Support

Email us at support@southwood.dev. We reply within 2 business days. Please include your store's .myshopify.com address and, if you can, the page where the age gate isn't behaving as expected.

ClearGate is an age gate, not age verification: visitors confirm their own age, and ClearGate does not check identity documents or data.

Common questions

How do I switch the age gate on?

Open ClearGate in your Shopify admin. On the app's Home page, press Turn on in theme editor. The theme editor opens with the ClearGate app embed ready to switch on. Switch it on and press Save in the theme editor.

The gate doesn't show on my store. What should I check?

• The ClearGate app embed is switched on and you saved the theme. The Home page in the app tells you whether it is on.
• Your ClearGate plan is active.
• In the app's Rules page, “Show the age gate” is on, and the page you are testing isn't in “Excluded pages”. In targeted mode the page must also match a collection, product type or included page.
• You are looking at the theme where you switched the embed on. The gate never shows on the store password page.
• You haven't already answered. See the next question.

How do I test the gate as a new visitor?

Open your store in a private (incognito) window, or delete the cleargate_age cookie for your store's domain and reload. In the theme editor you can see a preview of the gate with the “Preview gate in theme editor” setting. The editor ignores any cookie and never saves one.

Does the age gate hurt my SEO?

In our tests it did not change what search engines read. Your page's content stays in the page while the gate shows, the gate's text is not part of the page content and is marked to stay out of search snippets, and the Lighthouse SEO score was the same with the gate on and off. We have not yet tested with Google Search Console. The SEO and performance section of the docs has the details.

Can I show the gate on only some pages?

Yes. In the app's Rules page, under “Where the gate appears”, choose “Only on the collections, product types and pages I choose” (targeted mode). You can also exclude pages in either mode. Note that quick-add buttons and cart drawers can add a gated product without the visitor opening a gated page.

Can I ask for a different age in different countries?

Yes. Under “Age requirements” set a “Minimum age” and add countries with their own minimum under “Age by country”. “Strict mode” asks for the highest age you have set, everywhere.

Which languages does the gate support?

The gate has built-in text for 31 language versions and shows the one that matches the store's language. You can write your own wording for each language under “Gate text” on the Rules page.

What happens if I uninstall ClearGate?

The age gate stops showing on your store. The settings you saved are kept for a short time so a quick reinstall restores them, then deleted. You can also remove the app embed in the theme editor. See our privacy policy for details.