Announcement bar

The Announcement bar is the slim strip above the header. It carries up to five messages, each of which can optionally run a countdown or hand the shopper a discount code to copy. It can also carry your social icons and the country and language selector.

It belongs to the header section group, so it can only be placed above or below the header, never in the middle of a page.

Settings

Color scheme. Default: scheme-2, so the bar sits as a band against the page rather than blending into it.
Motion. How messages animate. Default: Rotate.
- Rotate (cross-fade between messages). One message at a time: the current message fades out, then the next fades in, so two messages never overlap. The bar keeps the height of its tallest message, so the page below doesn’t move as the messages change, and a message that isn’t showing can’t be reached with the keyboard.
- Marquee (continuous horizontal scroll). All messages scrolling horizontally in a continuous loop.
Rotation interval. How long each message shows before the next rotates in. Range: 3000 to 9500 ms in 500 ms steps. Default: 5000 ms. Only used when there are two or more messages. A marquee also uses it for shoppers who have asked their device for reduced motion, since the bar then shows one message at a time instead of scrolling.
Marquee speed. Slow (default), Medium or Fast. Slow keeps the bar editorial; fast competes with the page below. Shown when Motion is set to Marquee.
Marquee gap. Spacing between messages, and between the end of the sequence and its repeat. Compact, Standard (default) or Spacious. Shown when Motion is set to Marquee.
Show social media icons. Shows the social links set in Social media. Only the networks you have filled in appear. Default: off.
Show country/region and language selector. The same selector the footer shows. It appears only when your store sells to more than one country or publishes more than one language. Default: off.
Pause on hover. Halts motion while the shopper’s pointer or keyboard focus is inside the bar. Default: on.

Controls for shoppers

Whenever the bar moves on its own (rotating messages, a marquee or a ticking countdown), it shows a stop and start button, first in the keyboard order. When there is more than one message, previous and next buttons let shoppers step through them at their own pace. A marquee shows previous and next only for shoppers who have asked for reduced motion, since that is when it shows one message at a time. A single message that doesn’t move gets no controls.

These are there for accessibility and have no settings.

Blocks

Up to five Message blocks. Every field below the first two is optional, and a message that uses none of them is just a line of text.

Message

Text. Inline rich text. Default: Free shipping on all orders over $50.
Link. Optional. Wraps the text in a link. Shown once there is text.

Countdown

Countdown end date and time. When the countdown ends, written as 2026-12-31T23:59:59-08:00, where the last part is your timezone’s offset from Greenwich Mean Time. Without an offset the time is read as Greenwich Mean Time. Leave blank to hide the countdown.
Countdown format. Days : Hours : Minutes : Seconds (default), Hours : Minutes : Seconds, Minutes : Seconds, or Days only. Formats without days add the days to the hours or minutes, so 2 days and 3 hours reads as 51 hours.
Countdown prefix label. Optional text before the digits. Defaults to Sale ends in when blank.
When the countdown reaches zero. Remove this block from the bar (default) or Show an expired message in this block.
Expired message. Defaults to This offer has ended. when blank. Shown when the block is set to show an expired message.

The countdown settings below the end date appear once an end date is filled in.

Discount code

Promo code. The code shoppers will copy, for example SAVE20. Leave blank to omit the promo.
Promo label prefix. Optional. Defaults to Use code when blank.
Copy confirmation text. The toast shown after a successful copy. Defaults to Copied when blank.

Tips

Keep each message short. The bar is one line on mobile, and a long message either truncates or forces the marquee to do the reading for you. With Rotate, the longest message also sets the bar’s height for all of them.
Pick motion to match the number of messages. One message doesn’t need motion at all. Two or three suit Rotate. Five short messages are what Marquee is for.
Set the timezone offset on countdowns. Without the offset the deadline is read as Greenwich Mean Time, which will end your sale at the wrong local hour.
Decide what happens at zero before you launch. Removing the block is the safe default; showing an expired message only makes sense if the message itself is worth reading afterwards.
The discount code still has to exist in Shopify. Copying the code doesn’t create it, so set it up under Shopify admin > Discounts first, and see Discount codes.
Put the selector in one obvious place. The header, the footer and this bar can all show the country and language selector. Two places is plenty; three starts to look like a mistake.