How to translate a PrestaShop store: a map of six layers that are easy to forget
You translate a PrestaShop store in six layers: catalogue content (products, categories, information pages), dictionaries (features, attributes, brands), theme and module texts, customer emails, page addresses and data for Google. The language pack only covers the interface texts. You have to translate the rest yourself, in the admin or in a conversation with the chat.
Author: The TellMyShop team. A guide for PrestaShop store owners: the cause, the manual fix and the same work in a chat conversation.
Last updated: · 5 min read
What does PrestaShop do when you add a new language?
It downloads the interface translations and copies the content. After you add a language under International > Localization, the buttons, cart and shop messages are in French or German straight away, because they come from the language pack. Product names and descriptions in the new language are a copy of the original texts.
Anyone who has been through it knows the result: a French shop with English descriptions, where only the “Ajouter au panier” button gives away that anything changed. Google then sees a page under a French address with English content. Google's guide to multilingual sites describes how to organise language versions properly.
A map of six layers: what, where and who translates
| Layer | Examples | Where in the admin | Chat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Catalogue content | product names and descriptions, category descriptions, Delivery and Returns pages | product, category and CMS page forms | yes, with a preview |
| 2. Dictionaries | features (Material), values (Cotton), attributes (XL, Red), brands | Catalog > Attributes & Features, Brands | yes, up to 200 items at once |
| 3. Theme and module texts | “Free delivery from…”, block headings, buttons in the theme | International > Translations | no, by hand in the admin |
| 4. Content in modules | banners, text blocks, menus | each module's configuration | no, by hand in the modules |
| 5. Emails | order confirmation, shipping | International > Translations, email translations | no |
| 6. Addresses and Google | friendly URLs, titles and descriptions in Google, hreflang | product form, SEO tab, Shop Parameters > Traffic & SEO | titles and descriptions yes, addresses separately |
Layers 3 and 5 are covered well by PrestaPremium (in Polish). A broader plan for entering a foreign market, with currencies and terms, is collected by helpguru (also in Polish).
Which layers are forgotten most often?
The dictionaries and the addresses. Everyone translates product descriptions, because you see them straight away. The dictionaries only show up in the filters: a customer from France filters by “Matière: Coton”, but the filter shows “Material: Cotton”. Filters use features, so untranslated features break them across the whole shop. There is more on filters in the article PrestaShop filters not working.
Addresses are the second trap. The product “nora-garden-lantern” has the same English address in the French version, because PrestaShop copied it when you added the language. Changing the address is a separate decision: if the French version is already in Google, every change needs a redirect. We describe the rules in the article on 404 errors.
How do you translate the store step by step?
- Add the language under International > Localization, ideally through the country's localisation pack.
- Choose the scope. Don't translate everything at once. Start with the categories you want to sell abroad.
- Translate the dictionaries before the products. Features and attributes are shared by many products, so the work pays off quickly.
- Translate categories and products, together with the titles and descriptions for Google.
- Translate the information pages: Delivery, Returns, Contact. Have a lawyer from the target country handle the terms and conditions.
- Review theme and module texts under International > Translations and in the modules with their own content.
- Check the emails by placing a test order in the new language.
- Check the shop in a private browser window: menu, filters, product page, cart, footer.
How much work is it when you do it by hand?
Do the sums for your shop: the number of products times the fields to translate (name, short description, description, title and description for Google), plus categories, features and their values. Friday, 22:15, at product 64 of 300, you realise the feature values in the filters are still untranslated. A shop translation done in the evenings stretches over weeks, and in the meantime new products arrive that also need translating.
How do you translate the store in a conversation with the chat?
With the TellMyShop module you ask your chat (Claude or ChatGPT) to translate one layer at a time. The chat reads the original text, writes a version in the target language keeping the facts and shows a preview. For dictionaries it first shows only the items that are empty or identical to the original, so it doesn't translate again what is already there.
You: Translate into French the features and values that don't have a French version yet.
Your chat: 3 feature names and 58 values are missing. Examples:
The other 58 are in the same preview. I'll save them once you approve, then we can move on to the Lanterns category.
Card status: waiting for your “yes”old version: Material (French version the same as English)
new version: Matière
old version: Cotton
new version: Coton
old version: Tempered glass
new version: Verre trempé
Product content goes in batches of up to 50 in one language, categories up to 20, dictionaries up to 200 items. You can undo each batch separately. Wednesday, 8:15: you approve the dictionaries and the first category before you start packing orders. You keep translating theme, module and email texts in the admin, because the chat doesn't change them.
Example requests: translating product content, translating the whole shop with filters and brands and translating categories and information pages. Translations are part of TellMyShop Pro, described in the pricing. TellMyShop works on PrestaShop 8.1 and newer, including 9, and has a separate package for 1.7.8.
Questions and answers
How do I add a new language in PrestaShop?
In the admin, go to International, Localization, and import the country's localisation pack, or add just the language on the Languages tab. PrestaShop downloads translations of the shop and admin interface. Catalogue content, meaning product names and descriptions, gets a copy of the texts from the default language, which you then need to translate.
Is an automatic translator such as DeepL enough?
For a first draft, yes, but read the result before publishing. Word-for-word translation muddles feature names, sizes and trade terms. It is better to write the description straight in the target language based on the original, keeping the facts: dimensions, materials, shipping terms.
Why is part of the shop still in the original language after translating?
Because translating products does not cover the dictionaries: feature names, filter values, attribute groups and brand descriptions. These sit elsewhere in the admin. Texts added in modules, such as banners and text blocks, also stay untranslated, as do theme texts that are not in the language pack.
Will the translated pages appear in Google in the other country?
Yes, if each language version has its own address and the pages point to each other with hreflang tags. The Classic theme adds them automatically for active languages. What matters is that the content is really translated, because a page with an English description under a French address has nothing to show French users.
How many products will the chat translate in one conversation?
Product content goes in batches of up to 50 in one language, categories up to 20, and dictionaries such as features and attributes up to 200 items at once. Every batch has a preview before saving and you can undo each one separately. With a large catalogue, start with the categories you want to sell abroad first.
PrestaShop is a registered trademark of PrestaShop SA. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. ChatGPT and OpenAI are trademarks of OpenAI. TellMyShop is not affiliated with these companies.