What is Shopify Sidekick?
Sidekick is Shopify’s built-in AI assistant. Instead of searching through menus and reports, you can simply ask questions about your store and get answers in seconds.
With Dibs connected, Sidekick can also answer questions about your preorder and backorder plans, products, and setup. For example, ask, “Why isn’t preorder showing on ‘Alfa Jacket’?” and get an answer based on your Dibs data.
Note: Sidekick can only read Dibs data. It can’t create, edit, pause, or delete plans, or change settings. Instead, it tells you where to make the change and links you to that page, so you can update it yourself.
1. Getting started
Here’s how to start asking Sidekick about Dibs:
- Open your Shopify admin.
- Open Sidekick from the bottom bar or the Home page.
- Type your Dibs question and press Enter.
- When prompted, allow Sidekick to access Dibs data. Click Yes and then get your answer.
2. What you can ask Sidekick
Here are the kinds of Dibs questions Sidekick can answer, with examples you can try.
Topic | What Sidekick can tell you | Example questions |
Finding plans | How many preorder and backorder plans you have, and whether each is active or draft | "How many Dibs preorder plans do I have?"
"Which Dibs plans are live right now?" |
Plan details | Full details of a plan, including quantity limits, shipping schedule, and payment options (full or partial payment) | "Explain my 'Spring Drop' preorder plan."
"What button text does 'Spring Drop' show?" |
Quantity limits and units sold | The quantity limit, units sold, and units left for each product or variant in a plan | "How many units are left in 'Spring Drop'?"
"Which products in 'Spring Drop' have sold out their limit?" |
Product’s plan and stock | Which plan a product or variant is in, its stock level, and its “Continue selling when out of stock” setting | "Is 'The Complete Snowboard' on preorder?"
"Can 'The Complete Snowboard' be put on the backorder?" |
Plan setup issues | Plans with issues, such as an active plan whose availability dates have ended, a ship date that has passed, or a plan with no products | "Do any of my Dibs plans have problems?"
"Which Dibs plans have a ship date that has passed?" |
How-to and settings | How each Dibs setting works and where to change it, along with the page link | "How do I release preorders that are on hold?"
"How do I show a preorder badge on collection pages?" |
Contacting Dibs support | Where to find Dibs user guides, live chat, and the support email | "How do I contact Dibs support?" |
For example, if you ask “Explain my ‘Preorder’ plan,” Sidekick gives you the plan’s full details, flags any issues in it, and links you to the page where you can fix them.
3. Troubleshooting with Sidekick
When preorder or backorder isn’t showing on a product, ask Sidekick why. It checks whether:
- The Dibs app embed is turned on in your theme
- The product is active in Shopify, not draft, archived, or unlisted
- The product or variant is added to a Dibs plan
- The plan is active, not draft
- The plan’s quantity limit has been reached
- The product’s stock settings support backorder, with “Track quantity” and “Continue selling when out of stock” both turned on. Backorder only shows once the product sells out.
- Another app’s selling plan is also on the product
For example, if you ask “Why isn’t backorder showing on ‘Snowboard - Green’, and preorder showing on ‘Oxygen Snowboard’?”, Sidekick explains that ‘Snowboard - Green’ is still in stock and that the ‘Oxygen Snowboard’ preorder plan hasn’t started yet. It then links you to the availability settings so you can change the start date.
Note: If the embed is on and the widget is still not in the right place, contact Dibs support.
4. Tips for better answers
- Mention Dibs in your question. Sidekick can usually tell you’re asking about Dibs, but naming the app gives more accurate results.
- Use the exact plan, product, or variant name as it appears in Dibs or Shopify.
- Ask follow-up questions if an answer seems incomplete.