Attributes

Attributes are the structured facts about a product: Cooling Technology, Net Volume, Energy Class. Instead of typing "Total No Frost" into a text field on every fridge, you define the fact once and every product references it. That single definition then powers three things on the site at the same time: the key specs list on the product page, the filters on category pages, and the highlight bar in the product hero.

Both collections live under the Catalog group in the admin: Attributes holds the definitions, Attribute Values holds the predefined options products pick from.

The two building blocks

An Attribute is the question: what cooling technology does this fridge use? It carries a translated title, an icon, and a type.

An Attribute Value is one possible answer: Total No Frost, Less Frost, Static. Each value belongs to exactly one attribute and its label is translated once, centrally. Every product that picks the value inherits the translation, so a fridge in the Serbian catalog and one in the Slovenian catalog never spell the same technology differently.

Number attributes skip values entirely. The product types a number and the unit comes from the attribute definition, so 344 becomes 344 l without anyone typing the unit.

Where attributes show up

PlaceWhat appearsControlled by
Key specs on the product pageThe full list of the product's attributes with valuesAdding attributes to the product
Category filtersA filter section per attribute, with countsExists automatically for every attribute
Product hero barUp to a few highlighted facts with iconsThe Featured checkbox per row
Product cards and searchThe first three featured values as the subtitleThe Featured checkbox per row

The key specs list is worth a special mention. Inside the Technical Specs block there is an Attributes List block with no fields at all. You drop it into a section and it renders the product's complete attribute list on its own. Nothing to fill in, nothing to keep in sync. Edit the attributes on the product and the specs table follows.

Filters

Every attribute automatically becomes a filter on category pages, there is no switch to flip. Text attributes list their values with result counts, number attributes list the numbers with the unit appended. The attribute's code becomes the key in the page URL, so ?cooling_technology=... is readable and stable even when titles get retranslated.

This is also why choosing values from a shared list matters. If two products typed "NoFrost" and "No Frost" by hand, the filter would show two separate options with one product each. With Attribute Values, both products picked the same option and the filter counts them together.

Featured attributes

On the product itself, each attribute row has a Featured checkbox. Featured rows appear in the hero bar at the top of the product page with their icons, and the first three become the subtitle on product cards in category grids and search results. Aim for the three or four facts a customer compares first, a card cannot fit more anyway.

Creating an attribute

Say the catalog is getting coffee machines and you need Cap Size.

attribute create screen
  1. Open Catalog → Attributes → Create New.
  2. Title: Cap Size. This is UI copy, it is translated per locale and shown to customers.
  3. Code: cap_size. Snake case, lowercase. This is the stable key used in filter URLs and it is never shown in the UI. Once products use the attribute, leave the code alone.
  4. Icon: a small monochrome SVG, 80 by 80, rendered around 20 px. Bake the final color into the file, it cannot be tinted by CSS.
  5. Value type: this is the one decision to get right up front.
Value typeUse whenExample
Text (predefined values)The answers are a fixed set of namesCooling Technology: Total No Frost, Less Frost
NumberThe answer is a measurementNet Volume: 344 l

For number attributes a Unit field appears. Set it once here, e.g. l, cm, kWh, and every product inherits it with consistent casing.

The value type locks once products start using the attribute. Switching a used attribute from text to number would orphan every picked value, so the admin blocks it. The same protection applies to deletion: an attribute or value that products still reference cannot be deleted until those products drop it.

Adding the values

For text attributes, open the Values tab on the attribute. It lists every value defined for it and you create new ones right there.

attribute values tab

A value is just two fields: the attribute it belongs to, prefilled when you create it from the Values tab, and the translated Label. Create Small, Medium and Large under Cap Size and you are done. Products editing their Details tab will now see exactly those three options when they pick Cap Size, filtered so values from other attributes never leak in.

Putting it on a product

On the product's Details tab, add a row to the attributes list: pick the attribute, then either pick a value (text) or type the number. Tick Featured if it belongs in the hero bar. That one row is everything, specs, filters and the card subtitle all read from it.