Choose the languages your storefront sells in and the one it opens in, the currency your prices are shown in, and the time zone your store keeps. All of them are on the Localization tab of Settings.
The languages your storefront sells in
Your storefront can run in English, Arabic and French. Each language you tick is a full version of your storefront, from the menus and product pages to the cart and checkout. When you sell in more than one, customers switch between them with the language picker in your storefront’s header.
- In the sidebar, open Settings.
- Select the Localization tab.
- Under Supported languages, tick each language you want to sell in, and untick any you do not.
- Choose the Default language.
- Select Save changes.
When the save finishes, Settings saved. appears in the corner and your storefront offers the new set of languages.
Seeing this tab needs the View settings or the Edit settings permission, and saving it needs Edit settings. Out of the box only the Store owner role has them; a Store manager and Sales staff do not see this tab. See Staff roles: what each one can see and do.
How many languages your plan includes
| Plan | Storefront languages |
|---|---|
| Free | One: English or Arabic |
| Starter | English and Arabic |
| Growth, Business and Enterprise | English, Arabic and French |
See Plans and what each includes.
Every language shows on the tab whatever your plan, so you can see what a higher plan adds. A language your plan does not include is greyed out and cannot be ticked, and the badge Included from a higher plan sits beside the list. On Starter, for example, Français is greyed out.
On Free you can use one language. Once it is ticked, the other one greys out and the tab says You have used every language your plan includes. Untick one to switch, or move to a higher plan to add more.
To switch a Free store from English to Arabic, or back:
- Untick the language that is ticked now.
- Tick the other one. It becomes the default language by itself.
- Select Save changes.
To add a language, move up a plan first: see Upgrade or change your plan. If you move down to Free later, your store keeps only its default language.
The default language
The default language is the one your storefront opens in for a new visitor. A customer who picks another language in your storefront keeps it on their next visit, as long as you still sell in it.
The Default language menu lists only the languages you have ticked. If you untick the language that was the default, the first one still ticked takes its place.
The default language also decides where the console starts for staff who have not chosen a console language of their own; see Your console’s language is separate.
At least one language must stay on
Your storefront always needs a language. If you untick every one and select Save changes, nothing is saved: Select at least one language. appears under the list, the Default language menu shows a dash, and Fill in every required field. appears in the corner. Tick a language and save again.
What happens when you add a language
As soon as you save:
- Your storefront offers the language in its language picker, and every built-in label — buttons, menus, the cart, checkout — appears in it.
- Arabic pages read right to left and English and French pages left to right, automatically.
- Everywhere you write text customers read — products, categories, collections, storefront text, policy pages, FAQ and Journal — the console asks for that language too.
What you wrote yourself is not translated by itself. Until you add the new language’s version, those words show in one of your other languages. Translate them yourself, or with AI translation on plans that include it:
If you untick a language later, its text stays saved. Tick it again and everything you translated comes back.
Tip
Before you add a language, translate your bestsellers and your storefront text first, then tick it. Customers who switch then see a finished store, not a half-translated one.
Right-to-left layout
You do not need to set direction yourself. Your storefront shows Arabic pages right to left and English and French pages left to right, whichever language the customer is reading.
The Right-to-left layout box follows your default language. When you save, it is ticked if Arabic is your default language and cleared if it is not, whatever you set it to before saving.
Currency
Currency is the currency your prices, cart, checkout and invoices are shown in. Stores in Jordan use JOD — Jordanian Dinar, which shows three decimals, the fils: 45.000. Sign-up does not ask for a currency, so every new store starts in Jordanian dinars. If you sell in another currency, change it before you add prices.
- Open the Currency menu.
- Select a currency. Each one shows its code, its name and its symbol, for example JOD — Jordanian Dinar with د.أ.
- Select Save changes.
The menu holds 21 currencies: the Gulf, Jordanian, Egyptian and Turkish ones first, then the US dollar, the euro, the British pound and others.
Warning
Changing the currency does not convert your prices. A dress priced 45 dinars is priced 45 in the new currency. Check your product prices, shipping rates and discount codes after you change it, and make sure your HyperPay account is set up for the new currency before you take card payments in it.
Your NoqtaShop subscription is billed separately, in US dollars, whatever your store’s currency; see See your plan, usage and billing.
Time zone
Timezone is your store’s clock. It decides:
- when a discount code starts and ends: a code runs from the start of its first day to the end of its expiry day, in your store’s time (see Add a discount code);
- what counts as today and this month in the figures at the top of your orders list.
When you created your store, sign-up set the time zone from your browser, so a store created in Jordan shows Asia/Amman. You rarely need to change it.
To change it, type the time zone’s full name in the form Region/City, for example Asia/Amman, Asia/Riyadh or Europe/London, then select Save changes. Type the name exactly: a name the server does not recognise, or an empty box, makes your store run on UTC, three hours behind Amman.
Your console’s language is separate
The languages on this tab are what your customers read. The console you work in has its own language, and it offers English, Arabic and French on every plan, whatever your storefront sells in.
To change it, open the language menu at the top of the console and choose a language. The choice belongs to you and this browser, so each member of your team can work in their own language. Until someone chooses, the console starts in your storefront’s default language. See Find your way around the console.
What to do next
- Translate your catalogue into your new language: Translate a product to your other languages.
- Need a language your plan does not include? Upgrade or change your plan.