Why schedule your bar
Sales and announcements have start and end times, but they often fall at awkward hours: a sale that starts at midnight, a flash offer over a weekend, a holiday notice that should come down on the morning you reopen. Scheduling lets you set the bar up in advance and have it go live and come down on its own.
- A weekend sale that starts Friday at 6 PM and ends Sunday at 11:59 PM.
- A "Closed for the holidays, orders ship January 3" notice for a set period.
- A launch announcement that appears the moment a collection goes live.
- A last-order date for holiday delivery that disappears after the cutoff.
Your options on Shopify
Shopify lets you set active dates for discounts in Discounts, so the discount itself can start and end automatically. See Shopify discounts. A theme's built-in announcement bar, however, typically has no start or end date: you change or remove the text by hand in the theme editor when the time comes.
Scheduling the bar with the same dates as the discount keeps the message and the offer in step, without anyone needing to be at a computer at midnight.
| Approach | Start | End |
|---|---|---|
| Theme announcement bar | Edit the text by hand at the right time | Edit or remove it by hand |
| Nexora Scheduling | Automatic, from Starts | Automatic, from Ends |
Step by step: schedule a bar
- Create the bar
In Announcement bar, click New announcement and set up the content and design as usual.
- Set the start
In the Scheduling card on the Content tab, set Starts to Specific date, then choose the Date, Hour, Minute and AM/PM. Keep Right now if the bar should start as soon as you publish.
- Set the end
Set Ends to Specific date with the end time, or keep Never for a bar with no end date.
- Publish ahead of time
Click Publish. If the start time is in the future, the status shows Scheduled.
- Check the status
In the bar list, the Status column shows Scheduled, Active or Expired as time passes.
Scheduling settings and statuses
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Starts | Right now, or Specific date with Date, Hour, Minute and AM/PM |
| Ends | Never, or Specific date with the same fields |
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not published | A draft. It won't show, even if its start date has passed. |
| Scheduled | Published, waiting for its start date |
| Active | Live on the storefront |
| Expired | Published, but the end date has passed |
| Paused | You paused it; it stays hidden until you publish it again |
Dates and times use the time zone of the computer you're using when you set them. If your team works across time zones, agree on one person, or one time zone, for setting schedules.
The app checks schedules every 5 minutes, so a bar can go live or come down a few minutes after the exact time. If you change the dates on a bar that's already published, the new dates take effect as soon as you save.
Example: a weekend flash sale
- Discount in Shopify:
FLASH20, 20% off, active Friday 6:00 PM to Sunday 11:59 PM. - Title: "Weekend flash sale: 20% off everything"
- Coupon code:
FLASH20 - Starts: Specific date, Friday, Hour 6, Minute 00, PM
- Ends: Specific date, Sunday, Hour 11, Minute 59, PM
- Design: Top page with Sticky bar
Publish it on Thursday. It shows Scheduled until Friday evening, runs through the weekend, then switches to Expired. On Monday, check Analytics with a custom date range covering the weekend to see impressions, clicks and copies of the code.
Example: a holiday closure notice
- Title: "We're closed Dec 24 to Jan 2. Orders placed now ship January 3."
- Call to action: No call to action
- Starts: Specific date, December 20, Hour 9, Minute 00, AM
- Ends: Specific date, January 3, Hour 9, Minute 00, AM
- Show close icon (X) — visitors can dismiss the bar: ticked, so returning shoppers who've read it can hide it
To run the same notice next year, use Duplicate in the bar list, change the dates on the copy and publish it. The copy starts as Not published, so nothing changes on your storefront until you publish.
If the bar doesn't start or stop on time
- Check AM and PM: 12 AM is midnight at the start of the chosen date, and 12 PM is noon. A sale that ends "Sunday at midnight" should end on Monday at 12:00 AM, or on Sunday at 11:59 PM.
- Specific date with no date: if you pick Specific date but leave Date empty, the bar behaves as if it had no start or end date. Fill in the date, or switch back to Right now or Never.
- End before start: the app doesn't stop you saving an end time earlier than the start time, and a bar like that won't stay live. Read both dates back before you publish.
- Paused bars stay paused: a schedule doesn't restart a bar you paused. Publish it again and its status is worked out from its dates.
- Active but not visible: scheduling only sets the status. The app embed must be on, the page must match Placement, and a bar you closed while testing stays hidden in your browser for 7 days.
Tips and common mistakes
- Forgot to publish: a scheduled bar must be published. A Not published bar never shows, whatever its dates.
- Leave a small buffer: because schedules are checked every 5 minutes, end the bar a few minutes before a discount expires if it matters that no one sees it after.
- Reusing a bar: to run an Expired bar again, change or remove its end date and save. It becomes active again.
- Back-to-back campaigns: schedule the next bar to start when the current one ends. If their times overlap, both show and stack.
- Check the look before it goes live: the Live preview in the editor shows the bar whatever its dates, so you can review it days in advance.
Frequently asked questions
Why didn't my bar go live at the exact minute?
The app checks schedules every 5 minutes, so a bar can start or stop a few minutes after the time you set.
Which time zone does scheduling use?
The time zone of the computer you're using when you set the dates.
What does Expired mean?
The bar's end date has passed and it no longer shows. Change or remove the end date and save to make it active again.
Can I schedule a bar without an end date?
Yes. Set Ends to Never.
Do I need to publish a scheduled bar?
Yes. Click Publish; the bar then shows as Scheduled until its start time.
How do I end a bar at midnight?
Set Ends to 11:59 PM on the last day, or 12:00 AM on the following day. 12 AM is the start of the chosen date.
Can I reuse a scheduled bar next year?
Yes. Duplicate it in the bar list, change the dates on the copy and publish it.
