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Account Sidebar - Previewing on Your Store

Test Mode lets you preview the Account Sidebar on your live storefront before enabling it for customers. The sidebar works normally with real data but only you can see it.

Written by Kris - Mage Loyalty
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Prerequisites

  1. App Embed must be enabled — The Mage app embed needs to be active in the theme you want to test on. Go to Online Store > Themes > Customize > App Embeds and make sure Mage is toggled on.

  2. Sidebar settings must be saved — Configure your sidebar (blocks, colors, branding) and click Save first. Test Mode shows whatever settings are currently saved.

How to Use

  1. Go to Account Sidebar in the Mage dashboard

  2. Configure your sidebar settings (blocks, colors, etc.)

  3. Click Save to save your settings

  4. In the preview toolbar (top-left), click the "Test on store" button

  5. A dropdown will appear listing all your themes — select the theme you want to test on

  6. A test URL is copied to your clipboard automatically

  7. Paste the URL in a new browser tab — the sidebar will load and open on your store

Note: The test link expires after 24 hours. Generate a new one anytime by clicking the link icon again.

Testing on Different Themes

You can test the sidebar on any theme. The dropdown shows all your themes with the live theme labelled (Live). Selecting a non-live theme generates a link that previews the sidebar on that specific theme, so you can test before publishing.

FAQ

Does this affect my customers? No. The sidebar only loads when the special test link is used. Regular visitors won't see anything.

Do I need to disable password protection? Yes — if your store has a password page, you'll need to be logged through it first for the test link to work.

Can I share the test link with my team? Yes. Anyone with the link can preview the sidebar for 24 hours. After that, generate a new link.

What if I click a theme and nothing happens? Make sure the Mage App Embed is enabled in that theme. If it's not, you'll see an error toast and the theme editor will open automatically so you can enable it.

Do I need to enable the sidebar toggle to test? No — that's the whole point of Test Mode. The sidebar stays off for customers while you preview it.

The wrong theme is showing when I switch between themes? Each test link includes the theme ID explicitly. If you previously tested a different theme, make sure you're using the newly generated link — don't reuse old links.

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