Enable a Shopify table for the storefront (or the block stays blank)

The size chart block is on the product template. Theme saved. Storefront: empty. Screenshots in support show the theme editor, not the table’s Settings step.

Shopify enable table for the storefront is the switch teams skip. Enable, visibility, and products: disabled tables do not render even if a block is present. The block is placement. Enable is “this table is live”.

OO - Advanced Table Builder (docs may still say Tables, Specs & Comparisons) covers size charts, specs, comparison, tabbed, Us vs Them. Free. 5.0 from 1 review. Do not pitch another app here.

Yesterday: groups and modules in Structure. Nobody sees those modules until Enable is on. Earlier: the theme app block.

Placement is not publication

Quick start step 4: enable the table, then product visibility. Step 5: app embed and/or the matching theme block, save the theme, check the live page.

Skip step 4 and you have a polished Structure/Design in admin and a hole on the PDP. That is not “try a hard refresh first”. Disabled means no render.

The app embed is a third switch: shortcodes, comparison tray/modal, Compare auto-inject under the price, size chart above Add to cart when no Size chart block exists. Theme blocks alone do not run those. Specs do not auto-inject next to Add to cart — theme block only. Do not claim otherwise.

Three layers:

1. Enable on the table (Settings).

2. Placement: block, auto-placement, or `[oo-table id=…]` (embed on, table enabled).

3. Visibility: all products or selected (size chart, specs, comparison).

Layer 1 off → 2 and 3 are decoration.

Tabbed and Us vs Them still need the switch

Size chart / Specs / Comparison: All products vs Selected products only. Selected applies on product pages. Other templates follow the block and theme visibility helpers.

Tabbed and Us vs Them: you pick the table in the theme block picker. Enable must still be on. Choosing it in the picker is not publishing it.

Internal description: admin-only, never storefront. Useful as “EU chart — not live”. It does not replace Enable. A note that says draft while Enable is on is live.

AI from a description or screenshot still needs Settings → Enable after you review Structure. Generation does not flip the switch.

Typical empty PDPs

Block on the homepage, Enable off. Homepage blank. Product page blank.

Enable on, Selected products, this PDP not in the list. Empty for that product. Check the picker in Settings.

Shortcode on a size-guide page, embed off. Shortcode is dead. Embed on, table enabled, id correct.

Relying on size-chart auto-placement with embed off. Auto-placement is the embed. A block with Enable off is still empty. Both can be wrong at once.

Two size charts, one Enable off. Shoppers only see the enabled table. That is expected.

Ship EU first, keep US dark

Apparel. Tables `size-eu` and `size-us`. EU is ready. US is waiting on a supplier.

1. `size-eu`: Structure and Design done. Settings → Enabled. Visibility Selected (those SKUs).

2. Theme: Size chart block on the product template, or embed auto-placement above ATC if you are not using a block.

3. `size-us`: Enable off until measurements are real. A block may sit on a draft theme; live storefront will not render it.

4. View the PDP as a shopper. Hard refresh.

Tabbed “specs + size”: pick the tabbed table in the block and Enable that table. Us vs Them: same pair.

Comparison: Enable the comparison table, embed for tray/modal, Compare block or auto-inject. Tray with Enable off has nothing to show.

Enabled is not “show on every product”

All products means: wherever placement applies. Selected products only means: those PDPs. A collection template with a Compare block follows the block; it does not always reuse the same selected-product list. Docs: selected-product rules apply on product pages; other templates follow block/visibility helpers.

Leave Enable off while you still Refine with AI. Use Selected when the chart is shoes, not socks. Those are different knobs. “Not live yet” = Enable off. “Only these SKUs” = Enable on + Selected.

Theme app blocks: Size chart, Product specs, Compare button, Tabbed, Us vs Them — product, collection, page, other templates. Specs always need a block; there is no ATC auto-inject. Size chart may auto-place above ATC only when there is no Size chart block, the embed is on, and Enable is on. All three.

Import/export and Excel/Sheets are on the listing. None of that bypasses Enable. A spreadsheet full of measurements still needs the switch.

Checklist

1. Open OO - Advanced Table Builder.

2. Table → Settings → Enable.

3. Size/Specs/Compare: All or Selected. Tabbed/Us vs Them: picker + Enable.

4. Theme settings → App embeds → Tables, Specs & Comparisons for tray, auto-placement, shortcodes.

5. Matching block where Specs (or a pinned chart) should sit.

6. Save. Check the live PDP. Still empty? Enable, then visibility, then embed/block.

Translate customer-facing strings in Settings after Enable — otherwise you polish copy nobody loads. Titles, trigger text, empty-state: per locale. Enable does not translate; it only decides whether that locale’s table chrome appears at all.

Wrap-up

Shopify enable table for the storefront is Settings → Enabled. The block or shortcode is only a hook. Disabled tables render nothing. Tabbed and Us vs Them still need Enable. Free app, one review. Listing: OO - Advanced Table Builder.