Translate banner text

If your Shopify store sells in more than one language, a banner can say something different in each of them.

The picker lists your store’s languages. The code under each name is what the translation is filed under.

How it works

The picker in the builder’s top bar chooses which language you’re editing. Your store’s primary language is marked Default.

Switch to another language and the text fields change with it. Type there and you’re writing that language’s version — the primary text is untouched.

1. Write the banner in your primary language first

   Everything else falls back on it, so it has to be right before the rest makes sense.

2. Switch languages

   Click the picker in the top bar and choose one. Each row shows the language name and its code — fr, ja, ko. The code is what matters, because the storefront asks for the translation by code.

3. Fill in what changes

   The fields are empty, with the primary text showing greyed out behind them. That greyed text is what a shopper would get if you leave the field alone.

   Fill in the ones that need translating. Leave the rest.

4. Save

   One Save covers every language.

What can be translated

Element	Fields
Text	The message
Button	The label, and the link
Image	The image itself, and the alt text
Countdown	The unit captions — days, hours, minutes, seconds

The button’s link is there because a multi-language store usually sends shoppers somewhere different: /fr/collections/soldes rather than /collections/sale.

The image is there because a picture with words baked into it is the wrong picture in another language.

Note

A discount code is never translated. It’s the same string at the checkout whatever language the shopper is reading.

Colours, sizes, spacing, and the schedule aren’t translated either — they’re the same in every language.

What a shopper actually sees

The storefront asks for the language they’re browsing in.

• A translation exists — they get it
• The field was left empty — they get the primary language
• The store runs a regional variant like pt-BR and only pt was filled in — they get pt

So a half-translated banner still reads properly. It just reads in the primary language where you haven’t got to yet.

Caution

Check the code in the picker, not just the name. A translation filed under the wrong language is invisible to everyone — the shoppers reading that language never see it, and the ones you meant it for fall back to the primary text. Nothing errors; the bar simply looks untranslated.

A shortcut worth knowing

If a field is empty in your primary language and you type into a translation, the app fills the primary in as well. A banner built while a translation was selected still has something to fall back on.

Next steps

• Bar content and elements
• Translate countdown text
• App language