> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.zigpoll.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.zigpoll.com/polls/language-settings.md).

# Language and Translations

{% hint style="info" %}
These settings apply to this specific survey only. Account-wide language defaults are reachable via the **account language settings** link at the top of the survey's Language tab.
{% endhint %}

{% embed url="<https://youtu.be/SgZEGGktX9k>" %}

If you operate in a market where customers speak multiple languages, you can setup your Zigpoll surveys to match your customers' language.

So if a customer's browser is in French they will see the French version of your survey. If a customer's browser is in Spanish, they will see the Spanish version of your survey. (On Shopify checkout, Thank You, Order Status, and customer account surveys, the language comes from the buyer's Shopify locale rather than the browser.)

Instead of hoping Google translate properly translates your surveys, you have full control over translations to ensure accuracy.

Built especially for European countries!

### Where to find auto-translations

<figure><img src="/files/mMpajaHae2gLO7fHF8oA" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Auto translating your survey

When you add a language, one click of **Auto translate** translates everything in that language card: your questions and answer options (on the "Questions" tab) plus everything on the "Buttons & Hints" tab — buttons and actions, words and phrases, error and alert messages, launcher content, the reward banner, and your email and SMS invitation copy.

If you want to tweak any translation, you can manually edit it afterwards.

<figure><img src="/files/tdNgU2aRGM51YP5UpT9w" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

{% hint style="warning" %}
Make sure to hit "save changes" or your translations will not save and you will have to redo them!
{% endhint %}

### Previewing your translations

The preview panel on the Languages page has a mode switcher with three views — **survey**, **email**, and **SMS** — so you can see the language card you're editing rendered live (including unsaved changes) in each channel before you save.

### Translating action button URLs

On questions with action buttons, each language card lets you set a per-language **Button URL** — useful when your French customers should land on your French site. Leave it blank to inherit the button's default link. URLs are never machine-translated by Auto translate; set them yourself per language.

### Right-to-left languages

Surveys in right-to-left languages (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Urdu, and others) automatically render right-to-left — layout, rating scales, matrix grids, and inputs are all mirrored. You can also force a direction manually with the **Text Direction** display setting.

### Region-specific languages

You can add both a base language and region-specific variants — for example `fr` (French) and `fr-CA` (French, Canada). A visitor with a `fr-CA` locale sees your `fr-CA` translations where provided, inherits anything you haven't translated from `fr`, and falls back to your default copy after that. Visitors from any other French-speaking region simply get `fr`. This works across every surface the survey renders on, including Shopify checkout and Thank You / Order Status pages.

### Translating your Email and SMS invitations

Each language card also has an **Email Copy** and an **SMS Message** section. Fill these in and Zigpoll will automatically send the matching language whenever it knows the customer's language — so a French customer receives your French email or text, and everyone else receives your default copy.

You can translate:

* **Email**: subject, header, body, button, and footer
* **SMS**: the message text (max 125 characters)

Any field you leave blank falls back to your default copy, so you can translate only the subject line if that's all you need. The email body opens in an editor window and supports the same template variables as your default email — variables like `{{ first_name }}` work in every language.

{% hint style="info" %}
Your **default** email and SMS copy is still edited on the survey's Email and SMS tabs — the language cards only hold the translations.
{% endhint %}

#### How Zigpoll knows the customer's language

The language is detected automatically depending on how the survey is delivered:

| Delivery method                                                        | Language source                                                             |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Shopify checkout / Thank You / Order Status / customer account surveys | The buyer's Shopify locale                                                  |
| Shopify order events (paid, fulfilled, delivered)                      | The order's customer locale from Shopify                                    |
| Abandoned checkout emails                                              | The checkout's customer locale from Shopify                                 |
| Shopify Flow actions                                                   | The customer's locale from Shopify                                          |
| Shopify customer segment campaigns                                     | Each customer's locale from Shopify                                         |
| CSV campaigns (email and SMS)                                          | An optional `locale` (or `lang` / `language`) column — e.g. `fr` or `fr-CA` |
| Stripe events                                                          | The checkout locale or the customer's preferred language                    |
| Nudge reminders                                                        | The language of the original send                                           |
| Manually pasted recipient lists                                        | Not available — default copy is sent                                        |

Region-specific languages work the same way they do for surveys: a `fr-CA` customer gets your `fr-CA` translations where provided, inherits anything missing from `fr`, and falls back to your default copy after that.

When a message is sent in a customer's language, the survey link carries that language too — so clicking through from a Japanese email or text opens the survey itself in Japanese, regardless of the customer's browser settings. (This applies to Zigpoll survey links; custom links are left untouched.)


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.zigpoll.com/polls/language-settings.md?ask=<question>&goal=<endgoal>
```

`ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
`goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal.

The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.