Reservics shows your booking widget in your customer’s own language,
automatically. Out of the box it speaks five languages, follows whatever
language your storefront is set to, and gives you a place to reword any
text or add a language yourself. This guide explains how it works and how
to set it up.
The five built-in languages #
The reservation widget ships with professional translations for:
- English
- Dutch
- German
- French
- Spanish
These work with no setup at all. If a visitor is browsing
your store in one of these languages, the widget, the booking form, the
confirmation screen and the cancel or manage screens all appear in that
language on their own.
How the widget picks a language #
The widget follows your storefront language, the same
language your theme, product pages and checkout use for that visitor. It
does not use a separate setting inside Reservics.
Your storefront languages are controlled in Shopify under
Settings → Languages. When you publish a language
there, Shopify shows a language selector on your storefront (and serves the
translated pages), and the widget switches with the rest of the page. A
visitor who never changes language sees your store’s default, and the widget
matches it.
If a visitor is browsing in a language the widget does not have (say
Italian, before you have translated it), the widget falls back to English so
it is never blank.
How to preview it #
- In Shopify, go to Settings → Languages and make sure
the language you want to test is added and published (for example Dutch or
German).
- Open your storefront and switch to that language using your theme’s
language selector (or visit the language-prefixed URL, for example
your-store.com/nl/).
- Open the booking widget. Every screen now appears in that language.
There is nothing to turn on inside Reservics for the built-in languages.
Publishing the language in Shopify is all it takes.
Rewording text or matching your brand voice #
If you want to change any wording, for example to say “Reserve a table”
instead of “Book a table”, or to translate a phrase differently, open
Reservics → Settings → Translations.
- Pick the language you want to edit from the Language menu.
- Each field shows the current text. Edit only the fields you want to change.
- Click Save.
Any field you leave untouched keeps the built-in translation, and it will
keep improving automatically as we update our translations. Only the fields
you actually edit become your own custom wording.
Adding a language we do not ship yet #
You can translate the widget into any language your store uses, even ones
that are not built in. Common choices such as Italian, Portuguese, Arabic,
Japanese and many more are available.
- Go to Settings → Translations and choose the language from the Add your own group in the Language menu.
- The fields start out showing English as a reference. Type your translation
into each field. - Click Save.
Visitors browsing your store in that language will now see your translation.
Any field you leave in English simply stays English for them, so you can
translate a few important lines first and finish the rest later.
Right-to-left languages #
Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Urdu read from right to left. When you add one of
these, the widget automatically switches to a right-to-left layout for those
visitors. We recommend previewing it on your live storefront to confirm it
looks the way you expect before you rely on it.
Good to know #
- Only the booking widget is translated. The Reservics admin area (the screens only you and your staff see) stays in English.
- Your edits are safe. Changing wording never affects your reservations, hours or capacity. It only changes the text shown to customers.
- Nothing breaks if you do nothing. If you never open the Translations tab, the widget keeps its built-in translations for the five supported languages and English everywhere else.
- Translations are per store. The wording you set applies to your shop only.
Frequently asked questions #
Do I have to translate anything for English, Dutch, German, French or Spanish?
No. Those are built in and work automatically. Use the Translations tab only
if you want to reword something.
My storefront is only in English. Do I need this?
Not unless you want to. If you later add more storefront languages in Shopify,
the widget will start using them without any extra work.
I translated a language but customers still see English. Why?
Check that the language is published in Shopify under
Settings → Languages, and that the customer is actually browsing your
store in that language. The widget follows the storefront language, so if the
page is in English, the widget is too.
Can I change wording for just one language?
Yes. Each language is edited separately. Changes to one language never affect
the others.
