Give translators a preview to work with.
Imagine adding a new homepage section to a store that sells in English and German. This is an illustrative release, not a client result.
The developer finishes the layout, but the translator still needs to see the text in context. A staging theme gives the team somewhere to review the wording and layout before the code reaches customers.
The workflow I use keeps a staging theme for that preparation and a main theme for the live storefront. Stage & Translate handles the transfer of supported translations between them.
Know what belongs to the theme.
Theme translations belong to theme resources. Product translations belong to products. A second theme in the same store does not copy the products, collections, menus or pages.
Those remain shared store data. A product edit can affect the live shop even while you review a draft theme.
Start by naming the actual content being changed. Text entered in a theme section, a product description and text supplied by an app may need different preparation and translation steps.
Give code and translations their own release steps.
In a GitHub setup, a staging branch can connect to the preview theme. A main branch can connect to the published theme.
Shopify syncs theme files with each connected branch, including changes saved in the theme editor. That gives the developer a history to review before merging.
A code merge is not a complete translation migration. Locale files can travel with the theme code; translations registered against Shopify resources need their own handling. Check both when planning a release.
Prepare, review, then transfer.
Prepare the new section on staging and translate the supported content. Review it in the languages customers use. Check the words in their actual layout, including longer headings and buttons on a phone.
Once the team approves the change, the developer brings the theme code into the live theme. That follows the agreed release process.
Stage & Translate then adds the prepared translations where live entries are missing. Existing live translations are kept. Updating an existing translation needs a separate review.
Treat a merge into a branch connected to the published theme as a live change.
Code and translation transfer are separate operations, so this workflow does not guarantee a release with no translation gap. Agree the timing and check the live result after the transfer.
Agree who handles each release step.
Give each part of the release an owner. The developer prepares and merges the theme changes. The translator reviews the wording in context.
The person approving the release checks that the content is ready. They agree when the code and translations will reach the live store.
Stage & Translate is for the staging-to-live translation handoff described here. It does not merge code or publish the theme.
If you already use two themes for development, it gives the translation work a defined place. If you do not, start by agreeing how your team will preview, approve and release changes.
Set up the preview process for your store.
Get the step-by-step guide to GitHub, a preview theme and translation preparation. It includes a worked example, release checks and where to get Stage & Translate.
Get the setup guide ↗