Sign Customiser

Languages in Sign Customiser

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Use one customiser for multiple shopper languages, manage each translation as a draft, and publish the right version across Shopify and Universal.

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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

  1. Open Customisers -> [customiser] -> Settings -> Languages.

  2. Check the default language and finish its wording where practical.

  3. Select Add language, choose the target and source languages, then choose whether to start blank or generate an AI-assisted first draft when that option is available.

  4. Translate and review the wording, save the draft, and preview it.

  5. Publish the language when all required fields are complete.

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 product title. 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. On Universal, an explicit integration language can select a published language. Without one, a supplied storefront language, browser preferences and then the customiser default are considered.

Sign Customiser does not add a shopper-facing language switcher. Shopify shoppers use the Store’s language selector. A Universal site must provide its own selector or language links when 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. It is also the source language selected by default when you add a language.

  • Source language is the version used as the starting point for a target translation.

  • 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 field. Required missing fields block publishing.

  • Stale means the source wording changed after translation and the target wording needs review.

Before you translate

  • Finish the source wording and option structure where practical.

  • 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 instead of assuming it follows the Shopify Store’s primary language.

Language guides