When your store sells in more than one language, each product needs its name and descriptions in each of them. Write them yourself on the product's translation cards, see at a glance what is still missing, or let AI fill the gaps and check its work before you apply it.
Your default language and the others
Your store's languages, and which one is the default, are set in Settings. See Set your store’s languages and currency. The Free plan sells in one language, Starter in two, and Growth and up in all three: Arabic, English and French.
On the product's Details tab:
- Product identity, at the top, is your Primary language: the store's default, named on a chip at the right, such as English. You write the product here first. The name is required, and the product link and every translation follow from it.
- Translated storefront content, below it, has one card for each of your other languages, such as العربية or Français.
- Translation health, at the right, sums up what is missing in every language.
A store with one language shows neither the cards nor the health panel, because there is nothing to translate.
The language your console is in does not matter. In the Arabic console, an English store still writes English first, and each box reads in its own language's direction.
The translation card: completed and missing fields
Each card starts closed. Its header tells you where that language stands:
- The language's name, and how many fields are done, such as 2/4 completed, with a progress bar under the header.
- N missing fields when some are empty, or Complete when none are.
- Nothing to translate yet when the primary language has no text yet.
The count covers four fields: Name, Brand, Description and Short description. Only fields you have written in your primary language count, so an empty short description is neither done nor missing.
To open a card, select its header. Opening another card closes the first.
The card holds:
| Field | What to know |
|---|---|
| Name | The product's name in this language. It carries a star, but the product still saves when it is empty. |
| Product link | Made from the name in this language, such as فستان-قميص-كتان-تيراكوتا. You cannot type in it, and it changes when the name changes. |
| Brand | The brand as customers in this language read it. Often the same word in every language. |
| Description | The full description. |
| Short description | The one-line summary. |
To write a language yourself:
- On the Details tab, open the language's card.
- Type in each field. The fields read in that language's direction, so Arabic runs right to left.
- Select Save at the top of the page.
A field left empty in one language shows on the storefront in English, or failing that, in whichever language it is written. Fill every field so customers read the whole product in their own language.
Copy missing fields from the default language
On a card, Copy missing from primary copies your primary-language text into every empty field of that language. Fields that already have text are not touched.
Use it for words that stay the same in every language, such as a brand name, or as a starting point you then edit. Remember to edit the copied text: otherwise customers in that language read the primary language. The button is greyed until the primary language has some text.
Translate missing fields with AI (Starter and up)
AI translation is on Starter and up. Free sells in one language, so there is nothing to translate and no translate button to press. Once you move to Starter and add a second language, the translate buttons work. See Plans and what each includes.
There are two ways to ask for it:
- Translate missing on a card translates into that language only.
- Translate missing fields in Translation health translates into every language that has gaps.
- Write the Name, Description and Short description in your primary language.
- Select Translate missing on a card, or Translate missing fields in Translation health. The health button reads Translating…, and the fields of the other languages are locked while it works.
- Check the suggestions in Review product translations and apply them. See Review AI translations before applying them.
- Select Save at the top of the page.
What AI does and does not do:
- It translates the name, description and short description. It does not translate the brand: type it, or use Copy missing from primary.
- It fills only empty fields. Text you wrote yourself is never replaced.
- When it fills a name, that language's product link is made from it.
- It uses AI translation credits: one for each field, for each language that field is missing in. A product with all three fields, translated into one language, uses three. Both buttons send each field only to the languages where it is still empty, so a field you already wrote in Arabic costs nothing for Arabic. A field the AI could not translate gives its credit back. See How AI credits work.
| Message | Meaning | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Missing translations filled. | The translations were applied. | Check them and save. |
| Some translations could not be filled. | Some fields stayed empty. | Translate those by hand, or try again. |
| No translations were filled. Check the translation service. | The AI sent nothing back. | Try again in a moment. |
| You have used all AI translation credits for this month. | This month's allowance is used up, so nothing was translated. | Type the translations yourself, or wait for next month's credits. See How AI credits work. |
| Could not fill translations. | The request was refused or failed. | See Who can use the AI buttons. |
Who can use the AI buttons
The AI translation buttons work for the store owner, for the built-in Store manager role, and for any role that includes Edit settings or Edit storefront design. A custom role with neither permission gets Could not fill translations.
If you see that message:
- Check your role: it is shown under the store name at the top of the sidebar. If it is a custom role, ask the store owner to add Edit settings or Edit storefront design to it, or to translate for you. See Staff roles: what each one can see and do.
- If you are the owner or a store manager, or your role has one of those permissions, try again in a moment: the AI may not have answered. When this month's credits are used up, the message says so instead — You have used all AI translation credits for this month. The owner can see what is left in Subscription. See How AI credits work.
Typing translations yourself, and Copy missing from primary, work for anyone who can edit products.
Review AI translations before applying them
AI suggestions open in Review product translations first. Nothing changes on the product until you apply.
For each field, the window shows its name (such as Description), your primary-language text, and an editable box for each language it was translated into. A language where that field already has text gets no box, because nothing was asked for it. Some boxes offer other wordings below them: select one to use it. A box the AI could not fill shows why, in red.
- Read each suggestion and correct it in its box. Check names, sizes and any brand or place names.
- Select Apply translations. The count beside the buttons, such as 2 suggestions ready, is how many boxes will be filled. The button is greyed when it is 0.
- Select Save at the top of the page.
Regenerate asks the AI again for fresh suggestions and uses credits again. Cancel or the × closes the window and keeps nothing.
Warning
Applied translations are not saved until you select Save on the product. Leaving the page without saving loses them, and the credits they used.
Translation health: what is still missing
The Translation health panel, at the right of the Details tab, shows every language at once:
- The total, such as 2 missing fields, and which languages need translation, or Complete when nothing is missing.
- One row per language with its count, such as العربية 2/4, or — when there is nothing to translate.
- Nothing to translate yet and Add content in the primary language first. when the primary language is still empty.
- Translate missing fields, to fill every gap with AI.
Check the panel before you publish a product, so customers in every language see a finished page. It matters for search too: a product with no name or description in a language is not found when customers search in that language — see searching in another language.
Variant options and values
A product's options and values, such as Size and Colour, are translated on the Variants tab rather than on the cards. Every option name and value has a box for each of your languages. See Sell a product in sizes and colours.
To let AI fill the empty boxes:
- On the Variants tab, in Product options, select Fetch missing translations. Its badge counts the empty boxes. The button appears only when your store has more than one language, and is greyed when nothing is missing.
- Check the suggestions in Review option translations. Each card is an Option name or a Value, with the option it belongs to beneath a value.
- Correct any suggestion, or select one of the other wordings offered below its box.
- Select Apply translations, then Save at the top of the page.
Applying also updates the names of the existing variants in that language, so Terracotta / L reads تيراكوتا / L in Arabic. The same plan, credits and permission rules apply as for the product's details.
What to do next
- Add a specifications table to a product, to translate the material, fit and care rows.
- Help a product show up in search engines, to see the search title and description built from each language.
- Translate your storefront text, for the words around your products.