# How to add a pre-launch waitlist to Shopify

> Put a LaunchList signup form on Shopify with a Custom Liquid section, on your coming-soon password page, or site-wide from your theme. No app to install.

Source: https://getlaunchlist.com/help/docs/integrations/shopify

---

Shopify needs **no app**. LaunchList is two lines of HTML, and every Online Store 2.0 theme has a
**Custom Liquid** section that takes HTML directly. The most useful place for it is often the one
that exists before your store does: the **coming-soon page**.

## Add the form with a Custom Liquid section

1. In LaunchList, open **Embed & API → Your website**, choose **Shopify** under **What is your site built with?**, pick your form if you have more than one, and copy the **Inline** snippet it shows.
2. In Shopify, go to **Online Store → Themes** and click **Customize** on your live theme.
3. Use the page dropdown at the top of the editor to open the page where the form should appear.
4. In the left panel, click **Add section** where you want it and choose **Custom Liquid**.
5. Paste the snippet into the **Liquid code** box.

![Embed & API, Your website, with the inline snippet to copy under Add your signup form.](https://app.getlaunchlist.com/images/docs/integrations/overview/01-embed-snippet.webp "Copy your snippet from Embed & API, Your website.")

```html
<!-- frm_8Kd2Qm4Rp9 is an example ID; use your own from Embed & API → Your website -->
<div data-launchlist-form="frm_8Kd2Qm4Rp9"></div>
<script src="https://embed.getlaunchlist.com/v1/embed.js" async></script>
```

6. Click **Save**.

The form renders inside a **shadow root**, so your theme's CSS cannot leak in and break it, and its
own CSS cannot leak out. Change the fields in LaunchList later and the live form updates itself, with
nothing to re-paste.

> [!NOTE] Confirm on the live storefront
> The theme editor preview may not run the embed's JavaScript. If the section looks empty in the
> editor, open your live store (or the theme preview) and it renders there.

## On your coming-soon page

A store that is not open yet is the textbook waitlist case, and Shopify has a built-in home for it:
the **password page**.

1. Go to **Online Store → Preferences** and turn on **Password protection**.
2. Back in **Online Store → Themes → Customize**, open the **Password** template from the page dropdown.
3. **Add section → Custom Liquid**, paste the same snippet, and **Save**.

Now every visitor sees your launch page and can join the list while the storefront stays locked.

> [!NOTE] Some themes limit the password template
> Dawn and most current themes let you add sections to the password page. A few older or heavily
> customized themes do not. If **Custom Liquid** is not offered there, use the
> [no-JavaScript form](#if-your-embed-gets-stripped) below, which drops straight into the template's
> code.

## Site-wide, for more than one form

If you plan to use forms, popups or widgets on several pages, load the runtime once in your theme
instead of repeating the script in every section.

Go to **Online Store → Themes → ⋯ → Edit code**, open **Layout → `theme.liquid`**, and paste this
just before the closing `</head>` tag:

```html
<script src="https://embed.getlaunchlist.com/v1/embed.js" async></script>
```

Every Custom Liquid section after that only needs the target element:

```html
<div data-launchlist-form="frm_8Kd2Qm4Rp9"></div>
```

> [!NOTE] This is not an app script tag
> Shopify is retiring **app-injected** script tags in 2027. That does not touch a `<script>` you add
> to your own theme by hand; it keeps loading normally. The change only affects scripts an installed
> app injects through Shopify's ScriptTag API.

## Don't paste it into a page's body HTML

Shopify's **Pages** editor (Online Store → Pages) runs your content through a rich-text sanitizer.
Switch it to the `<>` HTML view, paste the embed, save, and the `<script>` tag is silently stripped,
so the loader never runs and the form never appears.

Use a **Custom Liquid section** instead, which preserves the script, or the no-JavaScript form below.

## If your embed gets stripped

Wherever a `<script>` will not survive, a native form posts straight to the capture endpoint and
needs no JavaScript at all.

```html
<form
    action="https://embed.getlaunchlist.com/f/frm_8Kd2Qm4Rp9/submit"
    method="POST"
>
    <input type="email" name="email" required />
    <input type="hidden" name="_channel" value="html" />
    <button type="submit">Join</button>
</form>
```

The browser posts it and our server redirects to your Status page or a URL you choose.

Copy the `action` from **Embed & API → Your website** rather than typing it: it points at the embed host,
the same origin the loader script comes from, and the two matching is what makes the referral tip
work.

> [!TIP] Add the loader anyway, if you can
> On its own, a native form cannot read `?ref=` from the URL, so referrals do not get credited. Put
> the loader in `theme.liquid` and it finds the form by its `action`, then injects the referral code
> and UTM parameters as hidden fields. It never takes the submission over: the browser still posts
> the form. It only claims forms whose `action` is on **its own origin**, so pointing the form at a
> different host of ours stops crediting referrals with no error.

> [!WARNING] This method needs somewhere to land
> The redirect goes to your Status page or your own URL. A form whose success behavior is **inline
> message** has neither, so a no-JavaScript submit lands the visitor back on the page they came from
> with nothing to confirm it worked. Use the status page or a custom URL for this method, or use the
> Custom Liquid section, which renders the inline message in place.

## Adding a live signup counter

Social proof beside the form converts better than the form alone. In a Custom Liquid section:

```html
<div
    data-launchlist-widget="counter"
    data-project="acme"
    data-label="founders already in"
></div>
```

The counter reads your real signup total and styles itself from your **Branding** settings. Counter,
leaderboard, milestone and countdown are all available, and every one shows aggregate numbers only,
never anybody's details.

## If something is not working

| What you see                              | What to do                                                                                                                                                        |
| ----------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| The section is empty in the editor        | The editor preview may not run the embed. Check your live store or the theme preview.                                                                             |
| Nothing renders on the live store         | Confirm the theme is Online Store 2.0 and the section is **Custom Liquid**, not a rich-text or page block that strips scripts.                                    |
| The embed vanished from a **Page**        | The Pages editor sanitizes out `<script>`. Move it to a Custom Liquid section, or use the no-JavaScript form.                                                     |
| No **Custom Liquid** on the password page | The theme limits sections there. Use the no-JavaScript form in the template's code instead.                                                                       |
| The form shows twice                      | The section is on the page twice; each renders its own form. Remove the duplicate. A script in `theme.liquid` _and_ a section is harmless.                        |
| Referrals never credit                    | On a native form, load the script in `theme.liquid` so it can inject the referral code, and confirm the form's `action` is on the same host the script came from. |

---

Next: [every way to integrate](/help/docs/integrations/overview) ·
[How to add a waitlist to Squarespace](/help/docs/integrations/squarespace)

## Common questions

### Do I need a Shopify app to add a waitlist?

No. LaunchList is two lines of HTML, so a Custom Liquid section holds it directly. There is nothing to install from the App Store and no app to keep updated. A native Shopify app is not yet available.

### How do I add a waitlist to my Shopify coming-soon page?

Turn on password protection under Online Store → Preferences, then Customize the Password template and add a Custom Liquid section with your embed snippet. Visitors join the waitlist while the store stays locked.

### Why is my embed missing when I paste it into a Shopify page?

Shopify's page editor sanitizes script tags out of page body HTML, so the loader never runs. Use a Custom Liquid section instead, which keeps the script, or the no-JavaScript form, which needs none.

### Can I add a signup counter to my Shopify store?

Yes. The counter widget is one div in a Custom Liquid section and shows your live signup total, styled from your brand settings. It never exposes anyone's details.