A Shopify Developer for TomboyX

TOMBOYX NEEDED A TECHNICAL SHOPIFY EXPERT TO MODERNIZE THEIR OUTDATED THEME AND BUILD CUSTOM SWATCH FUNCTIONALITY

About TomboyX: TomboyX is a Seattle-based apparel brand creating comfortable, inclusive underwear and loungewear for all bodies. Founded with a mission to challenge traditional gender norms in fashion, they've built a loyal community around body positivity and authentic self-expression.

The project: TomboyX needed to migrate from their heavily customized Impulse 4.1.1 theme (pre-Online Store 2.0) to the latest version while preserving years of customizations, building a custom color swatch system to replace the failing Swatch King app, and maintaining business continuity during the critical holiday season.

We matched them with a developer who could navigate complex legacy code and document customizations thoroughly, architect scalable solutions that wouldn't require third-party apps, and communicate technical concepts clearly to non-technical stakeholders while providing exceptional documentation.

The challenge was finding someone who could untangle years of customizations across dozens of apps and integrations, architect a custom swatch system that would scale with their catalog, and execute a major platform upgrade without disrupting their business—all while being responsive enough to handle urgent production issues between projects.

TomboyX chose Tyler Eagleton, a Shopify developer with deep technical expertise and exceptional communication skills, who delivered a custom swatch cross-linking system, successfully upgraded them from Impulse 4.1.1 to 7.2 (crossing the major Online Store 2.0 boundary), and became their trusted development partner for over two years.

Tyler built a meticulously documented custom swatch system using collections and metafields instead of unreliable third-party apps, allowing TomboyX to display all color variants across product pages with automatic sold-out indicators and manual or best-selling sort options—all with Google Analytics tracking.

THE WORK

Phase 1: Custom Swatch System

• Built custom color swatch cross-linking using Shopify collections and product metafields
• Created "Shop All [COLOR]" functionality directing customers to collection pages of all products in that color
• Implemented automatic sold-out state indicators for size availability
• Added flexible sorting options (manual or best-selling) at global and product levels
• Maintained existing size selector behavior and styling
• Created comprehensive setup documentation for ongoing management

Phase 2: Major Theme Upgrade

• Conducted thorough audit of 20+ apps and dozens of theme customizations dating back years
• Coordinated with Global-e, Loyalty Lion, Kustomer, Reviews.io, and other integration partners
• Migrated from Impulse 4.1.1 (pre-OS 2.0) to 7.2, crossing major platform architectural boundary
• Pivoted mid-project to upgrade to newly-released 7.2 when it launched during development
• Preserved all existing customizations including Shop Pay callouts, gift wrap, Loyalty Lion widgets, custom margins/paddings, tracking scripts, and Mountain TV integration
• Added dynamic swatch sold-out indicators that update based on selected size
• Implemented custom button text color controls across hero and promotional modules
• Removed unwanted text shadows and overlays from video hero sections
• Added one-size product auto-selection to eliminate unnecessary clicks
• Created custom dynamic source for collection page SEO content using rich-text metafields
• Built custom login/register redirect to Rewards page for improved user flow
• Fixed collection filtering issues while maintaining custom availability filtering
• Coordinated 9pm PST launch with Global-e team in Israel for international integration testing

Ongoing Development Partnership

• Emergency production support for discount script debugging
• Student Beans verification integration
• BazaarVoice feed troubleshooting
• Loyalty Lion page migration from PageFly
• Custom product badge implementations
• Homepage content updates and design tweaks
• Dynamic checkout button styling
• Newsletter signup optimization
• Ongoing bug fixes and enhancements

Tyler established a transparent time-tracking system using shared Google Sheets, allowing TomboyX to batch smaller requests throughout each month and receive a single consolidated invoice—providing flexibility for urgent needs without formal approval processes while maintaining clear documentation of all work.

"Tyler is probably the best developer I've ever worked with, and I've worked with devs across large companies, small companies, and agencies. His communication is stellar, and his documentation is excellent as well. We've been working with him for years now and will continue to do so."

—Liz Wagner, VP of eCommerce, TomboyX

"Working with the TomboyX team has been incredibly rewarding. Liz and Zoey brought such clear thinking about what their business needed, and the trust they placed in my technical recommendations made it possible to architect solutions that would serve them for years. Nothing brings people together more than a fire drill—and we had a few of those—but those urgent moments showed what great partnership really looks like."

—Tyler Eagleton, Shopify Developer, Storetasker

FINAL RESULTS

• Custom swatch system eliminated dependency on unreliable third-party app
• Successfully migrated from Impulse 4.1.1 to 7.2, crossing major Online Store 2.0 boundary
• Preserved all customizations while cleaning up technical debt from outdated theme
• Coordinated complex multi-partner integrations (Global-e, Loyalty Lion, Kustomer, Reviews.io)
• Established ongoing partnership spanning 2+ years
• Created comprehensive documentation enabling TomboyX team to manage systems independently
• Maintained business continuity throughout major platform upgrades