Before submitting your theme to the Zid Theme Market, it's essential to thoroughly test it in a controlled, realistic environment. Zid provides partners with a Development Store that allows you to simulate the actual merchant experience, ensuring your theme meets functionality, design, and performance expectations.
Whether you're building a public or private theme, testing is a critical step before going live. Here's how to test your theme based on your development path.
Step-by-Step: How to Test Your Theme
1. Create a Development Store
Navigate to your Partner Dashboard → Development Stores.
Click Create Store to generate your dedicated testing environment.
Once created, your development store will automatically link to your partner account.
💡 Your development store behaves exactly like a merchant store but is intended solely for theme and app testing.
Benefits of Using the Development Store
By leveraging the development store, you can:
Identify and fix layout inconsistencies early
Ensure your theme adheres to merchant expectations
Catch schema/data errors before submission
Experience your theme just like an actual merchant would
2. Access Your Development Store
Go to Zid.sa and log in using your Development Store credentials (email and password).
Alternatively, you can click Access Dashboard from the Partner Portal.
3. Prepare the Store for Testing
To simulate a fully functional storefront, set up your development store with necessary data:
Upload sample product file:
Navigate to the Products section and import sample products using the provided upload tool.
This helps you verify how product cards, collections, and filters render.
Activate Zid features in the store
Enable settings such as payment gateways, shipping methods, promotions, and cart rules.
This allows you to test theme behavior under different store configurations.
4. Upload Your Theme to the Store
Visit the Zid Theme Market
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Upload Theme
Fill out the theme upload form:
Theme Name – Choose a name that clearly identifies your theme.
Theme Code – Provide a unique identifier (e.g.,
custom-furniture-v1).Theme File – Upload your
.zippackage created using the Zid Theme Packager.
5. Validate Theme Behavior
Once your theme is uploaded, begin a full-cycle test to validate using the testing cases guide:
Visual Layout:
Test responsiveness across devices (mobile, tablet, desktop).
Check alignment, spacing, fonts, and imagery.
Core Components:
Product grid, product details page, collections, search results.
Header and footer configurations.
Navigation menus and category filters.
Custom Blocks:
Ensure any custom HTML/Twig blocks render correctly.
Interactive Elements:
Validate button actions, sliders, tabs, collapsible sections, etc.
Checkout Flow:
Simulate a full order from cart to checkout using test data.
Merchant Settings Compatibility:
Adjust store settings and observe how your theme adapts (e.g., store logos, banners, custom CSS, RTL support).
Private Themes Flow
Private themes are not listed publicly and are used by specific stores only. There is no need to use the Partner Dashboard for submission or management.
As a private theme developer, you should:
Use the Zid theme documentation to develop your theme
Test the theme as public
Once ready, ask the target merchant to:
Log in to their own store dashboard
Go to Theme Market
Upload the theme from the Upload Theme section
The merchant can now preview and test the theme directly in their store
💡 Note: The testing flow for private themes is the same as public themes—just conducted directly inside a real store, not a dev store.