JavaScript code that blocks translation when changing page (Flex Theme)

Store Design
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Topic summary

Problem: On the English version (/en) of a Shopify store using the Flex theme, navigating from a collection to a product page drops the /en prefix and shows French content, breaking translation across multiple apps (e.g., Transcy). A video attachment illustrates the issue.

Likely cause: A custom JavaScript on collection pages intercepts link clicks (adds click handlers to all tags), which overrides the translated/dynamic product URLs and forces navigation to the default locale. An initial question about Shopify Markets/redirects was raised, then set aside after identifying the JS.

Where it might be: In modified theme files. Recommendation is to search the theme code (e.g., with VS Code) for the snippet pattern to locate and edit/remove it.

GA consideration: The store suspects this code is tied to Google Analytics dataLayer. Advice given: GA4 e-commerce tracking should not require hijacking product link clicks; use standard GA4 setup instead (resource link provided) to preserve tracking without breaking locale links.

Status/outcome: No final fix reported. Next actions are to find and adjust/remove the click-intercepting JS and implement GA tracking via recommended methods. The code snippet and the video are central to understanding the issue.
Summarized with AI on January 13. AI used: gpt-5.
1

Hello to the entire Shopify Community,

I’m contacting you because I have a big problem on a shop. We’ve tried several translation applications (Transcy, AI translation…) and each time we encounter the same problem.

When I’m on a translated version, switching from a collection page to a product page takes me back to my original version. Site : https://www.home-beddings-and-curtains.com/

Attached is a video recording to illustrate the problem.

As you can see, I can navigate around the site, but when I get to a product page, all the content is in French and the “/en” translation suffix disappears.

The theme used is the Flex theme from Out of the Sandbox. No translation application is active on the site because it’s not functional.

Transcy’s technical department told me that the problem was with the theme, and that it wasn’t possible to insert a “dynamic link” directing visitors to product pages. Apparently it’s a JavaScript code that blocks this, but I can’t find it…

This seems very strange to me, as I’ve used the same theme on many shops and never had a similar problem.

Does anyone know where this might be coming from?

Thank you very much in advance,
Max COSTA

2

Seems like a redirect issue to me. Is your store setup for Markets? If yes, what is the structure?

3

Ignore the above comment. This is the JS code causing the issue on the collection page:

// Récupérer tous les liens de la page
    var links = document.getElementsByTagName('a');
    
    // Parcourir les liens et ajouter un gestionnaire d'événements click
    for (var i = 0; i
1 Like
4

Thank you so much for your quick and detailed reply! Indeed, we’ve set up markets on this shop and it’s the only shop where we’re experiencing this problem, but I’m relying on your second answer.

Do you know where to find this code? It seems that it corresponds to the Data Layers of Google Analytics, I imagine that if I remove them, I would no longer have tracking.

What do you think?
Thanks again for your help,

5

Without looking at the file structure of your theme (which I believe is modified), it would be difficult to tell you in which file to look the code for. If you’re using VS Code, find the file by searching for a line of code and it should bring up the file in which this code is.

As for Google Analytics, surely there must be another way to get the data you want without tampering with the click event on the product item? I have set up Google Analytics for Shopify stores and I have never had to do this way. Take a look at this article: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/ga4-ecommerce-setup/445854/#productview