Languages

Your account’s languages are the languages a translatable attribute can hold a value in. Manage them under Settings → Languages: each language can have a fallback language and can be a required language.

The Languages list

Settings → Languages lists your account’s languages, sorted by name. New language adds one; a row’s menu has Edit and Delete.

Column	What it shows
Name	The language’s name, followed by (default) for the default language.
Language code	The language’s code, such as en-GB.
Custom language codes	The extra codes an import accepts for it — see Language codes in an import.
Fallback language	Its fallback language, if it has one.
Required	A check mark when it is a required language.
Created, Updated	When the language was added and last changed.

A language’s settings

A language’s page groups its settings in three sections.

Section	Field	What it does
Language	Language	The language itself, chosen from a list. It can’t be changed after you save, because its translations are stored under it. To use another language, add a new language.
Language	Default language	Values without a language are taken to be in this language, for example when an attribute is made translatable. One language at most is the default: turning it on for one language turns it off for the one that was the default before. Turning it off leaves your account with no default language.
Missing translations	Fallback language	Optional. The language whose value is used for this one where a translatable attribute has no value in it — see Fallback languages. It is chosen from your account’s languages.
Missing translations	Required language	A product variant can’t be published while a Required translatable attribute has no value in this language. A value in the fallback language doesn’t count — see Required languages.
Imports	Custom language codes	Optional. Codes your import files use for this language, if the accepted codes don’t include them. Enter one per line.
Imports	Accepted language codes	Not a field you fill in: the codes an import accepts for this language, worked out from Language and Custom language codes as you edit them.

Click Save to keep your changes, or Cancel to leave without saving. A saved language also has Delete.

Fallback languages

A fallback language lets one language reuse another’s values, so you write only the values that differ.

Language	Fallback language
British English (United Kingdom)	—
American English (United States)	British English (United Kingdom)

With these settings, you write a product’s text once in British English and add an American English value only where the two differ, for example color where British English has colour.

Where the fallback language is used. When a translatable attribute has no value in a language, these use its value in the fallback language:

• a CSV export,
• a template,
• copying values between attributes.

An Excel export and a JSON export leave the value empty. The product editor and the product list show the value of your working language, or nothing; they never show the fallback language’s value in its place.

A fallback chains. If the fallback language has no value either, its own fallback language is used next, and so on until a language has no fallback language, or its fallback language is one already tried.

Required languages

A required language is one a product variant must have its own value in, for every Required translatable attribute, before it can be published. Turn on Required language on each language that must be filled in before a product goes out; several languages can be required at once. Languages that are not required are not checked, and while no language is required, a Required translatable attribute needs a value in at least one language, whichever.

A value in the fallback language doesn’t count. In the example above, mark British English (United Kingdom) required and leave American English (United States) not required: a product variant can’t be published without a British English name, and a CSV export or a template still fills the American English name from the British one. If you mark American English (United States) required instead, or as well, every variant needs an American English value of its own, even where it would be the same text.

While your working language is a required language, the product editor marks an empty Required translatable text field with Required. A refused publish names each language the value is missing in — see Products → What refuses a publish for the message and what else refuses a publish.

A new language starts not required. Deleting a required language stops it being checked from the next publish on.

Language codes in an import

An import puts a row’s values into a language when the column mapped to Language code holds one of that language’s accepted codes. Upper and lower case don’t matter. The accepted codes come from the language itself — for British English (United Kingdom) they are eng, en, en-GB, en_GB, English (United Kingdom), GB and English. If your files use a code that isn’t among them, add it to Custom language codes, one per line.

Working language

Your working language is the one of these languages you see and edit product data in. It decides which value of a translatable attribute you see, and which label each attribute is shown by — in Settings too. It is your own choice, kept in your browser, and it is not the language of the app itself. It is not a required language either: choosing it checks nothing.

Choose it with the language picker — the globe button showing a code such as en-US — on the products list, in the product editor and on custom entity pages. Settings has no language picker of its own and follows your working language. Until you choose one, the app uses the first language in the language picker’s list.

Related articles

• Attributes & sections — make an attribute translatable or required
• Translatable attributes in templates — reading a value in a language, with its fallback