PrestaShop Multilingual and Multi-Currency Setup

PrestaShop Multilingual and Multi-Currency Setup

PrestaShop is designed with multilingualism as a core function: _lang tables exist for most entities (Product, Category, CMS pages, attributes). Multi-currency is implemented through conversion system relative to base currency. Both features are natively supported without third-party modules.

Adding Languages

Languages in PrestaShop correspond to PHP locales and come with language packs (back-office + front-office translations):

# Install Russian language via CLI
php bin/console prestashop:language:install ru-RU

# Or via Language object
$language = new Language();
$language->name        = 'Русский';
$language->iso_code    = 'ru';
$language->locale      = 'ru-RU';
$language->language_code = 'ru-RU';
$language->date_format_lite  = 'd.m.Y';
$language->date_format_full  = 'd.m.Y H:i:s';
$language->is_rtl    = false;
$language->active    = true;
$language->add();

Translation storage structure:

-- Example: product translations
SELECT p.id_product, pl.name, pl.description_short, l.iso_code
FROM ps_product p
JOIN ps_product_lang pl ON pl.id_product = p.id_product
JOIN ps_lang l ON l.id_lang = pl.id_lang
WHERE p.id_product = 42;

URL Structure for SEO

PrestaShop supports several URL strategies for multilingual sites:

Configure language prefix in app/config/parameters.php and Admin → International → Localization:

// In PrestaShop .htaccess, rules added automatically
// For manual Nginx management:
location / {
    rewrite ^/ru/(.*)$ /$1?id_lang=2 last;
    rewrite ^/en/(.*)$ /$1?id_lang=1 last;
    try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php$is_args$args;
}

Add hreflang in PrestaShop via displayHeader hook in custom module:

public function hookDisplayHeader(): string
{
    $languages = Language::getLanguages(true);
    $currentController = $this->context->controller;
    $hreflangs = [];

    foreach ($languages as $lang) {
        $url = $this->context->link->getLanguageLink($lang['id_lang']);
        $hreflangs[] = sprintf(
            '<link rel="alternate" hreflang="%s" href="%s">',
            $lang['language_code'],
            $url
        );
    }

    $hreflangs[] = '<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="' .
        $this->context->link->getLanguageLink(Configuration::get('PS_LANG_DEFAULT')) . '">';

    return implode("\n", $hreflangs);
}

Currency Setup

PrestaShop stores all prices in base currency (configured in Admin → International → Currencies → Default currency). Conversion happens automatically on display.

// Add currency programmatically
$currency = new Currency();
$currency->name          = 'Polish Zloty';
$currency->iso_code      = 'PLN';
$currency->iso_code_num  = '985';
$currency->sign          = 'zł';
$currency->conversion_rate = 0.21; // relative to base (EUR)
$currency->decimals      = 2;
$currency->active        = true;
$currency->add();

Automatic Exchange Rate Updates

PrestaShop supports several providers via CurrencyRateProviderInterface:

// Custom rate provider (e.g., Central Bank of Russia)
namespace MyModule\Provider;

use PrestaShop\PrestaShop\Core\Currency\ExchangeRateProvider\AbstractApiExchangeRateProvider;

class CbRfExchangeRateProvider extends AbstractApiExchangeRateProvider
{
    const API_URL = 'https://www.cbr.ru/scripts/XML_daily.asp';

    public function getRates(array $currencyIsoCodes): array
    {
        $xml = simplexml_load_file(self::API_URL);
        $rates = [];

        foreach ($xml->Valute as $valute) {
            $isoCode = (string) $valute->CharCode;
            if (in_array($isoCode, $currencyIsoCodes)) {
                $nominal = (float) str_replace(',', '.', (string) $valute->Nominal);
                $value   = (float) str_replace(',', '.', (string) $valute->Value);
                $rates[$isoCode] = $value / $nominal;
            }
        }

        return $rates;
    }
}

Cron for rate updates:

# Update rates every 6 hours
0 */6 * * * www-data php /var/www/prestashop/bin/console prestashop:currencies:update-exchange-rates

Catalog Content Translation

Mass translation via CSV import (PrestaShop format):

ID;Active (0/1);Name *;Short description;Description;Meta title;Meta description;URL rewritten
42;1;Winter Jacket;"Warm jacket for winter";"Full jacket description...";"Buy winter jacket";"Winter jacket — buy in store";kurtka-zimnyaya

# Import via web: Admin → Advanced Parameters → Import
# Or via Webkul module or custom importer with API

# Direct SQL update for bulk operations:
UPDATE ps_product_lang
SET name = 'Winter Jacket',
    description_short = 'Warm jacket',
    link_rewrite = 'winter-jacket'
WHERE id_lang = 2  -- Russian language ID
  AND id_product IN (42, 43, 44);

Price and Number Formatting by Locale

Each currency has own formatting via CurrencyFormatter:

use PrestaShop\PrestaShop\Core\Localization\Locale\Repository as LocaleRepository;

$locale = $localeRepository->getLocale('ru-RU');
$formattedPrice = $locale->formatPrice(1299.99, 'RUB');
// → "1 299,99 ₽"

$formattedPrice = $locale->formatPrice(99.99, 'EUR');
// → "99,99 €" (for ru-RU locale)

Setup Timeline

• Adding 1–2 languages + back-office translations: 1 day
• Setup 3–5 currencies + auto-update rates: 1 day
• SEO configuration hreflang + URL structure: 1–2 days
• Translate catalog 1,000–10,000 products (with quality check): 3–7 days