# Setting Default Message Templates

> Source: https://primemoq.app/help/storefront-and-messages/default-message-templates
> Collection: Storefront & Messages
> Updated: 2026-08-02

Write your limit message once per language and limit type, and every new rule starts from it instead of the built-in English text.

**Short answer.** Shop-level default message templates are set under Settings, Message languages. Each language has six fields, a minimum and a maximum for Quantity, Value and Weight. Every new rule starts from these defaults, and any rule message you have not customised stays in sync when you change them.

## Key takeaways

- Six default fields per language: minimum and maximum for each of the three limit types.
- Set your defaults before creating a lot of rules, so every rule inherits them.
- Changing a default updates rules whose text still matches the old default, and never overwrites custom text.
- Switching a rule's limit type re-syncs its message to the new bucket's default, unless it was customised.

## What it does

Rather than writing the limit message from scratch on every rule, set shop-level
**default message templates** once per language and limit type. That is six
fields per language: a minimum and a maximum message for each of Quantity, Value
and Weight.

Every new rule starts from these defaults, and any rule message field you have not
customised stays in sync with them.

## Where to find it

Go to **Settings > Message languages**. Every published language on your store is
listed with a status badge.

| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| **Complete** | Your primary language, whose built-in English template already counts as its default, or a language with all six fields filled in |
| **N missing** | Some but not all of the six fields have been set |
| **Not started** | None of the six have been set, so the built-in English template is used |

## Set a language's defaults

**Open Settings > Message languages.**

**Click Edit or Translate.** Use **Edit** on your primary language, or
**Translate** on any other published language.

**Fill in each field.** For each of the three limit types, write your default
minimum and maximum message text. Leave a field blank to keep using the built-in
English template for that specific field.

**Save.** Every rule's Messages card that has not been individually customised
for this language and bucket now shows your new default.

## How defaults and per-rule messages interact

- A **new rule** for a given bucket and language always starts from your shop's
  default text.
- If you **change the shop default** after a rule already exists, any rule whose
  text still exactly matches the *old* default is kept in sync with the new one.
- A rule where you typed genuinely custom text is **never overwritten** by a later
  default change. Only text that still matches a known default gets updated.
- Switching a rule's **limit type**, for example Quantity to Weight, re-syncs its
  message to the new bucket's default as long as the old text was not customised.
  Otherwise a Quantity message mentioning "units" would be left behind on a rule
  that now measures weight.

## Common mistakes

- **Setting defaults too late.** Do it before creating a lot of rules. It saves
  rewriting the same message six times across similar rules.
- **Reading "Not started" as a problem.** That only tracks whether *you* have
  written custom text for that language. Shoppers still see the correct built-in
  English fallback, it is just not localised yet.
- **Expecting an existing rule to pick up a new default.** If that rule's message
  was already customised away from the old default, it is intentionally left
  alone. Edit it directly, or click **Reset** on its message field.

## FAQ

### How many default message fields are there per language?

Six: a minimum and a maximum message for each of the three limit types, Quantity, Value and Weight.

### Will changing a default rewrite my existing rules?

Only the ones whose message text still exactly matches the old default. Anything you customised by hand is left untouched, which is what keeps a deliberate wording from being lost.

### What does the "Not started" badge mean?

That no custom text has been written for that language yet. It is a localisation-progress indicator, not an error. Shoppers still see the built-in English fallback.

### What happens when I change a rule's limit type?

Its message re-syncs to the new bucket's default text, provided the old text had not been customised. That stops a Quantity message about units being left on a rule that now measures weight.

### Do shoppers in an unpublished language see nothing?

They see the message in your store's default language. Nothing is left blank.

### How do I revert one rule to the shop default?

Click Reset next to that message field in the rule's Messages card. It discards your edit and restores the saved default for that language and bucket.

**Best for:** Stores creating more than a handful of rules, or selling in more than one language.

**Applies to:** Quantity, Value and Weight limit types, Multi-language Shopify stores