How to set up preorder notification templates in multiple languages

If you sell to customers in different countries, your preorder emails should speak their language. STOQ lets you translate every preorder notification template — including the confirmation email, shipping update, and payment-collection-failed email — into any language your Shopify store supports. This guide shows you how to set up preorder notification templates in other languages so every customer gets a message they can read.

Prerequisites

Before you can translate preorder notification templates, make sure these two things are in place.

• Multi-language support is enabled. Go to Settings in the STOQ app and turn on Multi-language support. Without this, the language selector on the translation page is disabled.
• Your Shopify store has multiple languages configured. STOQ pulls its language list from your store's published languages. If you only see one language in the dropdown, add more languages in Shopify Admin > Settings > Languages first.

Open the notification translation page

You can reach the translation page from either the template editor or from Settings.

From the template editor

1. Open the STOQ app in your Shopify admin.
2. Go to Preorder > Design > Templates.
3. Open the preorder notification template you want to translate (for example, Preorder - Notification).
4. In the email content section, click the Set up translations for other languages link.
5. You land on the Languages for notifications page.

From Settings

1. Open the STOQ app.
2. Go to Preorders > settings > other > Multi-language support.
3. In the multi language section, click the link to Notification templates edit translations.
4. Select the preorder template from the Select a notification dropdown.

Choose a language and notification type

The translation page has dropdowns at the top that control what you are editing.

Select a language

1. Open the Select a language dropdown.
2. Pick the language you want to translate into (for example, French, German, Spanish).

Languages are populated automatically from your Shopify store's published languages. If a language is missing, add it in Shopify Admin > Settings > Languages.

Select a notification type

When a preorder template is selected, the Select notification type dropdown appears. Use it to switch between the three preorder email types:

• Preorder confirmed — the order confirmation email sent when a customer places a preorder.
• Shipping update — the email sent when there is a shipping delay or update for a preorder.
• Payment collection failed — the email sent when STOQ cannot collect the remaining balance for a deferred-payment preorder.

Each notification type has its own set of translatable fields. Make sure you translate all three types for a complete multilingual experience.

Translate the preorder confirmed email

When the notification type is set to Preorder confirmed, you see the main email template fields. Each field shows your default-language text on the left and a text input for the translation on the right.

Translate each of the following fields:

1. Email subject — the subject line of the email. Default placeholder: `Preorder confirmed: {{order.name}}`.
2. Email pre-header — the preview text shown in email clients. Default placeholder: `Preorder confirmed: {{order.name}}`.
3. Email header — the headline inside the email body. Default placeholder: `Thanks for preordering from {{shop.name}}`.
4. Email description — the main body text. Default placeholder: `Your recent order {{order.name}} includes at least one preorder item. Please note the payment and shipping information below. Your preorder will be delivered as soon as possible.`
5. Cancel order text — the link text for cancelling the order (replaces the "Email alert footer" field used in back-in-stock templates). Default placeholder: Cancel order.
6. Button text — the call-to-action button label. Default placeholder: View order.
7. SMS Body — the SMS notification text (shown in a separate "SMS template" section below the email fields). Default placeholder: `{{product.title_incl_variant}} is back in stock at {{shop.name}}! Buy yours now - {{product.purchase_link}}`.

All text fields support Liquid variables. Click the Variables link next to any field to see the full list of available variables.

Translate the shipping update email

Switch the notification type to Shipping update to see three translatable fields:

1. Email subject — Default placeholder: `Shipping update for Order {{order.name}}`.
2. Email header — Default placeholder: `Shipping update for Order {{order.name}}`.
3. Email description — Default placeholder: `Thanks for preordering from {{shop.name}}. Due to unforeseen circumstances, your preorder products in order {{order.name}} will be delayed. We will do our best to ship your product as soon as possible.`

Translate each field and click Save changes.

Translate the payment collection failed email

Switch the notification type to Payment collection failed to see four translatable fields:

1. Email subject — Default placeholder: `Complete payment | Order #{{order.name}} from {{shop.name}}`.
2. Email header — Default placeholder: Complete payment for your order.
3. Email description — Default placeholder: Hey there! We were unable to process the remaining balance payment for your preorders on order #{{order.name}}. Click the button below to complete your payment to receive your preorders.
4. Button text — Default placeholder: Complete payment.

Translate each field and click Save changes.

Use default translations

If STOQ has built-in defaults for a language, a blue banner appears at the top of the form saying "Defaults are available for this language."

• Click Use defaults to load the pre-built translations into all fields for the selected language and notification type.
• You can then customise any field after loading defaults.
• To revert all fields back to defaults later, click Reset all at the bottom of the page.

Use Liquid variables in translations

Every text field that supports variables shows a Variables link. Click it to open the variables modal. The following variables are available:

Email template variables

• {{customer.name}} — Customer name
• {{product.title}} — Product name
• {{product.variant_title}} — Variant name
• {{product.title_incl_variant}} — Complete name including variant
• {{shop.name}} — Store name

SMS template variables

• {{customer.name}} — Customer name
• {{product.title}} — Product name
• {{product.title_incl_variant}} — Complete name including variant
• {{product.purchase_link}} — Purchase link (required)
• {{shop.name}} — Store name (required)

Save your translations

After translating all fields for a notification type and language:

1. Click Save changes at the bottom-right of the page.
2. A confirmation toast message appears: "Template updated".
3. Repeat for each notification type (Preorder confirmed, Shipping update, Payment collection failed).
4. Switch to the next language and repeat.

Known limitations

• Multi-language support must be enabled first. All translation fields are disabled until you turn on multi-language support in Settings.
• Languages come from Shopify. You cannot add a language directly in STOQ. Add new languages in Shopify Admin > Settings > Languages.
• Each notification type is saved separately. Saving the "Preorder confirmed" translations does not save "Shipping update" or "Payment collection failed" translations — you must save each type individually.
• Default translations may not exist for every language. The "Use defaults" banner only appears when STOQ has built-in translations for the selected language.
• Translation requires a paid plan. The Save changes button is disabled on free plans.
• The unsubscribe text field does not appear for preorder templates. This field is only available for back-in-stock notification templates.
• SMS body is only translatable for the "Preorder confirmed" type. The shipping update and payment collection failed notification types do not include an SMS template.
• Fields showing "No translation set — using default" fall back to your primary language. If a field is empty for a given language, STOQ uses the default-language text instead.

Troubleshooting

FAQs

Q: Do I need to translate all three notification types?

A: It depends on your setup. If you use deferred payments, you should translate the Payment collection failed email. If you send shipping delay updates, translate the Shipping update email. At a minimum, translate the Preorder confirmed email since every preorder customer receives it.

Q: How does STOQ decide which language to send the email in?

A: STOQ uses the customer's locale (set by Shopify based on the storefront language the customer used). If a translation exists for that locale, it is used. If not, STOQ falls back to your store's default language.

Q: Can I preview the translated email before sending?

A: You can preview the email from the main template editor page (not the translation page). The preview shows the default-language version. To verify translations, send a test email by switching your storefront language and placing a test preorder.

Q: What happens if I leave a field blank for a language?

A: STOQ falls back to the default-language text for that field. The field will show a help text saying "No translation set — using default."

Q: Can I use HTML in the translated fields?

A: Yes. Fields marked with "This field supports HTML & liquid variables" accept HTML tags. This includes the email subject, header, description, and custom HTML template fields.

Q: How do I reset a single field instead of all fields?

A: There is no single-field reset. To reset one field, clear it and save. STOQ will fall back to the default-language text. To reset all fields at once, click Reset all at the bottom of the page.

Q: Does translating the SMS body also translate the SMS for shipping updates?

A: No. The SMS body field is only available for the Preorder confirmed notification type. Shipping update and payment collection failed notifications do not have an SMS template.

Updated on: 23/04/2026