Translate a PrestaShop store into English

What a PrestaShop XLIFF export contains

PrestaShop 1.7 and 8 export translations by domain: one .xlf file for the front-office theme (domains such as Shop.Theme.Checkout or Shop.Theme.Catalog), others for the back office, and one per module. Each file is uploaded separately, so you can start with what shoppers see (basket, checkout, account) and leave admin screens for later.

Worth knowing before you order: PrestaShop's core strings are written in English in the first place. What usually needs translating is third-party themes and modules written in another language, plus any wording you rewrote yourself. That is where the words are, and where your export should focus.

These files do not hold product pages, categories or CMS pages, which live in the database and are not part of the XLIFF export.

British or American English: choices shoppers will notice

In a shop, the variant of English shows on the very first button. Pick one that matches the locale set in PrestaShop and the market you sell to:

• Basket (UK) or Cart (US)
• Free delivery or Free shipping
• Postcode or ZIP code
• Voucher or Coupon
• inc. VAT for UK customers, tax incl. elsewhere
• colour / color, dates 31/12 or 12/31

Tone matters too: English shop copy is direct and uses short imperatives on buttons (Place order, Add to basket). Coming from French, English text typically runs 10 to 15% shorter, which helps with narrow theme buttons; from other source languages the difference varies.

How prices are displayed (29,90 € versus €29.90) is governed by PrestaShop's locale and currency settings, not by the translation files, and numbers are never altered.

Placeholders, markers and plurals in PrestaShop strings

PrestaShop strings carry placeholders that must survive translation intact:

• named placeholders: Showing %from%-%to% of %total% item(s)
• sprintf-style placeholders: %s, %d, %1$s, whose order may need to move in English
• link or formatting markers such as [1]…[/1], and inline HTML tags

Manuce compares every translated value with its source. If %total% goes missing or a tag is damaged and the mismatch persists, the source value is kept and the report flags it. A string left untranslated is better than a category page that throws an error.

English has just two plural categories (one and other). PrestaShop often handles plurals through two separate strings (There is 1 product. / There are %product_count% products.) or the “(s)” form; each string is translated on its own and never merged.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

You receive the same .xlf file, in the same format, ready to import back: indentation, entry order, quotes, comments, line endings, encoding and BOM are preserved. Only the values change. Each file comes with a report: strings translated, strings left as they were, and why.

Not translated: keys, empty values, URLs, email addresses, numbers, colours, date formats, identifiers, and anything marked as non-translatable. The price is based on the words in the values, keys and tags excluded; English is charged at the base rate (×1 coefficient).

What Manuce does not do: it does not connect to your shop, import the files for you, or translate database content (product pages, CMS pages). Nor does it produce sworn or certified translations: if your terms and conditions are aimed at UK consumers, have the legal text checked by a qualified professional. For customer-facing strings the Professional level is the sensible choice; Essential is enough for back-office files used internally.

Preparing the export and checking after import

Before uploading:

• export the English language for the theme and each relevant module, one file per domain;
• identify modules written in another language: they hold most of the words to translate;
• keep a copy of the original files for comparison.

After importing back into PrestaShop:

• clear the cache, then walk through a full purchase: product page, basket, address, delivery, payment, confirmation;
• check the variant is consistent: Basket in one place and Cart in another means two sources were mixed;
• look at buttons where the theme forces capitals (ADD TO BASKET);
• revisit the strings the report lists as left in the source language, usually because of a placeholder.

In practice

1. Export the English XLIFF files from PrestaShop, domain by domain.
2. Upload each .xlf file to Manuce: the quote appears instantly, based on the exact word count.
3. Review the free sample, especially British or American wording for key terms.
4. Download the translated files and the report, then import them back into PrestaShop.
5. Clear the cache and test a complete purchase in English.