How to configure your language in Markets
To make the languages you add with our app available in your store, you have to add them to your market. There are two scenarios:
If you are using a single market
If you are using multiple markets
Change the default language for a given market
How to enable Shopify Markets auto-redirect
For example, if you have English as your primary language and you have added German to your store, you will see that by default, it's Inactive:
To enable it for your market so that the language can be accessed on your website, click the icon near the Inactive text:
This will open the Markets settings page in Shopify ( Settings -> Markets). Now, select your Primary market:
On the next page, select Languages and domains:
Once there, click the Add languages button on the top right, then select which of the languages you have added to your store, wish to be enabled:
That's it. Now, the German language is available for your store and you can see the URL it's available on - domain.com/de (where domain.com would be the domain name of your store)
If you check the Languages page in Translation Lab now, you will see the German language is active for the United States market:
Don't forget that the language should be Published in our app as well, before it's URL can be accessed
The languages is just a part of the Markets feature in Shopify. Whether you should use multiple markets or a single one, depends on your specific case. Please reach the Shopify support team so they can advise you further on what configuration to use for the markets, as they also include Shipping configuration, Taxes configuration and market specific settings not related to the translations. Once you know what configuration you wish to use, we can help you configure the languages for your markets
We will use the same example, for having 2 languages - English (primary) and German (secondary). In this example, we will be using two Markets as well - United States market (primary) and German market, since our store has different shipping rates for both countries, let's say.
With the previous case, we had the English lanugage on domain.com and the German on domain.com/de
However, if you are using multiple lanugages, you have a few options on how to set up your languages, in terms of the URL structure. Here are some examples:
Primary domain only configuration - with this setting enabled, we will still have the same URL structure:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the German market)
Subdomain/Domain configuration - set both languages on their own domain/subdomain, for example:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.de - German language (in the German market)
Subfolder configuration - keep one domain, but have subfolder structure for each market. In this case, we can have:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the USA market)
domain.com/en-de - English language (in the German market)
domain.com/de-de - German language (in the German market)
Now let's walk through each configuration.
You can check which of the 3 settings is any secondary market using, by selecting the market in question, in our case, the German market (under Settings -> Markets):
then, Lanugages and domains. Finally, click the Manage domains button:
By default, any secondary market you add, uses the Use primary market configuration setting:
If you are using this configuration, the languages are only enabled from the Primary market. So the steps for enabling the German language for the German market, are the same as if we have a single market only.
You can add additional domains/subdomains, then asign them to the market. Once you have added your domain/subdomain, close the popup and enable the languages that you wish to have enabled for that domain.
The final option is to use subfolders structure, for each market. You create your own suffix for the given market, while the current language the user is on, is changed automatically:
Here, I have added de as my subfolder suffix for the German market. But it could be something else as well.
Then, I can enable single or multiple lanugages for this market. In our example, enabling both the English and German languages for both markets - USA and Germany, will result in the URL structure shown above:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the USA market)
domain.com/en-de - English language (in the German market)
domain.com/de-de - German language (in the German market)
You can change the default language for a given market. For example, if your store's primary language is English and you have translated it with our app to German, you would get domain.com for the English language by default and domain.com/de for the German language by default.
If you want to change this, so that German appears on domain.com and English on domain.com/en, it's recommended to change the default language for your market, rather than changing the primary language in your store (since the latter, causes a known issue in Shopify).
To do this, go to Settings -> Markets -> Pick the Primary market -> Click on Languages and domains. On this page, click the three dots near the language you wish to have as default language -> then click Set as default:
That's it, you now have the German language set as default.
The process of changing the default language for a secondary market is the same. You just need to select the given market when you go to Settings -> Markets.
Shopify recently announced that they will be sunsetting their Geolocation app on February 1st, 2025, so they have introduced a built-in Markets redirect feature that can enabled and it's compatible with Translation Lab and our language switcher.
Navigate to your Shopify settings -> Markets -> Preferences;
This feature will redirect your visitors to their respectively correct Market/Region (not language) if such exists in your store. E.g. a visitor from Germany will be redirect to German Market/Region if such is available in your store.
If your market is set up with a separate domain, subdomain, or subfolder, then the country/region redirection setting automatically detects a customer's geolocation and redirects them to the URL that corresponds to their resolved market. For example, if you use a .com domain for your United States market and a .ca domain for your Canada market, then a Canadian customer who visits your .com domain is automatically redirected to your .ca domain.
This feature detects a customer's browser language and automatically switches the storefront to match, when that language is available.
For example, if your domain has a .ca TLD and your Canada market's default language is English, when language redirection is activated, a customer from Canada that has their browser’s primary language set to French is automatically redirected to .ca/fr, where the storefront is in French.
To achieve best results it would be best to use both redirection at the same time, they will not conflict each other, one redirects customers to Market/Regions ( it would also work if you are using subdomains as default domain for a market), and the other redirects to language based on the visitor's browser language.
If you are using a single market
If you are using multiple markets
Change the default language for a given market
How to enable Shopify Markets auto-redirect
1. If you are using a single market
For example, if you have English as your primary language and you have added German to your store, you will see that by default, it's Inactive:
To enable it for your market so that the language can be accessed on your website, click the icon near the Inactive text:
This will open the Markets settings page in Shopify ( Settings -> Markets). Now, select your Primary market:
On the next page, select Languages and domains:
Once there, click the Add languages button on the top right, then select which of the languages you have added to your store, wish to be enabled:
That's it. Now, the German language is available for your store and you can see the URL it's available on - domain.com/de (where domain.com would be the domain name of your store)
If you check the Languages page in Translation Lab now, you will see the German language is active for the United States market:
Don't forget that the language should be Published in our app as well, before it's URL can be accessed
2. If you are using multiple markets
The languages is just a part of the Markets feature in Shopify. Whether you should use multiple markets or a single one, depends on your specific case. Please reach the Shopify support team so they can advise you further on what configuration to use for the markets, as they also include Shipping configuration, Taxes configuration and market specific settings not related to the translations. Once you know what configuration you wish to use, we can help you configure the languages for your markets
We will use the same example, for having 2 languages - English (primary) and German (secondary). In this example, we will be using two Markets as well - United States market (primary) and German market, since our store has different shipping rates for both countries, let's say.
With the previous case, we had the English lanugage on domain.com and the German on domain.com/de
However, if you are using multiple lanugages, you have a few options on how to set up your languages, in terms of the URL structure. Here are some examples:
Primary domain only configuration - with this setting enabled, we will still have the same URL structure:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the German market)
Subdomain/Domain configuration - set both languages on their own domain/subdomain, for example:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.de - German language (in the German market)
Subfolder configuration - keep one domain, but have subfolder structure for each market. In this case, we can have:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the USA market)
domain.com/en-de - English language (in the German market)
domain.com/de-de - German language (in the German market)
Now let's walk through each configuration.
You can check which of the 3 settings is any secondary market using, by selecting the market in question, in our case, the German market (under Settings -> Markets):
then, Lanugages and domains. Finally, click the Manage domains button:
By default, any secondary market you add, uses the Use primary market configuration setting:
Use primary market configuration
If you are using this configuration, the languages are only enabled from the Primary market. So the steps for enabling the German language for the German market, are the same as if we have a single market only.
Use a separate domain/subdomain
You can add additional domains/subdomains, then asign them to the market. Once you have added your domain/subdomain, close the popup and enable the languages that you wish to have enabled for that domain.
Use subfolders
The final option is to use subfolders structure, for each market. You create your own suffix for the given market, while the current language the user is on, is changed automatically:
Here, I have added de as my subfolder suffix for the German market. But it could be something else as well.
Then, I can enable single or multiple lanugages for this market. In our example, enabling both the English and German languages for both markets - USA and Germany, will result in the URL structure shown above:
domain.com - English language (in the USA market)
domain.com/de - German language (in the USA market)
domain.com/en-de - English language (in the German market)
domain.com/de-de - German language (in the German market)
Change the default language for a given market
You can change the default language for a given market. For example, if your store's primary language is English and you have translated it with our app to German, you would get domain.com for the English language by default and domain.com/de for the German language by default.
If you want to change this, so that German appears on domain.com and English on domain.com/en, it's recommended to change the default language for your market, rather than changing the primary language in your store (since the latter, causes a known issue in Shopify).
To do this, go to Settings -> Markets -> Pick the Primary market -> Click on Languages and domains. On this page, click the three dots near the language you wish to have as default language -> then click Set as default:
That's it, you now have the German language set as default.
The process of changing the default language for a secondary market is the same. You just need to select the given market when you go to Settings -> Markets.
How to enable Shopify Markets Auto Redirect Feature
Shopify recently announced that they will be sunsetting their Geolocation app on February 1st, 2025, so they have introduced a built-in Markets redirect feature that can enabled and it's compatible with Translation Lab and our language switcher.
Navigate to your Shopify settings -> Markets -> Preferences;
Country/region redirection
This feature will redirect your visitors to their respectively correct Market/Region (not language) if such exists in your store. E.g. a visitor from Germany will be redirect to German Market/Region if such is available in your store.
If your market is set up with a separate domain, subdomain, or subfolder, then the country/region redirection setting automatically detects a customer's geolocation and redirects them to the URL that corresponds to their resolved market. For example, if you use a .com domain for your United States market and a .ca domain for your Canada market, then a Canadian customer who visits your .com domain is automatically redirected to your .ca domain.
Browser Language Redirection
This feature detects a customer's browser language and automatically switches the storefront to match, when that language is available.
For example, if your domain has a .ca TLD and your Canada market's default language is English, when language redirection is activated, a customer from Canada that has their browser’s primary language set to French is automatically redirected to .ca/fr, where the storefront is in French.
To achieve best results it would be best to use both redirection at the same time, they will not conflict each other, one redirects customers to Market/Regions ( it would also work if you are using subdomains as default domain for a market), and the other redirects to language based on the visitor's browser language.
Updated on: 19/12/2024
Thank you!