Languages in Sign Customiser

One customiser can serve shoppers in several languages. You manage each language in the same customiser, keep unfinished wording private as a draft, and publish it when it is ready.

Only published languages reach shoppers. Saving or previewing a draft does not change the public customiser.

Languages page showing English and French translation status for one customiser

Set up another language

Open Customisers -> [customiser] -> Settings -> Languages.
Check the default language and finish its wording where practical.
Select Add language. In the Add a language window, select the Language to add. Select the Source language to translate from. To start with an AI-assisted first draft, select Generate a first draft with AI. This option is not always available. To start blank, leave it cleared. Then select Add language in the window.
Translate and review the wording, save the draft, and preview it.
Publish the language when all required fields are complete.

The Add a language window with the Language and Source language fields and the Add language and Cancel buttons

Follow Add, translate, preview and publish a language for the complete workflow.

What Sign Customiser translates

Interface text such as headings, buttons, prompts, warnings and errors.
Selection titles, descriptions and supported shopper-visible option names, including colours, sizes, fonts, materials, mountings, backboards, extras and product types.
Custom form labels, fields, choices, guidance and submission messages.
Review-screen labels and supported shopper-visible cart and order summary wording.

What stays unchanged

The wording a shopper types for their sign and text in saved customer designs.
Your Shopify theme, navigation, pages and other storefront copy.
Universal host-page content outside the customer customiser.
The title of a new Shopify product. It uses the default language’s Product title wording. Change it under Settings -> Product.
Canonical option IDs, prices, SKUs, production and fulfilment values, currencies, dates and measurements.
Text direction. Configure right-to-left layout separately.

How shoppers receive a language

On Shopify, the customiser follows the active storefront language when you have published a matching customiser language. To keep this automatic match, leave Language code override blank. This setting is in Advanced settings in the Sign Customiser theme block.

To use one language in a block, enter a published language code in Language code override. Examples are fr and fr-CA. This code has priority over the storefront language.

On Universal, an explicit language code in the link or embed can select a published language. The code must be the code of a published language. A regional code does not select its base language. For example, fr-CA does not select fr. If it matches no published language, the customiser uses its default language. Without an explicit code, the customiser checks these signals in order:

The storefront language, if one is supplied.
The browser language preferences.
The customiser default language.

Sign Customiser does not add a shopper-facing language switcher. Your Shopify theme or Universal site must provide its own selector or language links if shoppers need a visible choice.

See Choose the customiser language on Shopify and Universal for matching, regional variants and testing.

Language terms

Default language is the fallback for shoppers who do not match another published language.
Primary language is the language of the text on your option pages, for example colour names, size descriptions and form labels. Its language row shows the Primary badge. The primary language can be different from the default language. The primary language is a customiser setting. It is not the main language of your Shopify Store.
Source language is the language that a translation is made from. When you add a language, Sign Customiser selects the primary language as the source language. If no language has the Primary badge, it selects the default language.
Draft is saved privately and is not available to shoppers.
Ready for review means an AI-assisted draft has finished. It is still private.
Published means matching shoppers can receive the language.
Unpublished changes means the last published wording remains live while newer draft wording waits for publishing.
Missing marks an empty required field. A missing required field blocks publishing.
Stale means the source wording changed after translation and the target wording needs review.

Before you translate

Finish the option wording and option structure where practical.
Fill the Product title row in each new language. It is a required field.
Check that your fonts contain the characters needed for the target script.
Decide whether the language needs right-to-left layout.
Check the default language on older customisers. It is not always the main language of your Shopify Store.

Navigation