This shows the editing options for the currently selected block or section
The settings shown here change depending on what you clicked in the preview
Right sidebar
This shows preview options for the current item
Depending on what you are editing, this can include preview variations such as reward tier position, friend offer state, page state, or other preview controls
At the Theme level, you'll also see Theme settings, where you can manage shared branding and styling across the Theme.
Theme settings (full settings page)
From the Themes page, click Theme settings on the Theme card to open the full settings page. This is where you do detailed branding work — logo, banner, colors, fonts, favicon, and email footer defaults — applied across all the ReferralCandy emails and pages in that Theme.
Default theme colors match your store's brand colors automatically — RC pulls them from your Shopify store when you create a new Theme, so your defaults will look unique to your store rather than a fixed palette.
At the top of the settings page (above the Page/Email tab toggle), you'll set the Theme-wide images that apply across both pages and emails:
Logo image (recommended: 260 × 200px max; PNG, JPG, or WebP)
Banner image (recommended: 1200 × 300px; PNG, JPG, or WebP)
Below that, the Page/Email tab toggle lets you configure each surface separately.
Page tab — controls how your ReferralCandy pages render:
Theme colors: Primary, Heading, Text, Background, Accent, Card
Page Fonts: Heading font, Body font
Favicon (recommended: 32 × 32px; ICO, PNG, GIF, JPG, or SVG — appears in the browser tab)
Email tab — controls how your campaign emails render:
Theme color: Primary (email-specific)
Email Font: Heading font, Body font
Email Footer defaults: Permission Reminder, Email Preferences Link Text, Unsubscribe Link Text
Inline Theme controls inside the asset editor
While you're editing an asset, the left sidebar shows a Page Design section with Theme-level controls that apply to that asset. These edit the same underlying Theme data as the Theme settings page — they're inline so you can tweak branding without leaving the asset you're working on.
What you'll see varies by asset type:
Page-type assets (Join Page, Thank You Page, Friend Offer Page, etc.) show the full Page Design block — all 6 theme colors (Primary, Heading, Text, Background, Accent, Card) and both fonts (Heading + Body), same as the Theme settings page's Page tab. Page-type assets may also surface asset-specific controls above Page Design — for example, the Join Page shows a Layout selector with Single Column / Split Panel / Hero Form / Card Form options.
Email-type assets (Welcome Email and other notification emails) show a minimal Page Design block — typically just Primary Color. Most email branding is set at the Theme settings page level.
Most asset editors also expose Primary sharing method at the top of the sidebar — this is the default sharing option highlighted across your referral experience (Share Page, welcome/post-enrollment email, widgets using this Theme). WhatsApp is selected by default. Pick the channel your customers are most likely to use.
This setting only changes which sharing option is primarily highlighted. It doesn't remove the other share methods, and it doesn't change your default Facebook/X/WhatsApp share copy — those are edited in Editing the default X, Facebook and WhatsApp sharing message.
Edits made inline propagate to all assets in that Theme, just like edits made from the Theme settings page.
Notes:
Theme settings affect that Theme's emails and ReferralCandy pages only
They do not control Shopify checkout extension styling outside the Theme editor
Available settings can vary slightly by Theme
When you're done, click Save.
Where merchants usually get confused
If you're trying to edit something specific, use these checks first:
Is it inside a ReferralCandy campaign email or ReferralCandy page preview in Themes?
Edit it in the Visual Editor
Is it on Shopify's Thank you / Order status page, customer account area, or a Shopify app block surface?
That is usually edited in Shopify and/or your campaign's Widgets settings, not in Themes
Is it a placement/layout question rather than a text/content question?
That is often controlled in Shopify's editor, not the ReferralCandy Theme editor
How tiered rewards appear in campaign emails and pages
If you're using Tiered rewards (FlexiTiers), your campaign emails and pages can show a reward tiers table to encourage advocates or affiliates to reach those milestones.
Important:
The reward tiers table is automatically generated from your campaign's Advocate reward tier settings
In supported themes, you may see this table in the Visual Editor preview
The table itself may not be directly editable as a separate block in the Visual Editor
To change the tier ranges or reward descriptions shown in the table, update the Advocate reward settings for the campaign
For example:
The referral range shown in the table comes from the tier setup
The reward text shown in the table comes from the reward description for that tier
To update the rewards shown in the table:
Open ReferralCandy in Shopify
Go to Referral campaigns
Select your campaign
Open the Advocate reward / Tiers settings
Update the referral ranges or reward descriptions for each tier
Save your changes
Return to Themes or the Visual Editor to confirm how the updated tiers appear in the preview
FAQ
How do I edit without affecting live customers?
How do I edit without affecting live customers?
Best practice:
Go to Themes
Click the ... menu on your current Theme
Click Duplicate
Edit the duplicate Theme first
When ready, go back to Themes and click Select on the Theme you want to activate
Why can't I find the thing I want to edit?
Why can't I find the thing I want to edit?
Check whether it appears inside the ReferralCandy Theme editor first. If not, the most common alternatives are:
Your campaign's Widgets settings — for ReferralCandy storefront widgets (Referral extension, Friend offer popup, Join block, Customer referral details extension, Cookie consent)
Directly in Shopify — for checkout block placement, customer account block, or Shopify app block layout
Why do the available settings look different from another merchant's account?
Why do the available settings look different from another merchant's account?
Available sections, blocks, and settings can vary depending on the Theme and the specific campaign setup.
Why can't I click the reward tiers table to edit it in the Visual Editor?
Why can't I click the reward tiers table to edit it in the Visual Editor?
The reward tiers table is generated automatically from your campaign's Advocate reward tier settings. In supported themes, it may appear in the preview, but it is not always editable as its own standalone block in the Visual Editor. To change the content shown in the table, update the campaign's tier settings instead.
Why are the emails and pages different for my affiliate campaign?
Why are the emails and pages different for my affiliate campaign?
Affiliate campaigns use the Affiliates Theme, which contains the Signup Details Page as well as slight Theme differences that cater more towards an affiliate campaign.
What is the "Friend's name" field on the Share Page?
What is the "Friend's name" field on the Share Page?
The "Friend's name" field is optional. It lets your advocate add a friend's name before sharing their referral link, so the referred friend sees a more personal greeting after they click the link (for example: "Hi Alice").
Leaving it blank won't affect referral tracking, friend offers, or rewards — the link still works as normal.
In the Theme editor (Share Page), you can edit the "Friend's Name Field Text" label, or hide the field using the "Hide friend name field text" option.
Regarding selecting one Primary sharing method: can advocates still share using other channels?
Regarding selecting one Primary sharing method: can advocates still share using other channels?
Yes. The primary sharing method only sets the default/featured button. Advocates can still choose the other sharing icons/links.
Why might advocates see "about:blank" when sharing?
Why might advocates see "about:blank" when sharing?
This is standard browser behavior for mailto: links, not a ReferralCandy issue. It happens when an advocate clicks a share option that opens their email client with a pre-composed message — and they don't have a default email client set on that device (common on shared computers, some browsers, or mobile without a Mail app).
Advocates who hit this can still share using any of the other share options. If this is coming up often from your audience, let us know — that kind of feedback helps us prioritize where to invest in improvements.
Why does my preview show "John" or other placeholder data?
Why does my preview show "John" or other placeholder data?
The theme editor uses placeholder data so you can see the layout before going live. You'll see things like "John" for names, "UNUSED" for the coupon code, "$10 cash" for the reward, and "john@example.com" for email fields. The header reads "Welcome Email Preview", "Join Page Preview", etc. — the word "Preview" tells you it's sample data. Real customers see their own data.
Does "Send test email" use real customer data?
Does "Send test email" use real customer data?
No. It still uses the same placeholder data as the editor preview. The test email is meant to help you verify how the email looks and lands in an inbox — deliverability, layout, fonts, images — not to be a fully functional working email. Buttons inside test emails aren't tied to a real referral, so they may not lead anywhere meaningful. The real version your customers receive is fully working.
Why does my own referral link show "SAMPLE" instead of a real coupon code?
Why does my own referral link show "SAMPLE" instead of a real coupon code?
Your referral link is designed for the friends you share it with — they're the ones who'll see (and use) a real coupon code when they open it. When you click your own link, you'll see "SAMPLE" in place of the discount code, plus a banner at the top: "Don't worry if you can't see the coupon code. The actual code will appear when your friends see this page."
You don't actually need to open your own link to test — sharing it normally is enough, and the friend opening it will see the real code.
If you want to verify the full referral flow end-to-end, see Testing the referral process.