This document describes the basic working of Tagalys server-side A/B testing for collection sort orders in Shopify Liquid stores, and the initial setup process.

<aside> ℹ️ Tagalys A/B testing is not compatible with localised/translated collection handles

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How it works

1. The A/B test configuration is set up on the Tagalys dashboard. This includes the number of variants (with custom sort order) and traffic percentages assigned to each.
2. 30 minutes before the A/B test starts, Tagalys creates the collection variants in Shopify.
   • Variant collections in detail
3. Once the A/B test is live, the Tagalys JavaScript library automatically assigns and redirects users to either the primary collection or a variant. Search engine bots are also redirected.
4. Once the A/B test is completed, the collection variants are deleted and the visitors are redirected to the primary collection.

Integration instructions

• Step 1: Save tagalys_a_b_testing.liquid in the Snippets folder of the theme.
• Step 2: Include the Tagalys A/B testing JavaScript library
• Step 3: Update the canonical URL tag
• Step 4: Use the primary_collection collection reference metafield to render collection details other than the product grid
• Step 5: Use collection to render products, sort options and filters
• Step 6: Make sure that variant collections aren’t discoverable in the front-end

Customisation

• Prevent initialisation for specific visitors
• Force-assign a user to a specific variant
• Customise collection page URLs and redirection logic
• Check if a collection is an A/B test variant