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How do I add attributes to my products?

by Ajeh - Linda McGrath

There are 3 parts to attributes:

Defining Option Names:

 
Admin -> Catalog -> Option Name Manager

Example:

Color

a) Order (This is the sort order the Option Name displays on the screen.)

b) Select an Option Type:

On some Option Names, based on the Type ... there are more settings if you Edit the Option Name:

For Option Type TEXT:

For Option Type Radio buttons and checkboxes:

Defining Option Values

Catalog ... Option Value Manager

a) Pick the Option Name
b) Give a Name like Red
c) Give a default Sort Order

The sort order is used if you want to globably sort your Option Values to match otherwise you can set these manually per product or later update a product, category or whole store.

Attributes Controller

Now ... you should have made several Option Names like ...

And then set the Option Values for these like:
and

Using the Default Sort Order on these values will help you later in getting them into a nice display on the product pages.

Example, to create the Option Values for the Option Name Color:

Option Name Color
Option Value Red
Option Sort Order 10

Option Name Color
Option Value Orange
Option Sort Order 20

Option Name Color
Option Value Yellow
Option Sort Order 30

Option Name Color
Option Value Green
Option Sort Order 40

Option Name Color
Option Value Blue
Option Sort Order 50

Option Name Color
Option Value Purple
Option Sort Order 60

Option Name Color
Option Value Brown
Option Sort Order 70

Option Name Color
Option Value Black
Option Sort Order 80

Option Name Color
Option Value White
Option Sort Order 90

It is also a good idea to make a Default Option Value that the Customer cannot add to the cart to force the Customer to make a proper choice with:

Option Name Color
Option Value Pick a Color from Below (or something that suits your site best)
Option Sort Order 0
Default Attribute to be Marked Selected: YES
Use for Display Purposes Only: YES


Adding the Attributes to the Products
So now to add them to the products.
This is done via the Attributes Controller

a) Select a Product to add Attributes to
You can look up a product in a couple ways ...

- Either pick a Category or a Product
- When you pick a category, the ones with a * have products in them and this will display the first product Previous/Next
- When you pick a product,  click display ... this sets the category to this product's master category id ... so you can now use the Previous/Next if you like.

b) Add the Attribute Option Name+Value Pairs
Once the Product is displayed that you want to add attributes to ... go to the Add Attributes box
- The Product Name should already be selected.

1. Now select the Option Name

2. Next select a matching Option Value, notice they say what kind of Option Type you have selected.  ie:  Blue [COLOR]
    You will notice the Option Values say their names and next to them the Option Name that they match to.

3. Depending on what you want to do with attributes there are several methods to price, add weight, sort order, and mark the type of attribute this is.

Price can be entered with a prefix of + or - or blank.

+ and blank will add the attribute price
- will subtract the attribute price

Weight can be entered optionally if it effects the product weight with a prefix of + or - or blank.

+ and blank will add the attribute weight
- will subtract the attribute weight

There are other pricing options also available besides the standard prices.

4. Then there are the Attribute Flags in the colored boxes.
These are used to help distinguish other features of the attribute such as:
5. If this attribute is a downloadable file, enter the filename.

6. Be sure to click Add to add the newly-defined Attribute.
You can always edit or delete them after adding.


When done ... you can update the sort orders for the product to the Option Value sort order by pressing the button at the top of the page.