Why did my theme update erase most translations?

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21

Theme translations (only) are linked to that theme. Translate & Adapt shows the translations in the current theme (unless you do this). It’s the act of publishing from Git that changes the theme id I believe, which is why the translations are lost. I don’t believe there’s a workaround other than not using Git.

22

Good thinking! I have a site where all the fields had to be translated. Not just theONLINE_STORE_THEME translations. Here I used your system with a different formula. I’m going to take your steps and put my formula down bellow for anyone would need it :slightly_smiling_face:

  • Put both CSV exports in one Google Sheets file as separate sheets, and rename the old theme’s export Sheet2 and the new one Sheet1.
  • On Sheet 1 in cell H2 (which should be the first of an empty column), paste this formula:
=IFERROR(INDEX(Sheet2!H:H, MATCH(1, (Sheet2!D:D = D7492) * (Sheet2!G:G = G7492), 0)), "")
  • Then auto-fill all the way down. This formula is matching based on column G default content. Where it finds a match between column G in Sheet1 and column G in Sheet2 it copies over what it finds in column H in Sheet2 to column H in Sheet1.
  • Export Sheet1 as a CSV.
  • Ensuring that the ‘new’ theme is live, i.e. without the translations in it, import this CSV.

Thanks again!

23

Hello @elenalauder ,

I worked on a similar scenario where we needed to upgrade a theme’s version and found a quick way to solve the translation issue.

  1. On language settings, export each language separately as csv.

  2. Copy the ID of the new theme version.

  3. Open the CSV for each language, find the ONLINE_STORE_THEME rows, look for the old theme ID, and replace all with the new theme’s ID.

  4. You can delete all other rows that do not contain ONLINE_STORE_THEME.

  5. Upload each CSV to Shopify language import and wait till it’s done.

  6. Preview and Publish your new theme with all translations carried over.

This method works only for theme updates, with same section id’s.

24

This has been a life saver, thank you @richbrown_staff !

25

Sorry for reopening an old topic, but I’ve run into an issue and would really appreciate some help.

I noticed that I can’t export the default language as a CSV file. For some reason, the export option only appears for additional languages, but not for the default one. Because of this, I don’t know how to back up or copy my default translations, and I’m worried I’ll have to manually re-translate everything again if I switch or update themes.

Is there a way to export the default language, or another method I can use to preserve those translations so I don’t have to re-do them all manually?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

26

Hi @richbrown im having the same issue with a client, can you help?

27

Hello @Ogenstad,

  1. This error often appears when the request is not using the app’s Admin API access token. Session tokens or user tokens cannot access themeFilesUpsert.
  2. Confirm the API version in your request matches a version that supports this mutation.
  3. Make sure the themeId is from a valid Online Store theme and the request is not coming from a preview or storefront context.
  4. If scopes look correct but it still fails, reinstalling the app can refresh the token and align it with the approved exemption.