How do I open the list of what Actorly watches?
How do I read the table?
The columns are Resource, History, Before and after, Who changed it and Restore. Each cell uses one of five words.
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Yes | Built, for that column. |
| Some fields | Built for a stated set of fields, never all of them. |
| When Shopify says | It depends on Shopify reporting it, so it is not guaranteed for every change. |
| Not yet | Planned and not built. Actorly does not offer it today. |
| Not possible | It does not happen. Shopify gives apps no way to do it, or Actorly chose not to. |
Not yet and Not possible are never the same thing. Do not read a Not yet cell as something Actorly has, and do not read a Not possible cell as something that is coming.
Actorly has no before-and-after values for changes made before it was installed, and cannot put those values back.
Who changed it does not give the same word for every kind. It says When Shopify says for products, Not yet for variants, collections, customers, draft orders, blogs, articles, pages, orders and discounts, and Not possible where Shopify records nobody. Where Shopify records nobody, Actorly says Unknown. See See who made a change, and how sure Actorly is.
Which kinds does Actorly record, and what does it keep for each?
The window's notes say it exactly. This is the plain-language summary; the cells themselves are in the window.
Products, variants and collections
For a product Actorly records title, description, status, vendor, type, tags, handle, SEO, category, publish state, options and images, with the value before and after each change. Variants are recorded separately, so a price change shows on its own rather than as a change to the whole product. Collections record title, handle, description, sort order and the collection image.
Inventory
Inventory history is recorded per location, with the quantity before and after each change. In Actorly's testing, Shopify sent no stock-change notice for an item that does not track inventory, so a move on one is found by the weekly check, not the moment it happens, and no name is attached. Restoring stock is not offered, because writing an old quantity back could create a false stock position.
Orders, customers, draft orders and fulfillments
These start recording from the day you install. Orders record status, totals, tags and customer details; Actorly does not import past orders and never puts an order change back for you. Customers record name, default address, note, tags and marketing consent (whether it changed, never the email address it applies to); a merge of two customers is recorded as a merge, without who made it. Draft orders record number, status, note, tags and totals. Fulfillments record status, quantities and the carrier's name, never the tracking number.
Discounts, markets, locations, shipping profiles and store settings
Discounts record title, status and the start and end dates, not the amount. Markets record name, handle, whether the market is active and its domain and languages. Locations record name, address, active status and whether the location fulfils online orders. Shipping profiles record the name, shipping zones with countries and every rate with its price. Store settings record the store name, emails, currency, time zone, weight unit, tax handling, primary domain, owner and Shopify plan. Shopify does not record who changed a location, a market, a shipping profile or a store setting, so Actorly can say what changed and when, not who.
Themes
Actorly records which theme is published and what each theme is called, so publishing a different theme is dated and kept. It does not record who changed a file or who published a theme. On Actorly Restore it also saves the theme files so you can download them as a zip: see Download a theme backup as a ZIP.
Pages, blogs, articles, menus, URL redirects, policies, price lists and files
Shopify sends Actorly no change notice for these, so a change is found by a scheduled check, not the moment it happens. They record: for a page, its title, content and whether it is visible; for a blog, title, handle, comment setting and tags; for an article, title, content, summary, author, tags and visibility; for a menu, every link with nested items and order; for a URL redirect, the old path and where it sends visitors; for a policy, title, body and public link; for a price list, name, currency and percentage adjustment (and how many prices are overridden, not their values); for a file, that it was added or changed and what it looks like now.
Metafields, metafield definitions and selling plans
Metafields record each value's namespace, key and full value alongside its resource; metafield definitions and selling plans record from the day you install, because Shopify offers no way to list the ones that already existed. Shopify's activity log cannot say who changed a metafield.
Kinds that are not recorded yet
Metaobjects and Product translations are not recorded yet. The Data room says so on their cards ("Custom content you defined; changes are not recorded yet." and "Translated product text per language; planned, not recorded yet."), and Overview's Types watched count leaves them out.
How quickly does a change appear?
It depends on the kind.
| How a change gets in | Which kinds | When you see it |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify sends a notice | Most kinds, such as products, variants, inventory, collections, orders, customers, themes and discounts | After Shopify tells Actorly, which then reads the record again to see exactly what changed. Overview's Recent changes caption states a short delay for these kinds; this guide does not promise a time. Products, variants, inventory, collections, themes and discounts are also re-checked in a full check every week. Orders and customers are not re-checked. |
| A scheduled check | Pages, blogs, articles, menus, URL redirects, price lists, policies and files, marked Checked on a schedule | At the next check: weekly on Actorly Watch, daily on Actorly Restore. |
| Not recorded yet | Product translations and metaobjects | Not recorded. |
A change found by a check is shown with the source Routine check. The time Shopify reports is when the record last changed there, so the check can find a change some time after it happened. The kinds recorded, who made a change and the before and after values are the same on both plans. The plans differ in how long history is kept, restores, export and theme file download, and in how soon a scheduled kind is noticed.
What does Actorly not track, and whose limit is it?
The window ends with what Actorly leaves out. A badge says whose limit it is.
| Not tracked | Badge | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Payment settings | Not possible | Shopify shows payment changes in your own admin but does not give that record to apps. |
| Other apps' internal settings | Not possible | No app, including Actorly, can read another app's private data. |
| Other apps' webhook subscriptions and your own notification rules | Not possible | Shopify only shows an app its own webhook subscriptions. |
| Notification templates | Not possible | Shopify has no API for the content of your email and SMS notification templates. |
| Staff accounts | Not possible | Reading staff account changes needs a permission Shopify grants only on request to some stores, and Actorly does not hold it. |
| Checkout branding | Not possible | Readable only on Plus and development stores. |
| Checkout configuration, tax settings and gift cards | Not tracked | Actorly does not request access to them. |
| Legacy script tags | Not tracked | A legacy surface that works only on vintage themes. Actorly does not track them. |
What does "Not recording on this store" mean?
It marks a kind Actorly could record but cannot on your store because a permission is missing. Today the case is customer merges: "Customer merges are not being recorded on this store, because Actorly has no record that it holds the customer merge permission." Merges are recorded once the store grants the permission, and the missing record also raises the banner "Some changes are not being recorded".
A worked example
Sample: you edit a page title in Shopify at 10:00. Pages are a kind Shopify sends no notice for, so the change does not appear at 10:00. On Actorly Restore it appears at the next daily check. On Actorly Watch it appears at the next weekly check, which can be up to a week later. Either way it is recorded with the source Routine check, the time Shopify reports for the page's last change, and the value before and after. A product edit at 10:00 is different: Shopify tells Actorly, and the change is recorded without waiting for a check.
Frequently asked questions
A kind of change I made is not listed. Is it recorded?
No. Anything not in the table is not being recorded, and Actorly cannot show its history or put it back.
Why does a change to a page or menu show up late?
Pages, menus and the other scheduled kinds are checked on a schedule, so a change appears at the next check: daily on Actorly Restore, weekly on Actorly Watch.
Does Actorly Watch record less than Actorly Restore?
No. Both plans record the same kinds with the same attribution and before and after values. The plans differ in how long history is kept, restores, export and theme file download, and in how soon the scheduled kinds are noticed.
What does Not possible mean in the Restore column?
Actorly cannot put that kind back. Some of these are Shopify's limit and some are Actorly's choice, such as inventory counts, orders and customers. See What Actorly can and cannot put back.
Why does the Data room say "0 recorded since install" for orders?
Orders, customers, fulfillments, draft orders, selling plans and metafield definitions are recorded only from the day you install. The pill counts what was recorded since then, at any number, zero included. It is not a statement that your store has none.
Does the window ever change?
Yes. It is generated from Actorly's own coverage list, so when a kind is added or a cell changes, the window changes with it. Trust the window over any older description.