# How to Add Island Header to the Dawn Theme

> Source: https://section-shop.com/theme-guides/dawn/add-island-header/ — Section Shop, 164 free native Shopify sections. Install: https://apps.shopify.com/section-shop

A floating, rounded header that sits on the page like an island: the menu on one side, your logo in the middle (or first, with the space beside it yours to set), search, account and cart on the other. A pill glides between menu items and rests on the page being viewed; drop-downs open as a card sized to their links, as wide as the island or across the whole screen, show each collection's picture in front of its link (square, rounded or round, as you set), group three-level menus and hold stacked pictures or banners on either side of the links. Any menu item can wear a small label such as HOT or NEW in your colours, with a twinkling icon if you like: above the name on computers, beside it on phones. The phone menu can show the same pictures, opens each sub-menu on the item's name, on "All" in the shopper's language or on words of your own, and places pictures, short texts and your own code above or below the links of the item they belong to; a Custom code block also takes CSS to restyle anything in the header. Search opens a panel with quick links, then live results as product cards with photo and price. Shoppers sign in through Shopify's own account button — with Shop, Google, Facebook or a code by email, without leaving the page — and choose their country (and so their currency) and language in a compact panel with a search box for long lists, or in two rows at the foot of the phone menu. The cart, with your own icon if you like, opens a drawer of its own — quantities, discounts, subscriptions, a free-shipping progress bar and checkout — that keeps working with your theme's header switched off and can open by itself after an add to cart. It can float see-through over your first section and turn solid once past it, stays pinned as the page scrolls (slimmer, or hiding on the way down), and works out every quiet tone from your colours with contrast checked. This guide shows how to add the Island Header section to the Dawn theme with Section Shop — as a native Online Store 2.0 section, customized in the theme editor, without touching Dawn's code. Dawn is a free theme by Shopify, known for speed, minimalism, being the Online Store 2.0 reference — and headers & navigation like this one are exactly the kind of section it doesn't ship out of the box.

## Why Island Header fits Dawn

Headers and navigation layouts with room for your collections and brand. On Dawn, Island Header slots in like any built-in section: it inherits the theme's fonts by default, picks up your color choices in the editor, and lives alongside Dawn's own sections in the picker — prefixed "SShop:" so it's easy to spot.

## Steps

1. **Install Section Shop (free)** — Add the app from the Shopify App Store. It's free, carries the Built for Shopify badge, and changes nothing in your Dawn setup until you add a section.
2. **Find “Island Header” in the library** — Open the app and browse to it — it's in the Headers & Navigation category — or use search.
3. **Click “Add to theme”** — Section Shop writes the section into your Dawn theme through Shopify's official theme API, the same mechanism Dawn uses for its own sections.
4. **Open the Dawn theme editor** — In Online Store → Themes → Customize, click “Add section”: you'll find it as “SShop:Island Header” in the picker.
5. **Customize and save** — Adjust text, images, colors and layout. Typography follows your Dawn font settings by default — or switch the section to any Shopify font. Hit Save and it's live.

## FAQ

### Does Island Header work with the Dawn theme?

Yes. Dawn is an Online Store 2.0 theme, and Island Header installs as a native OS 2.0 section through Shopify's official theme API. It appears in Dawn's theme editor as “SShop:Island Header”, alongside the theme's own sections.

### Will Island Header match Dawn's design?

By default the section inherits your theme's fonts, so it picks up Dawn's typography automatically. Colors, spacing, images and content are all editable in the theme editor — no CSS required.

### Is Island Header free, and what if I uninstall Section Shop?

Island Header is free, like every section in the 164-section library. Once added it's a standard theme file: if you uninstall the app, the section stays in your Dawn theme and keeps working.