All Questions

Troubleshooting Common Shopfront Issues

Nick Clark
Updated

Occasionally you can receive an error in Shopfront that prevents you from using it, we've listed a number of common troubleshooting tips below, but you're always welcome to get in touch with our Support Team and we'll get you back up and running quickly.

Offline / No Internet

If you see the Offline symbol on Shopfront, it indicates that an internet connection is not detected. Restoring your internet connection could be as straightforward as restarting your router, or may require you to contact your ISP, unfortunately, Shopfront support can't assist with internet outages.

While offline, ensure that you have set up an offline sales backup location or refrain from clearing any website data, as doing so may result in the loss of data that hasn't been uploaded to Shopfront's servers yet.

We recommend you have a backup internet service as a fallback, you can typically hotspot your phone or purchase a USB internet dongle from an alternative ISP.

Unable to log in

If you're unable to login, please ensure you're using the correct credentials (username and password) and you have internet available (note, Shopfront still lets you login while offline, but any changes made to credentials while offline won't be available).

If you have internet but it's really slow (such as dial-up speeds) you may receive an error saying the login timed out, if Shopfront detects three timeouts in a row, it'll login and validate you using offline credentials rather than our server, so you may need to try a few times to get in.

Shopfront Running Slow

There are a number of reasons why Shopfront could be running slow, the most common reasons are;

  • Your device does not meet the minimum specifications to run Shopfront, see Recommended Hardware for Shopfront,
  • Your device doesn't have enough hard drive space,
    • You might need to remove large files or unused programs or you can upgrade your computer's hard drive space by taking it to a local computer technician
  • Other programs are running in the background taking up resources (such as camera applications),
    • You can either close these applications or if you want to still keep them open you may need to upgrade your computers specifications
  • Your Shopfront product file is too large compared to your computers specifications,
    • Reducing the number of products, promotions and customers in your store is a common way to fix this (some stores have products that haven't been available for 10+ years), Shopfront support can assist you with cleaning out your file,
    • If your product file can't be reduced, you may need to improve your computers specifications (such as a better processor or more RAM),
    • Shopfront also has an number of options which can improve performance at the cost of slightly reduced features if you are unable to upgrade your computer, for further information see Modifying Search Settings to Improve Performance.

Chrome Out of Date

If a section of Shopfront completely doesn't work or your having random issues, it's quite possibly your version of Chrome is out of date. Keeping Chrome up-to-date improves performance and reliability and allows you to access all the latest features of Shopfront.

Typically Chrome will automatically update, but occasionally it can run into issues preventing it from doing so, to check and update your version of Chrome, complete the following steps:

  1. Open Google Chrome
  2. Select ⋮ (Menu)
  3. Select Settings
  4. Select About Chrome

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  1. Google Chrome will display that it is up to date or will begin downloading the latest version which will prompt for a restart

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JavaScript Disabled

Shopfront requires JavaScript to work, if you receive a message that you don't have JavaScript enabled, please perform the following steps to enable it within Google Chrome:

Windows & Mac

  1. Open Google Chrome
  2. Select ⋮ (Menu)
  3. Select Settings
  4. Select Advanced
  5. In the Privacy and security section select Site Settings
  6. Select JavaScript and toggle to allow 

Android Phone

  1. Open Google Chrome
  2. Select ⋮ (Menu)
  3. Select Settings
  4. Select Site Settings
  5. Select JavaScript and toggle to allow

Browser Extensions Blocking Shopfront Functionality

If you encounter certain areas of Shopfront that aren't responding as expected, one possible explanation could be due to a third-party browser extension interfering with Shopfront. To check which browser extensions you have running in Google Chrome, follow the steps below.

  1. Open Google Chrome
  2. Select ⋮ (Menu)
  3. Select Extensions
  4. Select Manage Extensions

If you observe any third-party extensions in the list, consider disabling them temporarily to assess whether this resolves the issue in Shopfront.

Browser Data Being Cleared

Since Shopfront data is stored locally on your device, it's important to avoid having any programs installed that automatically clear Shopfront cookies, cache, or website history.

If you find yourself needing to reselect a location every time you access the Shopfront application after shutting down your PC or closing the Chrome browser, it's likely that your browser cache is being cleared. This could be due to installed programs like CCleaner, antivirus software, or third-party browser extensions. It's essential to either disable the settings causing this or remove these programs altogether.

Alternatively, browser settings may be the cause. To check and disable the automatic clearing of website data in Google Chrome upon closing the browser, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Chrome Menu
  2. Select Settings
  3. Select Privacy and security
  4. Select Cookies and other site data
  5. Turn off Clear cookies and site data when you close all windows

Infinite Loading Screen on Opening Shopfront

If you are greeted with a constant loading page when trying to log in to Shopfront you could try clearing your host cache in Chrome to resolve the issue.

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  1. In the Address Bar in Chrome type in: chrome://net-internals/#dns
  2. Select DNS
  3. Select Clear host cache

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{note}You can check for DNS issues by entering your *.onshopfront.com address in the Domain Lookup field.{/note}

A Background Worker has Failed to Start

In some instances, there may be an error message displayed at the top of the browser when accessing Shopfront.

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If this error message does appear, it means that there are Shopfront background workers that have failed to load into the browser within the expected amount of time. There are a number of reasons this error message can appear, if the link is selected and the error message consistently returns, we recommend checking the possible reasons and fixes listed below:

  • Internet speed
    • If your internet is connected, but is constantly slow, Shopfront may not be able to load from the server quick enough, we would recommend contacting your ISP to assist with improving the speed
    • Sometimes there might be other applications or devices using all of the bandwidth for your internet connection (such as computer updates, backup programs and movie streaming), it's typically best to wait until these complete, but if needed you can either pause or stop the internet use through whichever application is using the bandwidth
  • Other programs using a large amount of CPU
    • You can either close these applications or if you want to still keep them open you may need to upgrade your computers specifications,
    • Shopfront also has a number of options which can improve performance at the cost of slightly reduced features if you are unable to upgrade your computer, for further information see Modifying Search Settings to Improve Performance
  • Chrome out-of-date
    • Check above to see how to update Chrome
  • Device specifications
    • Ensure the device accessing Shopfront reaches the Minimum Specifications, otherwise you'll need to upgrade your device