Issue
Your popup doesn't appear on your store, even though the campaign is set up. It may not show at all, or only for some visitors or pages. Use this guide to find the cause and fix it.
Environment
Any campaign on a Shopify, Magento, or headless store. Some causes only apply to Shopify themes or embedded forms, and those sections say so.
Run the quick tests
Open your store in a private or incognito window. Your own browser counts as a returning visitor once you've signed up, logged in, placed an order, or clicked one of your marketing emails.
Add ?alia=1 to the end of your store's address, for example
yourstore.com/?alia=1. This opens any popup you match right away, without waiting for triggers.If the popup appears with ?alia=1, check your triggers. If it doesn't, check targeting, publishing, the embed, and domain restriction.
In the popup editor, select Preview to check the design. Preview skips targeting, so a popup that works in Preview but not on your store points to targeting, the embed, billing, or domain restriction.
Check Reports to see where visitors are getting your popup. Popup views and targeting matches by page path show where it is and isn't showing.
Most common causes
Alia isn't embedded in your theme
Alia loads through the Alia app embed in your theme. If the embed is off, wasn't saved, or you've published a different theme, nothing loads.
How to check: The top bar in Alia shows Not embedded, or the home page shows a banner saying Alia isn't embedded.
How to fix:
In Alia, select Embed Alia.
Select Take me to theme settings.
In the Shopify theme editor, select Save.
Repeat these steps whenever you publish a new theme. On Magento, the Alia module adds Alia for you, so there's no theme setting to save. See Connecting your Magento store to Alia.
Your page builder or theme app is blocking the embed
Page builders such as Shogun, PageFly, and GemPages can stop the Alia app embed from loading Alia on your store. So can other apps that manage your theme. The embed can look turned on in your theme settings while Alia never loads.
How to check: The Alia app embed is on and saved, but no popups show on any page, even with ?alia=1 added to the address.
How to fix: Add Alia's snippet to your theme yourself.
In Alia, go to Settings → General → Embed Alia.
Select Headless or non-Shopify.
Copy the snippet, then close the window. You don't need to select Continue.
In your Shopify admin, go to Online Store → Themes.
On your live theme, select … → Edit code.
Under Layout, open theme.liquid.
Paste the snippet just before the closing
</head>tag.Select Save.
Keep the Alia app embed turned on. Alia only starts once per page, so having both doesn't load it twice. The app embed is also what lets Alia read Shopify details like a visitor's market and language.
Your store's Content Security Policy is blocking Alia
A Content Security Policy (CSP) is a security setting that lists which outside sites can load scripts on your store. If Alia's domain isn't on the list, the browser blocks Alia and no popups show.
How to check:
Open your store in Chrome.
Right-click the page and select Inspect.
On the Console tab, look for an error that mentions Content Security Policy and
alia-prod.comoraliapopups.com.
How to fix: Allow *.alia-prod.com in your CSP. If you'd rather list exact domains, allow:
backend.alia-prod.comfor scripts and connections (script-srcandconnect-src)files.alia-prod.comfor images and fonts (img-srcandfont-src)app.aliapopups.comfor scripts, if your Alia snippet uses that address
Your CSP is usually set by your developer, a security app, or your hosting settings. Ask whoever manages it to make the change.
💡Note: If your CSP blocks 'unsafe-eval', custom code in Alia won't run, and expressions only work when they're a plain name, such as {{ discount_code }}.
The popup's container is missing its position settings
A popup opens as a layer over your store. To show, its outer container must be pinned to all four edges of the screen. In CSS, this is inset: 0: top, right, bottom, and left all set to 0. Without it, the popup has no space to open in, so it doesn't appear.
New popups include this setting by default. It can be missing if it was removed, or if you duplicated a popup created before it became the default.
How to check:
In the popup editor, select the Root element. It's the outermost container, at the top of the template's element tree in the left sidebar.
Under Styles, open Position.
Check that Top, Right, Bottom, and Left are all 0, under both All screen sizes and Desktop only.
Repeat on Mobile and Desktop, and for any other templates your steps use.
How to fix: Set all four to 0, then select Publish.
The popup is opening behind your store's content
If the popup's outer container has a z-index of 0, or none at all, your store's header, menus, or other elements can sit on top of it. The popup opens, but visitors can't see it.
How to check:
In the popup editor, select the Root element.
Under Styles, open Elevation and look at Z-index.
Repeat on Mobile and Desktop.
How to fix: Set Z-index to 2147483647, the highest value and the default for new popups. Then select Publish.
Domain restriction is blocking this domain
If Only run on these domains is on, Alia only shows on the domains listed in your settings. On any other domain, such as a new custom domain or a regional storefront, no popups show.
How to check:
Go to Settings → General → Domains.
See whether Only run on these domains is selected.
If it is, compare the list with the domain in your browser's address bar.
How to fix: Add the missing domain to the list, or clear Only run on these domains. Listing your main domain, such as acme.com, also covers its subdomains, such as www.acme.com.
The campaign isn't live, or your latest changes aren't published
Only published campaigns show. A campaign that's turned off, scheduled for later, or archived won't appear. Popup edits don't reach your store until you publish them.
How to check: On the campaign card, check that the campaign is turned on and whether a schedule is set. In the popup editor, check for unpublished changes.
How to fix: Turn the campaign on, or select Publish in the popup editor. Archived campaigns can't be restored, so use Duplicate campaign instead.
Targeting rules conflict with each other
When the same page rule is used in more than one place with opposite logic, the conditions cancel each other out. The popup then stops showing on every page, not just the pages you meant to exclude.
For example, to hide a popup on blog pages, you add a rule that excludes blog pages under New visitors. Then you add the same rule under Returning visitors, but with "not" applied to it. That second reference becomes a double negative, and no visitor matches.
How to check: In Edit targeting, look for the same rule or page condition in more than one place, especially where one of them uses "not."
How to fix:
Keep one version of the rule and remove the duplicate.
Make sure you aren't excluding a rule that already excludes pages.
Test with ?alia=1 in a private window.
💡Note: Check your targeting before big sales like Black Friday. A conflict can stop your popup from showing for the whole day.
The trigger can't fire on that device or page
When mouse leaves the page needs a mouse, so it never fires on phones. A scroll trigger can't fire on a page too short to scroll, and a long time-on-page delay may never be reached. A trigger set to apply only to mobile or desktop won't fire on the other.
How to check: In the popup editor, open Triggers and check each trigger and its Applies to setting.
How to fix: Use the Exit intent shortcut, which adds both the desktop trigger and When user scrolls up quickly for mobile. Or lower the delay or scroll depth, or apply the trigger to all devices.
A page condition doesn't match the address
Exact match compares the whole address after your domain, including anything after a ? or #. It's also case-sensitive, so a product link ending in ?variant= won't match an exact product path.
How to check: In Edit targeting, look at any Is on page(s) or Is not on page(s) condition.
How to fix: Switch to Contains, or add * to the end of the path.
Another popup is open or has just been shown
Only one popup can be open at a time, and an open popup stays open as the visitor moves between pages. Don't trigger if another popup viewed in last... (15 seconds by default) also holds a popup back after another one closes. Campaigns have no priority order, so the first one to trigger wins.
How to check: Check which other live campaigns target the same visitors. Then look at Don't trigger if another popup viewed in last... under Triggers.
How to fix: Shorten that wait, or separate the campaigns' audiences with a Not in targeting rule or campaign condition.
Your store has no active plan
Alia stops showing on your store when there's no active subscription, or when the app has been uninstalled. Preview still works, so a popup that previews fine but never shows live often points here.
How to check: Open the Billing page. The top bar shows Store disconnected if the app was uninstalled.
How to fix: Choose or approve a plan, or reinstall Alia.
You're testing as a returning visitor
New campaigns target New visitors by default. Your own browser usually stops counting as new once you've signed up through your popup, visited your account or an order confirmation page, or clicked a link in your own emails or texts.
How to check: Open the campaign's Edit targeting and look for the New visitors rule. Then open your store in a private window.
How to fix: Test in a private window or on another device. Only change the targeting if real visitors are affected.
The visitor has already seen the popup
A popup opens once per visitor unless If closed, trigger popup again after is on. When it's on, the wait counts from the last time the visitor saw any popup in that campaign.
How to check: In the popup editor, open Triggers and look at If closed, trigger popup again after.
How to fix: Turn it on and choose a wait, or test in a private window.
Another targeting condition excludes the visitor
Conditions like device type, location, Shopify market or language, or Klaviyo list membership can rule a visitor out. Location comes from the visitor's IP address, so a VPN can change it. Klaviyo list conditions only know visitors Klaviyo recognizes, and everyone else gets the condition's default.
How to check: Read every condition in Edit targeting, including those inside saved rules on the Targeting rules page.
How to fix: Remove or widen the condition, or change the Klaviyo condition's default to Default to in list or Default to not in list.
Embedded form: the snippet isn't on the page
An embedded form only shows where its embed snippet is placed in your theme, or inside the element matched by Use a custom selector. If neither is on the page, nothing appears.
How to check: In the campaign, open Snippet. Check that it's on that page's template, or that your custom selector matches an element on the page.
How to fix: Paste the embed snippet into your theme, for example in a Custom Liquid section, or correct the custom selector.
Less common causes
Cookie consent allowed in targeting holds the popup until the visitor accepts your cookie banner. It never matches on non-Shopify storefronts.
A Custom code targeting condition that errors or doesn't return true blocks the popup.
In an A/B test, visitors stay in the variant they first got, and a holdout variant never shows.
Adaptive timing can't fire until Alia has a delay to use.
Ad blockers and script blockers can stop Alia from loading.
Ask Lia to troubleshoot
Lia, Alia's AI assistant, can troubleshoot common issues. Tell Lia your popup isn't showing, and she'll walk you through what to check or ask you to approve a fix.
Still have questions?
Start a chat from inside the Alia app, or use the chat in our Help Center.