How We Hid “Width” on Shopify - Solving the Shoe Sizing Conundrum

We’ve all been there, haven’t we? Staring at the endless sea of product customization options in Shopify, wishing we could just make them disappear—poof, gone! A few months ago, our little online shoe shop was tangled in the intricate web of product options, wrestling with the mysterious case of the stubborn shoe width.

Our shoes, all the way from the fabulous and bustling markets of Milan, each boast a singular width. Yet here we were, held hostage by the brick-and-mortar rules of inventory systems that insisted on showcasing width to our customers. No more, we said! So, with sleeves rolled up and a slightly doubtful look—thank you, tech gremlins—we dived into the Shopify depths.

The Dilemma: Why Width?

Imagine you’re at a dinner party, sitting there as people around you discuss the finer nuances of their Tic-Tac obsession, and you simply nod politely, all the while wishing you were in a cheese-tasting festival instead. That’s what it felt like dealing with a predefined width option no customer cared about because there was only one—no variations, no choices. Just the one and only width, there to cause confusion and clutter.

Hiding the Unlikely Hero: CSS Magic

Let’s embark on this journey together, shall we? In the spirit of exploration, where curious minds lead the way, here’s how we can sidestep the shoe width ninja-style. First, imagine that width option as a chattering squirrel from your backyard—cute but possibly unnecessary.

Step 1: Identify the Beast To zero in on the pesky width, we must first inspect it like good sleuths. Open up your Shopify store, navigate to your ostentatious product page where width lurks, and right-click on that feisty option. Select 'Inspect'—we’re entering the matrix now, Neo.

Step 2: Calm the Chaos In this inspector panel, floating like a technological zen garden, find the HTML element or ID that corresponds to 'width'. It might look akin to <div class="product-width">. Jot this down; it’s our obelisk of wisdom.

Step 3: The Cloak of Invisibility—CSS Style Whisper a little secret into your theme’s CSS file. Head into your Shopify admin, then to Online Store > Themes > Actions > Edit code. Look for the file named theme.scss.liquid or something akin to that name.

Insert these magical lines of CSS:

.product-width {
  display: none;
}

Voila! Our width is cloaked—hidden from the prying eyes of the world like the Loch Ness Monster. Only this time, it's for the better.

Testing The Silence

We pressed 'Save' with breath abated, waiting for the curtain to rise on our transformed product page. And there, as if by the hands of mystical Shopify gods themselves, the width vanished—gone without a trace or a digital footprint. A silent tribute to our small triumph in taming ecommerce chaos.

Now it was time for the ultimate test—our customers. We kept an ear to the digital ground, listening for bewildered queries about the great disappearing width—but heard nary a whisper. Sweet success!

Reflection: More Than Just Lines of Code

Now, as we sip nostalgically on our metaphorical Italian espresso, reflecting on this journey beyond the realm of pixels and code, we realize this tale isn’t just about ‘hiding a width’ on a website. It’s a cheerful reminder of the small victories that build into larger success. The little tweaks and nudges that transform any daunting platform into our own cozy, manageable digital shop corner.

We shared this small adventure because every minor change feels like a triumph. Like rearranging books on a crowded shelf, or decluttering a room. At the end of the day, we’re side by side in this digital marketplace, cheering each instant of clarity and each moment of ingenuity in which we wave our virtual wands.

Through this simple task, we discovered new depths—or possible shallows—within ourselves and the Shopify realms, and together, it became another story, another chapter, in the grand adventure of running our online store.

So here’s to quiet victories, veiled options, and the creative magic we sprinkle into our daily Shopify saga. Cheers!