--- title: Install Actorly and see your first changes | Actorly description: Install Actorly from Shopify, pick Actorly Watch or Actorly Restore on Shopify's billing page and let the first import finish. Nothing is added to your store. canonical: https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/get-started --- # Install Actorly and see your first changes You install Actorly from Shopify, approve the permissions it asks for, and choose a plan on Shopify's own billing page. Actorly is already watching your store from the moment it is installed, there is nothing to configure, and nothing is added to your storefront. The first thing to wait for is the first import, which gives later changes a "before" to be compared with. Watch and Restore Updated Oct 15, 2026 ### On this page 1. What do I need before I install? 2. What happens when I install, step by step? 3. What do I see while the first import runs? 4. What does Actorly record from day one, and what only from the first change? 5. A worked example: your first recorded change 6. What is different on Actorly Watch and on Actorly Restore? 7. If something goes wrong 8. Frequently asked questions ### In this topic: Get set up - [Install Actorly and see your first changes](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/get-started) - [How to read the Actorly Overview](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/overview) - [What Actorly records in your Shopify store](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/what-actorly-watches) - [Check your store details and choose a language](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/account-and-language) ## What do I need before I install? You need a Shopify store and the ability to install an app on it. Actorly runs inside your Shopify admin, so there is no separate account to create and no code to paste. Actorly adds nothing to your storefront: no scripts, no theme code, no app blocks and no tracking pixels. It asks Shopify for read permissions for the kinds of record it keeps history of, and for five write permissions (products, shipping, locations, markets and files). Those five are used only when you confirm a restore of a field Actorly can put back. Actorly does not ask to write themes, inventory, discounts, content, policies or translations, so it cannot change them. ## What happens when I install, step by step? 1 **Install Actorly.** Add the app to your store from Shopify and approve the permissions Shopify shows you. 2 **Read the welcome screen.** It says "Actorly is already watching your store." and that there is nothing here to set up. The table of changes on that screen is labelled **Sample**: the app says these are illustrations of the kinds of change Actorly records, not your store's data. One sample row has the actor **Unknown** on purpose, because Unknown stays Unknown and is never quietly replaced later with a guess. 3 **Choose a plan.** The next screen is headed "Pick how you want to run Actorly." and shows both plans side by side. Choose **Choose a plan** and Actorly hands you to Shopify ("Taking you to Shopify ... We will bring you right back to Actorly as soon as you do."). You choose Actorly Watch, which is free, on Shopify's page too: there is no skip, because the app waits for a real plan choice. 4 **Pick on Shopify's page.** Actorly Watch is $0, with no trial and no countdown. Actorly Restore is $29 per month, or $240 a year. Billing is handled entirely by Shopify and appears on your normal Shopify invoice. 5 **Come back to Actorly.** The dashboard appears only after Actorly has read your confirmed plan from Shopify. Until then every other page sends you back to the plan screen. 6 **Open Actorly.** In your Shopify admin, open **Apps > Actorly**. You land on Overview, the app's home page. Overview shows what Actorly has recorded. The figures are from a development store. 7 **Let the first import finish.** Overview says Actorly is still building your store history and lists what is still importing. ## What do I see while the first import runs? The first import starts at install, not when you pick a plan, so some kinds may already be ready when you first see the dashboard. Actorly states no time for the import: a larger store simply has more to read. While it runs, the app tells you what it cannot yet say, and never shows 0 for something it has not read. WhereWhat it saysWhat it means Status badge beside the store name**Still importing** The first read of at least one kind is running. A count on OverviewA dash and the reason, for example "Still building your history"The count is not available yet. It is not 0. Types watched"N of N" counting upOnly kinds Actorly has finished importing are counted. Recent changes"Nothing is being watched yet" or "Still building your history"There is nothing to show yet. This is not the same as nothing having changed. The banner at the topA list of the kinds still importingCounts for those kinds are incomplete until their import finishes. Checked on a schedule"Not checked yet"The first scheduled check has not run. Trend badgesNoneA trend needs a whole earlier period after the install. If the badge says **Import failed**, the page says "That import did not finish" and "It is not retrying automatically yet". The app says it is not retrying automatically yet, so tell support which kinds the banner names. See [Is Actorly recording my store?](https://actorly.app/docs/when-something-looks-wrong/is-actorly-recording). ## What does Actorly record from day one, and what only from the first change? Kinds Actorly can list at install, such as products, collections, files, locations and markets, are read at install and read again every Sunday. Each has a first version called "install snapshot", which is the starting point later changes are compared with. Orders, customers, fulfillments, draft orders, selling plans and metafield definitions start empty and fill as changes arrive. That is why a card in the Data room can read "0 recorded since install" while your Shopify admin shows orders. While a kind is still importing, a record Actorly sees for the first time is kept as its starting version and does not appear as a change. Pages, blogs, articles, menus, URL redirects, price lists, policies and files work differently again. Shopify sends Actorly no change notice for them, so Actorly re-reads them on a schedule: weekly on Actorly Watch, daily on Actorly Restore. A change to one of those appears at the next check. ## A worked example: your first recorded change Sample: you edit a product's title in Shopify. Open **Changes** in Actorly's menu. A row appears with the Resource **Products**, the product's name, the Change **Title**, and in the Who column **Not attributed yet**. Choose **View** to see the value before and after, and in the window a sentence that says Actorly is still checking Shopify's activity log for who made the change. That word can change to a name with a confidence word, or to **Unknown**, which then stays. This is also the first step of the Setup guide's "Try a restore": edit a product title in Shopify, open that change in Changes and choose **Restore this value**. The steps are in [restore one field to an earlier value](https://actorly.app/docs/put-a-value-back/restore-a-field). ## What is different on Actorly Watch and on Actorly Restore? Actorly WatchActorly Restore Price$0, free forever, no trial and no countdown$29 per month, or $240 a year Change history3 months of change historyUnlimited change history, kept while you stay on Actorly Restore RestoresOne restore every 30 days, on the basic fields. A product's status, a variant's price and a collection's sort order are not includedUnlimited restores ExportNot includedCSV or JSON, built in the Data room Theme file backup ZIPNot includedIncluded Scheduled kinds (pages, menus, files and others)Checked weeklyChecked daily What Actorly watches, who made a change, before and after values, search and filtersThe sameThe same This lists the main differences, not every line on the plan cards. See [Compare Actorly Watch and Actorly Restore](https://actorly.app/docs/plans-and-billing/plans-and-history). ## If something goes wrong - **You paid and still see the plan screen.** Actorly confirms your plan by reading it from Shopify, and the read can lag. If it fails, the Account page says "Actorly could not confirm this plan with Shopify" and treats you as being on Actorly Watch until it can confirm. See [upgrade, downgrade or cancel](https://actorly.app/docs/plans-and-billing/upgrade-downgrade-or-cancel). - **A count is a dash.** That is the app saying it has not read that kind yet. Wait for the import, or read the banner for the reason. - **Changes is empty.** The words on the empty page say which case it is. See [Is Actorly recording my store?](https://actorly.app/docs/when-something-looks-wrong/is-actorly-recording). ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I need to set anything up? No. Actorly started recording the moment it was installed, and there is nothing here to set up. You only choose a plan. ### Can I use Actorly Watch without going to Shopify's billing page? No. Choosing a plan, including the free one, happens on Shopify's page. Actorly shows your dashboard once it has read your confirmed plan. ### Can Actorly show what changed before I installed it? Actorly has no before-and-after values for changes made before it was installed, and cannot put those values back. ### Does Actorly change my storefront or my theme? No. Actorly adds no scripts, theme code, app blocks or pixels. It writes to your store only when you confirm a restore of one of the fields it can put back, and it cannot write a theme at all. ### How long does the first import take? Actorly does not say. It depends on how much your store holds, and the app shows progress by marking what is still importing. ### Is there a trial? No. Actorly Watch is free, with no trial and no countdown. Actorly Restore has no trial either. ### Can I try Actorly Restore on a development store? A development store is a test store and is never charged. Shopify's own plan screen says "These plans are free to test on this store." ## Related articles [How to read the Actorly Overview Overview is Actorly's first page: what changed in the last 24 hours, 7 or 30 days, who is making changes, restores left and what needs your attention.](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/overview)[What Actorly records in your Shopify store Open What Actorly watches to see every kind of change Actorly records, what it keeps for each kind, which are checked on a schedule and what it cannot track.](https://actorly.app/docs/get-set-up/what-actorly-watches)[Read a change: before, after, when and who Open any change in Actorly to see the value before and after, when it happened, who made it with how sure Actorly is, and how Actorly learned of it.](https://actorly.app/docs/find-what-changed/reading-a-change) **Still stuck?** Chat with us, or write to [team@actorly.app](mailto:team@actorly.app). 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