Frequently Asked Questions
General Questions
What is Store QA Tool?
Store QA Tool (SQA) is a Shopify app that scans your storefront, product catalog, and theme source code for quality, content, and technical issues - broken links, placeholder text, missing images, SEO gaps, and more - and gives you a plain-language fix instruction for each one.
Does Store QA Tool change anything in my store?
No. The app only requests read access to your content, navigation, pages, products, and themes. It can see everything it needs to audit your store, but it never writes to your catalog, theme, or pages - every fix is something you make yourself in the Shopify admin or your theme code.
Do I need coding knowledge to use this app?
No to run a scan and read findings - everything is configured through the app’s Settings and Scans tabs, and each finding comes with a plain-language fix. Some fixes (like editing theme Liquid) may require basic theme knowledge, but SQA tells you exactly what file or resource is affected.
What's the difference between Tier 1 and Tier 2?
Tier 1 is everything SQA can check today - links, content, SEO metadata, accessibility, performance basics, catalog quality, and theme source. Tier 2 is a planned addition using screenshots and a vision model for visual and responsive-layout analysis; it hasn’t been built yet, so every scan currently runs as Tier 1.
Scanning
How long does a scan take?
It depends on how many pages and products your store has, and which checks are enabled. The Scans page shows live progress - a crawling stage, then a checking stage with a per-check progress bar.
Can I scan a private or password-protected storefront?
Yes - set a Preview URL (and Preview password, if it’s protected) in Scan Settings. SQA logs in through Shopify’s storefront password gate before crawling, so it checks your actual pages.
Can I check a theme before it goes live?
Yes - drag and drop a theme .zip on the Scans page and choose Scan theme file only to audit it without touching your live storefront. See Running Scans.
Can I turn off checks I don't care about?
Yes - every check can be turned off individually, either as a new default in Scan Settings, or just for one scan using Choose checks on the Scans page.
Can scans run automatically?
Yes - set Automatic scans to Daily or Weekly in Scan Settings. There’s no email notification yet, so check the Home page digest or Scan History after a scheduled run to see what changed.
Findings & Fixes
What do new, recurring, and resolved mean?
Each finding is compared against your previous scan by its exact check, location, and element. New means SQA has never seen it before; recurring means it was open in your last scan too; resolved means an older scan had it, but a later scan no longer does. See Reviewing Results.
What happens when I dismiss a finding?
It’s marked dismissed and stays that way across future scans, as long as the exact same issue keeps showing up - it won’t count toward “new” again. Use this for false positives or issues you’ve decided to leave as-is.
Can I export my findings?
Yes - once a scan completes, click Export CSV on the Scans page to download every finding as a spreadsheet.
What do the severity levels mean?
Critical means something is outright broken; major is a real quality problem; warning is a smaller cleanup item; human review flags something worth a look that isn’t necessarily wrong. See What Gets Checked for the full breakdown.
Pricing & Billing
Is Store QA Tool free right now?
Yes - billing isn’t switched on yet, so every store runs on the Free plan with no scan limit enforced. See Plans & Billing for what’s planned once billing goes live.
Will Tier 2 cost extra?
The Billing tab previews Tier 2 as part of the Starter plan, but Tier 2 hasn’t been built yet, so this isn’t something you can use or be charged for today.
Troubleshooting
My scan isn't finishing?
- Give it a few minutes - larger stores and theme uploads take longer
- Reopen the app from your Shopify admin to refresh your session
- Check the scan summary for any check marked “couldn’t complete”
Some checks are missing from my results?
A few checks need a valid Shopify admin session (catalog and theme source checks) or an AI provider configured on the backend (the language check). If either isn’t available, those checks are skipped for that scan rather than shown as failed - see Troubleshooting.