To prevent codebase bloat and sync issues, BoltTheme relies on Shopify’s native translation architecture. Instead of editing code files (like ar.json or fr.json), all theme translations are managed through Shopify’s database using the official Shopify Translate & Adapt app.
This approach ensures that your translations are automatically saved, scale with future theme updates, and do not cause file conflicts.
️Step-by-Step Translation Guide
Follow these steps to localize your storefront:
Step 1: Add Languages in Shopify Settings
Before translating, you must add your target languages (e.g. Arabic, French) to your store settings:
- In your Shopify Admin, go to Settings > Languages.
- Click Add language under the Translated languages section.
- Select your language from the dropdown menu and click Add.
- To make it visible on your store, click Publish next to the newly added language.
Step 2: Install Translate & Adapt App
- Go to the Shopify App Store and search for Shopify Translate & Adapt.
- Click Install to add the free app to your store.
- Once installed, navigate to Shopify Admin > Apps > Translate & Adapt to open the translation workspace.
Step 3: Translate Theme Content
- Inside the app, select the language you want to translate to from the dropdown menu (e.g., Arabic).
- Under the Resources list, click on Online Store (Themes).
- Select BoltTheme from your list of templates.
- You will see a side-by-side translation editor:
* Left column: English (the default theme strings from en.default.json).
* Right column: The translation input field for your target language.
- You can translate your content in two ways:
* Auto-translate: Click the Auto-translate button at the top to automatically translate all theme settings and strings using Shopify’s machine translation (up to 2 free languages).
* Manual edits: Click into any field on the right column to manually adjust the translation text.
- Click Save in the top-right corner.
Step 4: Verify Translations on your Storefront
Once saved, verify the translations directly on your live storefront:
- Navigate to your storefront.
- Scroll to the header or footer where the Language Switcher is configured.
- Select your translated language (e.g., العربية).
- Verify that the menus, checkout steps, search buttons, and product sections load the translated text from Shopify’s database fallback.
Important Best Practices
Translating Custom Text:
The Translate & Adapt app handles default theme strings (like “Add to Cart” or “Search”). To translate custom text you typed into sections (like custom hero headers), select Sections or Products in the Translate & Adapt resources list and translate those blocks side-by-side.
Do not attempt to create manual translations files inside the locales/ directory of your theme code (e.g. creating ar.json), as this will override Shopify’s native translation engine and could cause database sync errors.