---
title: "Create and use development stores"

doc_type: static
doc_category: static
doc_version: v20270301
source_url:
  html: 'https://developer.shopline.com/docs/apps/development-tool/development-stores/create-and-use-development-stores'
  md: 'https://developer.shopline.com/docs/apps/development-tool/development-stores/create-and-use-development-stores.md'
---
# Create and use development stores

This article provides an overview of creating and using different development stores, along with instructions on how to check and share the development stores. 

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## Prerequisite
You need an account of the [SHOPLINE Developer Center](https://developer.myshopline.com/home/index) to create and use any development stores. 

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## Development stores for testing
This section introduces how to create a development store for testing and how to test your app in the development store. 

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### Create a development store

1. Go to **Stores** in the SHOPLINE Developer Center.
2. Hover your mouse over **Add store** and select **Create a development store**. 
3. Choose the purpose of the store as **For creating and testing**. 
4. Enter the store details, including the store name, store URL, store region, and contact email. Note that the `.myshopline.com` portion of the URL cannot be modified. 
5. Choose whether to start with test data. For more information about the default test data that a development store includes, see [Test data](https://developer.shopline.com/docs/apps/development-tool/development-stores/test-data.md?lang=en). 
6. Click **Confirm**. 


> **tip**
>
> It is recommended that you archive a development store if you are not using it to prevent an excessive number of active development stores. Go to **Stores** and you can see **Archive** under **Options**.

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### Test your app 

1. Go to **Apps** in the SHOPLINE Developer Center.
2. Find your target app and click the name of the app.
3. Click **App test**. 
4. Select your target development store and click **Install App**. 

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## Development stores tailored for specific merchants
This section introduces how to create a development store for a specific merchant and transfer the development store to the merchant. 

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### Create a development store

1. Go to **Store** in the SHOPLINE Developer Center.
2. Hover your mouse over **Add store** and select **Create a development store**. 
3. Choose the purpose of the store as **For clients**. 
4. Enter the store details, including the store name, store URL, store region, and contact email. Note that the end of the URL `.myshopline.com` cannot be modified. 
5. Click **Confirm**.

> **tip**
>
> It is recommended that you archive a development store if you are not using it to prevent an excessive number of active development stores. Go to **Stores** and you can see **Archive** under **Options**.

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### Transfer your development store
Before you can transfer a development store to a merchant, log in to [SHOPLINE Admin](https://admin.myshopline.com/) to add the merchant as a staff. Follow the steps: 

1. Go to **Settings**. 
2. Find and click **Administrator and Permissions**.
3. Click **Add Staff**. 
4. Enter the staff name and account, and activate any permissions for the staff. 
5. Click **Add**. 

For how to transfer a development store to a specific merchant, refer to [Transferring development stores](https://help.shopline.com/hc/en-001/articles/26399260088089-Building-Stores-for-Merchants).


> **note**
>
> The merchant can only use the store after successfully subscribing to a SHOPLINE plan following the transfer of a development store.

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## Check your development stores
You can check your development stores by the following steps:

1. Log in to the [SHOPLINE Developer Center](https://developer.myshopline.com/home/index). 
2. Go to **Stores**. 
3. Find the row of your target development store, and click **Log in**. 

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## Share your development stores 
You can share your development stores with visitors in the following ways:

- Share the store URL and corresponding [password](#view-password) for the store with your visitors. Visitors can enter the password to access the development store. If you want to customize the password page of the development store, refer to [Customize and view the password page](#customize-and-view-the-password-page).
- Add your visitors as administrators to the development store. Visitors can log in to the SHOPLINE Admin to view the development store. 
- Share the demo store URL with your visitors. The demo store URL needs to be configured by the following steps:
   1. Go to **Apps** in the SHOPLINE Developer Center.
   2. Find and click the name of a target public app. 
   3. Go to **App details** and click the target language. 
   4. Enter the app details and the demo store URL.
   5. Click **Save**. 

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### View password

1. Log in to [SHOPLINE Admin](https://admin.myshopline.com/).
2. Go to **Online Store** > **Preferences**. 
3. Check the password beside **Password protection**. 


> **note**
>
> You cannot edit the **Password** and **Information visible to visitors** fields of a development store. However, after you transfer your development store to a merchant and the merchant subscribes to a SHOPLINE plan, the merchant can delete the password page.

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### Customize and view the password page 
You can customize the password page in the following two ways:

- Use the theme editor in SHOPLINE Admin 
- Edit `password.json`

To visit the customized password page, go to `https://{your-store-name}.myshopline.com/password`, in which `your-store-name` is the name of the development store.