Different web protocols might cause your store to behave unexpectedly for some users.

- Colors don't display correctly
- Some page elements or images don't appear
- Your browser address bar shows a warning:

  <figure class="figure"><img src="https://cdn.shopify.com/shopifycloud/shopify_dev/assets/support/pi-urls-1-3709af68fe4abd147fa2d177c492259d633e70682daf329130b431de5573df0d.jpg" class="lazyload" width="629" height="34"></figure>

This might happen if some of your theme **assets** don't use protocol-independent URLs. These URLs are required if you want to load your site through a secure connection (`https://`).

## About assets

Assets are files that your theme needs to function properly. These include JavaScript files, stylesheets, and image files. External hyperlinks are not considered assets.

## Protocol-independent URLs

URL protocols look like `http://`, `https://`, and `ftp://`. A protocol-independent URL simply begins with `//`.

You might be loading your store through a secured connection (`https`) if any of the following apply to you:

- you use the `.myshopify.com` address as your [primary domain](https://help.shopify.com/manual/domains/managing-domains)
- you're a [Shopify Plus](https://www.shopify.com/plus) merchant with custom SSL security on your store
- you've [activated SSL for your online store](https://help.shopify.com/manual/domains/managing-domains/secure-connections).

For your store to load properly, all theme assets must use your store's secure protocol. You can make sure this by replacing the `http://` in their reference addresses with `//`.

## Updating assets to use protocol-independent URLs

To make sure your assets work properly when your store is viewed through a secure connection, search your theme files for the text `http://`, and replace all instances of that text with `//`. For example:

Before:

```html
<link
  href="http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans"
  rel="stylesheet"
  type="text/css"
/>
```

After:

```html
<link
  href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Open+Sans"
  rel="stylesheet"
  type="text/css"
/>
```

### Best practices

- You can [download your theme](https://help.shopify.com/manual/online-store/themes/managing-themes/downloading-themes) and use the **Replace all** feature in a text editor to replace the URL protocol in all your theme files. You can then [upload your edited theme](https://help.shopify.com/manual/online-store/themes/adding-themes#upload-a-theme-file-from-your-computer), and publish the imported theme that has protocol-independent URLs.

- To find out which assets are not loading securely, you can check your [browser console](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/Browser_Console). The console should list the assets that are not loading properly.

> Tip:
> You might notice that YouTube videos don't load in the online code editor. This is because the embed code for these videos doesn't use the HTTPS protocol. Not to worry though, they'll still display properly on your online store.