Attributes and what each category asks for

An attribute is a field on a product: burn time, seat height, material, color. A chair needs a seat height and a candle does not, so each category says which attributes its products are expected to carry.

Create an attribute

1. Open Settings → Attributes.
2. Click Add attribute.
3. Under What does it describe? choose what the attribute belongs to. Most describe a Product; others describe media, customers, orders and so on.
4. Type the Label. The code is made from it and cannot be changed after creation.
5. Choose the Type: Short text, Number, Single choice, Multiple choice, Yes / no, Long text, Formatted text, Color, Composed text or Date. The type is locked after creation, so choose the simplest one that fits how people will fill it.
6. For a choice type, list the Choice values, one per line.
7. For a number you want to measure, pick a Dimension such as Mass or Length and a Default unit. Values are converted to one unit behind the scenes.
8. Set the flags you need and click save.

The flags:

• Required by default: people must fill it before saving a product.
• Localizable: store a separate value per language.
• Can be a variant axis: offer it when adding variants. See Families and variants.
• Shows on the products list: offer it as a filter and a column.
• Can appear on the external data sheet: lets a data sheet template print it for customers. Off by default, because that sheet leaves your company.

You can scope an attribute to one brand under Brand scope. Leave it blank for every brand.

For a choice attribute, Value swatches sets a color or a texture photo for each value once, and Value translations sets how each value reads in other languages, once for every product.

Make a category ask for it

In the attribute’s form, under Categories, add the categories whose products should show it. On those products the attribute appears as an empty row marked Pending, and nothing is saved until someone enters a value. Tick Required for a category to make it mandatory there.

An attribute your brand’s structured SKU rule uses is also expected, and is marked Needed for SKU. See Set up SKU rules and codebooks.

Fill values on a product

1. Open the product and go to Attributes.
2. Click the row’s edit action, enter the value, and save. To add one that is not listed, click Add attribute. Leave the value empty to only declare it.

Only the primary language is edited here. Other languages go on Translations. See Translate a product.

On a family, values saved on the model reach every variant that has no value of its own. A variant shows an inherited value grayed; type over it to give that variant its own, or click Use the model value to go back. If some variants keep their own value, the model shows how many, and Apply the model value to every variant overwrites them. The variant axis stays per variant.

Composed text

A Composed text attribute is built from other attributes with tokens, for example a line that pulls in the scent and the burn time. It resolves per variant and per language when read. A token that names no attribute, or an attribute that refers back to itself, is flagged.

Let AI fill the empty ones

Select products in Catalog → Products and click Fill attributes with AI. See Find products and change many at once.

Archive or delete an attribute

An attribute still used on products, category templates or variant axes cannot be archived or deleted. Archiving removes it from product editors, and you can restore it from the Archive. A few baseline attributes that come with every workspace are protected: you can change their label but not their code or type.

Related

• Customs codes and categories
• Import products from a spreadsheet