Message Translations
If your store serves customers in more than one language, you can provide translated versions of each announcement message. When a visitor’s browser language or Shopify market language matches one of your translations, the bar automatically shows the translated text instead of the default message.
How It Works
Each message in an announcement bar can carry translations for multiple languages. The translations are stored as JSON alongside the message and are preserved even when you edit other settings on the bar.
When the bar loads on the storefront, it checks the visitor’s language in this order:
The Shopify market language for the current storefront context.
The visitor’s browser language.
If a translation exists for that language, it replaces the default message text. If no translation matches, the default message text is shown as-is.
Adding Translations
Open the announcement bar in the editor.
Locate the message you want to translate.
Click the Translations button next to the message body field.
Select a language and enter the translated text.
Repeat for each language you want to support.
Save the announcement bar.
Translations are stored as a hidden field on each message, so they do not clutter the main editing interface.
Per-Message Translations
Translations are tied to individual messages, not to the bar as a whole. In a multi-message bar, each message can have its own set of translations. This means:
Message 1 could have French and Spanish translations.
Message 2 could have only a French translation.
Message 3 could have no translations at all.
Each message falls back to its own default text independently.
What Gets Translated
Only the message body text is translated. Other parts of the bar such as the countdown timer labels, close button, and navigation arrows use their own localization and are not affected by message translations.
Tips
Keep translated messages within the same 64-character limit as the default text. Some languages are more verbose than others, so check that translations fit well in the bar.
Preview the bar with different languages active to confirm the translated text displays correctly.
If you remove a language from your Shopify markets, the stored translations for that language are kept but will no longer be shown. You can remove them manually if you want to clean up.
Translations work with all announcement styles: Classic, Fade, Running Line, and Typed.