1. What is a product filter?
Product filters let customers narrow down products on collection and search results pages by criteria like price, color, size, or category - helping them find what they're looking for faster.
⚠️ Note: The theme itself cannot create filters. You'll need an app like Shopify Search & Discovery to define which filters exist - the theme's role is to display and style them on your storefront. See Shopify's own Storefront Filters guide for the app setup side.
2. How to create filters for collection/search results pages?
Filters are created and managed entirely through the Search & Discovery app (or a similar filtering app). Once you've installed it, follow Shopify's Search & Discovery Filters documentation to set up which product attributes (price, availability, options, metafields, etc.) become filterable.
3. How to customize filters in the storefront?
Once filters exist in the app, customize how they look and behave from the Product grid section - which only lives on the Collection page. See the Product grid guide for how to add the section and its other settings (layout, pagination, product cards).
Inside the Product grid section, scroll to the Filtering and Sorting group:
| Setting | Details |
|---|---|
| Enable filtering | Turns filtering on or off for this collection page. |
| Enable sticky filters | Keeps the filter panel visible while scrolling (desktop only). |
| Desktop filter layout | Choose Above, Aside, or Drawer. Drawer is always used on mobile, regardless of this setting. |
| Collapse filter | When on, filters stay hidden by default in Above/Aside layouts - customers click "Filters" above the grid to reveal them. |
| Expand all filters by default | Shows every filter already expanded, instead of collapsed. Only applies to Drawer and Aside layouts. |
| Enable collection count | Shows the product count next to each filter option. |
| Enable sorting | Lets customers sort results (Featured, Best-selling, Price, etc.) alongside the filters. |
4. Advanced filter
a) What is Advanced filter?
Advanced filter is a Maximize-specific feature that displays filter values as an image grid instead of a plain list - making attributes like color or style easier to recognize at a glance. It works alongside your standard filters, just with a more visual presentation, and supports up to 3 filters.
🔍 Why use it? It helps customers visually identify product variations, creates a more engaging browsing experience, and can improve conversion by making product attributes easier to scan than a text-only filter list.
b) How to set up Advanced filter
⚠️ Filter app requirement: Maximize doesn't natively support filter display - you still need Search & Discovery (or a similar app) to create the underlying filters first.
STEP 1: Create the filter option
Depending on how you want to filter products, use either:
- Product options - if you already have swatches or image-based options set up, skip ahead to Step 2. For help setting these up, see Shopify's Product Filter guide or our Product Swatches guide.
-
Metaobject/Metafield - if you'd rather filter by metafield:
- Create a metaobject with a field for the filter option name, and a field for a color/image input (single value only).
- Add your entries to that metaobject.
- Create a metafield of type "Metaobject reference," pointing to that metaobject, set to accept only one value.
- Assign the metafield to each relevant product.
- Create a metaobject with a field for the filter option name, and a field for a color/image input (single value only).
STEP 2: Create the filter in the app
In Search & Discovery, follow Shopify's Filter Setup guide to turn that product option or metafield into an actual filter. Also worth a look: Shopify's Storefront Filters Customization guide for fine-tuning.
STEP 3: Turn it on in the theme
Click on the Product grid section to open its settings panel, then under Advanced filter:
- Toggle Enable on.
- Fill in Advanced filter labels - one filter per line, using the format [Filter label]:[columns] (e.g.
Color: 6shows 6 color values per row/slide). Leave the columns part blank to auto-size. Maximum of 3 labels. - Turn on Hide unavailable filter values to automatically drop out-of-stock or unavailable options from the list.
- Toggle Enable carousel on desktop if you want the grid to scroll horizontally (it's already on by default on mobile).
- Choose Image style: Round or Square.
STEP 4: Click "Save" when done.
c) Maximize's Advanced filter vs. Shopify's Visual filter
Shopify's own Visual filter also lets you show images or color swatches next to filter values - so what's the difference?
Similarities: both let you represent filter values with an image or swatch alongside the name, making filters easier to understand at a glance.
Differences:
- Shopify's Visual filter displays inline with your other filters - compact, and blends in with a standard filter list.
- Maximize's Advanced filter is pulled out into a larger, more prominent grid above the rest of the filters - drawing more attention and giving you more room to make key attributes (like your bestselling colors or styles) stand out.
Use Shopify's Visual filter for a simple, integrated look. Use Maximize's Advanced filter when you want a specific attribute to visually lead the collection page.
Need help? Contact our support team at Omni Themes Support.
