Help! Best practice for translating variant options?

[MattBris]

Hi all.

I run a store for a French audience. French is set as the store's language. 

However, I'm finding it a bit tricky when it comes to variants. Shopify has, among others, default 'Color' and 'Size' options for variants. They do not appear as their French equivalents, e.g. 'Couleur'. I understand that I could change the wording in the box, but that seems inefficient given that my plan is to add hundreds and hundreds of products, and I don't want to do that every time. 

I looked into the Translate & Adapt app. It seems like they offer translations for the options themselves, e.g. Blue > Bleu. But not for the labels like 'Colour'. 

I was wondering what the best practice is here to make this a simple, mindless process going forward. I feel like I'm missing something simple, but it's irritating me and I'd really appreciate some help!

[hudsonjack]

Hi MattBris,

I understand the frustration with variants not automatically translating to French, especially when you’re dealing with a large number of products. Here's a more efficient way to handle this issue:

1. Use Shopify’s Built-in Language Settings: Shopify allows you to customize the default options like "Color" and "Size" through the Language Editor in the Settings > Languages section. This will allow you to change the default labels (e.g., “Color” to “Couleur”) for the entire store in one place, and these changes will apply to all your products.

   • Go to Settings > Languages.
   • Click on "Edit" next to the French language.
   • Search for "Color" and "Size" to find their default translations and change them to "Couleur" and "Taille" or whatever French equivalents you prefer.
   • This should handle translations for all your variants without needing to update them individually.

2. Translation Apps for Automation: If you're using the Translate & Adapt app, it should be able to automatically translate the product titles, descriptions, and even some of the options. But if it's not covering the labels like "Color," you can also try, which offer deeper translations across your store, including custom variants.