Translations

Written By Floris de Vries

Last updated 2 days ago

How translations work

Translations in the EU Tax Exemption app follow a fallback hierarchy.

Priority order:

  1. Translations (this page)

  2. Text Settings

  3. Default locale values (shown as placeholders)

What this means in practice

  • Translation fields are empty by default

  • An empty field does not mean “no text”

  • It means: use the next available fallback

The app resolves text in this order:

  1. Check if a translation is saved for the active language

  2. If not, use the value from Text Settings

  3. If that is also empty, use the default locale value

The default locale value is shown as a placeholder in the input field.

Important: you must save translations at least once

Because translation fields start empty, Shopify will not store them until they are explicitly saved.

This means:

  • Translations may appear to work

  • But are not persisted until saved

  • Especially relevant for newly added languages

“Apply all default translations for all languages”

To make this easier, the app provides a helper button:

Apply all default translations for all languages

What this button does

  • Copies the default locale values into all translation fields

  • Saves them explicitly for every language

  • Ensures translations are stored and persistent

This is especially useful when:

  • You just added a new language

  • You want a stable baseline for all languages

  • You plan to fine-tune translations later

Recommended workflow

  1. Add or enable a new language in Shopify

  2. Open the Translations page

  3. Click Apply all default translations for all languages

  4. Save

  5. Optionally adjust wording per language

This avoids missing or inconsistent translations.

When to use manual translations instead

Edit translations manually if:

  • You want custom wording per language

  • Legal terminology differs per country

  • You want localized VAT terminology (e.g. USt-ID, TVA, BTW)

Common misunderstandings

❌ Leaving fields empty and expecting custom text
→ Empty means fallback, not “unset”

❌ Editing placeholders instead of saving values
→ Placeholders are defaults, not stored values

❌ Forgetting to save after adding a language
→ Translations will not persist

Summary

  • Translation fields start empty by design

  • Text resolution follows a clear priority order

  • You must save translations at least once

  • The Apply all default translations button ensures consistency