How to Center Text in Collection List Section on Your Shopify Store

Understanding the Issue

When working on your Shopify store, you might encounter a design challenge where you want the text in your collection list section to be centered, but other elements such as prices or descriptions should remain as they are. This is a common issue that can occur due to the way CSS is applied globally or locally in your theme.

Identification of the Problem

Many store owners use custom code to adjust the layout and appearance of their store elements. However, applying CSS to center text can sometimes center all related elements inadvertently. The primary issue arises when CSS selectors are not specific enough, leading to broader-than-intended styling effects.

Causes of the Problem

1. Global Selectors: Using global selectors such as .card__heading affects all elements under this class throughout the website.
2. Cascading Effects: CSS stands for Cascading Style Sheets, and its cascading nature means styles can be inherited unless explicitly overridden.
3. Lack of Specificity: Inadequately specific selectors that fail to target only the desired section.

Step-by-Step Guide to Center Text in Collection List Section

Follow these instructions to precisely center text in only the collection list section without affecting other parts of your Shopify store.

Step 1: Access Your Theme Code

1. Log in to your Shopify Admin panel.
2. Go to Online Store and select Themes.
3. Click on Actions next to your active theme and select Edit code.

Step 2: Identify the Correct CSS File

1. In the code editor, locate the file assets/base.css or any central CSS file where your styles are defined.

Step 3: Add Specific CSS Code

To ensure that only the text in the collection list section is centered, you need to use a more specific selector. Add the following code at the bottom of the base.css file:

.collection-list .card__heading {
  text-align: center;
}

This code ensures that only text elements within the collection-list section and with the class card__heading are centered.

Step 4: Testing on Mobile

to make sure that the changes are reflected correctly on mobile devices, it's essential to include responsive design principles. Add this within a media query for mobile devices:

@media (max-width: 768px) {
  .collection-list .card__heading {
    text-align: center;
  }
}

Step 5: Addressing Overwrites

To ensure no other styles overwrite this setting, use the !important rule judiciously as follows:

.collection-list .card__heading {
  text-align: center !important;
}

However, use !important sparingly to maintain manageable and maintainable CSS.

Diagnose Similar Issues

Question 1: What if the CSS doesn’t seem to work?

Answer: Ensure there are no conflicting styles by inspecting the element using browser developer tools (right-click the element and select