FAQPreguntas Frecuentes

Below, you'll find a list of the most common questions about the Bilingual Theme. The first few are translated into Spanish, so you can see the effect of the language toggle (top right of this website). The rest are in English only. Click each section to open / close.

Demonstration Video: The Theme In Four Minutes (CLICK TO OPEN/CLOSE)Demonstración en Video: La Plantilla en Cuatro Minutos (HAGA CLICK PARA ABRIR / CERRAR)

How many languages does the theme support?Cuantos idiomas puedo usar?

One or two.  Trilingual / quadrilingual content is not possible at this stage, due to Shopify limitations.  This theme will allow you to set up two languages - i.e. a Bilingual storefront.
Uno o dos. Funciona muy bien con dos, o solamente con una.

How do I set up two languages?Como puedo hacerlo en dos idiomas?

See the theme documentation here.
Puede ver la documentacion aqui.

Is the theme responsive to different browsers, mobiles, and tablets?Responde a Teléfonos Smart, Tablets, y Computadoras?

Absolutely.  The theme will adjust in size and layout depending on the device and screen size.  iPhone / Android phone? Covered. iPad / Tablet? Ditto.  Laptops of all shapes and sizes, plus desktops?  Also.  Just resize your browser or view this demo store on your phone to see the theme dynamically adjust.
Difinitivamente. Esta plantilla adjuste al tamaño dependiendo de lo que usas para verlo. Se verá bien en todos. .

Which languages can be used?Cual idiomas se pueden usar?

The ecommerce storefront, checkout, email communications, etc, of a shop can be in any language. Our theme allows you to set up your website in two languages, or just one. So far, the theme has been tested with English, Spanish, French, Japanese and Danish. We anticipate it can be used with any language (since they are all supported by Shopify), and we will keep adding to this list as time goes on and more languages are tested with the theme.
El sitio web, correos etc pueden ser en cualquier idioma. Nuestra plantilla le permite configurar su sitio en dos idiomas, or solo uno. Hasta ahora, hemos probado la plantilla con Inglés, Español, Francés, Japonés in Danish.

Can this theme change the language of the Admin Panel (the one that store owners use on the back end)?Esta plantilla puede cambiar la sección administrativa?

No. This is controlled on the Shopify side. The Admin Panel will still be in English.
No. La sección administrativa sigue siendo en Inglés. Esa parte esta controlado por Shopify.

Does the theme also work with just one language?La plantilla también funciona con solo un idioma?

Definitely. You don't need to use two languages - it's just an option. Two languages are supported, but the theme will work as per any other theme with only one language as well.
Difinitivamente. No hay que usar dos idiomas - solo es una opción. Se puede usar dos idiomas, pero la plantilla funciona bien como cualquier otra plantilla con solo un idioma.

How long will it take me to set up the bilingual settings?Cuanto tiempo necesitaré para hacer la configuración bilingüe?

Some people set things up faster than others, but in general it will take just a few hours to set up the bilingual settings. We have step-by-step instructions for this here.
Algunas personas son más rapidos que otros, pero en general dura solo unas horas para configurar todo. Tenemos más informaión aqui.

What other options are there for translating a shop's content on Shopify?What other options are there for translating a shop's content on Shopify?

There is only really one other option, unless you want to get a full custom development. We have a comparison of our theme and the other option (an app) here.
There is only really one other option, unless you want to get a full custom development. We have a comparison of our theme and the other option (an app) here.

Does the theme offer multi-country support? Does it support country relevant domains?

The bilingual theme does not support linking multiple country websites. Managing multi-country and multi-language is technically complex: it would require cross-domain redirects and integration of two different languages. You could quite easily add a cross-domain link pointing to another country's home page in the website, but pointing to exact pages across multiple domains and languages would get very complex. This is why our theme supports having two languages on one website.
The bilingual theme does not support linking multiple country websites. Managing multi-country and multi-language is technically complex: it would require cross-domain redirects and integration of two different languages. You could quite easily add a cross-domain link pointing to another country's home page in the website, but pointing to exact pages across multiple domains and languages would get very complex. This is why our theme supports having two languages on one website.

Is the theme fully customizable?

Definitely. Similar to other Shopify themes, the bilingual theme is fully customizable. You can adjust colors, layouts, menus and so on without any coding.

How does the theme address the Checkout pages?

The bilingual theme allows you to separate two languages with a slash on all checkout pages. While it's not perfect, until there's an alternative for Shopify, it's the best solution. It doesn't interrupt the user experience too much, they can still see both languages, and it' better than any other solution currently on the market.

Is the the theme Javascript based?

Yes, the bilingual theme uses Javascript. Our Javascript code uses the language switcher to hide one language so you only see one language at a time.

Does the theme support SEO?

Yes! You can set your own Page and Description meta tags and the actual on-page title that shows in the browser, for each language. For example, if you're viewing French, you'll only see the French version of the title in the browser. SEO options are completely compatible with Shopify 2's SEO system.

Does the theme use unique (per language) URL's, or are there unique URL's per language?

One URL for both languages (not one URL for each language). As the theme uses Javascript to manage display of two languages, there is only one URL for each page/product/blog post etc. Both languages' content is stored on the same page. One language is hidden using the Javascript language switcher, so that users only see one language.
The reason for this is due to the way Shopify's inventory management works. If you wanted to have one unique URL for each language you'd have to maintain and manage a double inventory. This would not be practical.
Our bilingual theme allows you to have one set of products with both languages displaying under a single URL.

How big should my product images be?

They can be any size you like. However, as an example, the images on this demo store - on this page, for example products/premium-organic-arabica are 650 pixels wide, 450 pixels high. That could be a good example to work from.

Can I add a currency converter to sync in with the language switch? Are the currency switcher and Language Switcher linked somehow?

You can add a currency converter to your store, or hire someone to do it (we at Shopify Ninjas can do this for you in 1 hours' paid development if you're not comfortable trying it yourself). However, it can't be linked in directly with the language switcher - the currency display and language display work on different systems. If you'd like to add the Currency Converter to your store, here are some instructions from Shopify on how to do so (click here). Just let us know if you need help with it (www.shopifyninjas.com/contact).

How big should the slideshow images be?

As an example, on our demo store's homepage, the slideshow images are 1170px wide, and 400px high. You might need to experiment with the dimensions a little to get them looking pixel-perfect, but we'd suggest 1170x400 pixels.

How can I change the contact us page to use the contact.liquid template, so the contact form shows on the page?

In the Shopify Admin, open the page you want to turn into the Contact Template. Then, down the bottom, you'll see the option to choose a template. Choose page.contact. If you can't find it, make sure you save the page first. Then refresh, and you should see the "Template" option with drop-down box.

My collection title / description / product title / description isn't showing in both languages.. what's going on?

The most likely cause for this is that you've missed a step. Some suggestions are below. If you need more details, please see the "Bilingual Setup" page on this demo store here.
Collection Title: Please go go Admin > Collections. Click on the name of your collection. Then, you need to enter the LanguageOneLanguageTwo name for that collection, the same as you did for the menus. separated by a pipe character. Once that's done, the collection title will show up in your second language. For example, if your collection title is just "My Collection" but you want it to show in both English AND Spanish, change collection title to "My CollectionMí Collección".
Collection Description: Please enter a second language description, wrapping the translations in div tags, as per the guidelines on this page (the section called "Step 3: Page content and products"). Once you've entered the translations, that section will switch too.
Product titles: The same as the collection title above, you need to enter a title in your second language if you'd like them to switch. Same style as above - go to Products > Product title, enter separated by a pipe character like "My ProductMi producto".
Product descriptions: Same as above for collection descriptions - both languages' descriptions need to be entered, wrapped in the correct tags.

When I submit my contact form, I don't get a confirmation message (just a green box). How do I fix this?

There's a place to enter the text that appears when someone submits your form. Go to Admin > Themes > Theme Settings.Open the section called "Bilingual". There's a field called: Thanks for contacting us! We'll get back to you as soon as possible: [TEXT BOX] You can type your translations in there.. separated by a pipe character for each language, as per the usual process. Save your Theme Settings, and you're done.
If that doesn't work, you might have one of the earlier versions of our theme, where there was a minor tweak required to get this working. Go to Themes > Template Editor > under "Templates", choose page.contact.liquid. Around line 19, replace "{{ bl_well_be_back }}" with "{{ lang_well_be_back }}". Save. Now it should work wonderfully. If not, email us at themes@shopifyninjas.com

When I export my products to csv using Microsoft Excel, non-English characters are corrupted. What gives?

The official import/export program for the Bilingual Shopify Theme is GOOGLE SHEETS (Google Docs).

We have heard about corrupted characters in various forms, and talked with Shopify's helpdesk about it. The summary is: Microsoft Products like Excel can corrupt foreign characters when importing into Shopify. Use Google Google Sheets to edit all csv files. If you notice corrupted characters in your Excel file when you export from Shopify, don't import it back in, or your characters will be corrupted after the import too. This is a Microsoft problem related to MS Excel, not related to Shopify or the bilingual theme. The problem is that, sometimes, MS Excel opens the file however it feels like, without respecting the characters inside. Some suggestions below.

Important disclaimer: With so many operating systems, computer models, and versions of MS Office and other programs, we can't guarantee that the below fixes will work in your situation. If in doubt, make multiple backup copies, and/or contact Shopify or your software provider, like Microsoft, if you can't get it working after trying the options below. These are provided on a best-effort basis, as-is.

Option 1: In Shopify, go to Admin > Export Products > Export All Products. Download the file but *do not open it*. Opening it will just corrupt the characters again. What we need to do is import it into Google Docs, which is better than MS Excel at preserving the characters.

Next, open up Google Docs and go to Import > Spreadsheet. This is how I have had the most success in seeing & working with alternate character sets. Make your updates, then export back to CSV but don't open it. Try important ONE TEST PRODUCT ONLY back into Shopify, to see if your characters work after exporting from Google Docs. If they do, you *should* be ok to import back into Shopify. Check it first!

Option 2: If you have the software called "Numbers", which is Mac's version of MS Excel, this is supposed to handle characters better and work smoothly. I have heard people having better success with Numbers than with Excel.

Option 3: If none of those work, you may need to update your products manually or try looking for another solution. We'll update this FAQ section if and when we find solutions.

Don't see your question answered here? We have lots more technical help over at our Support Forums, which are updated every single week. Click here to visit the forums >