Recommended approach to store product fields/attributes

[Matt129]

Hi there,

I'm trying to add custom product fields to display on a product detail page. For example, I am seeling books where I have an Author field and Publisher field. 

With shopify you're given product type and product vendor as the only two fields. To add custom fields you have to either use metafields (using an api or paying additional fees for an app that uses the api) , or product tags. Tags doesn't seem to be the immediate approach to use for this case.

My requirements are that the user be able to see the field on the product page as well as click on any of those product field value to bring up other products that have the same value. 

Is the best way to go about this is to create metafields using the api and display it on the product page and also add a tag for each custom field value to be able to search on?

I wasn't expecting any sort of complexity with custom fields in an ecommerce platform. An ecommerce tool should at the minimum have the custom fields capibiltity out of the box (without using an api or relying on tags).

[ThomasBorowski]

The free https://apps.shopify.com/metafields-editor app lets you add metafields for products and variants which you can then display on the product page by modifying the appropriate template of your theme. To display a metafield with the namespace "namespace" and the key "key", simply add {{ product.metafields.namespace.key }} or {{ variant.metafields.namespace.key }} where you want the content of the respective metafields to appear (depending on your theme it may be a bit more complex than that, but that's the gist of it).

[Matt129]

I am using the bulk import tool provided with shopify is there any way i can include metafields within the csv file? Or am i stuck with using the metafield api (with a rate limit)? There's something really off in the way we can get custom product fields into the system. 

[Jason]

FYI, there's some notes on using Metafields in Liquid (along with some tools) in the help docs:
https://help.shopify.com/themes/liquid/objects/metafield

[ThomasBorowski]

I don't think there's a "native" solution, so you would have to get the pro version of the Metafields app which lets you import metafield data from a CSV.

[Jason]

The Shopify Bulk Editor does have basic metafield editing built in. It won't add import or export control but can be a handy way to edit a specific metafield faster than one at a time.

https://www.shopify.com/partners/blog/53573123-secrets-of-the-shopify-bulk-editor

[Ole_Thorup2]

Hi Matt

We have just submitted an app that addresses your problem and you can integrate the custom fields with some tag magic. It is currently under review for publication, but you can find it here - https://apps.shopify.com/accentuate - and try it for free for 8 days.

Shoot me an email for any questions or ideas for improvement

Best regards
Ole

[JohnAtBonify]

Hi Matt,

Our Custom Fields app is also worth taking a look at to solve your problem. It includes import and export. It also reduces the barrier of entry by generating all the code you need, along with an easy installer. https://apps.shopify.com/custom-fields-2

[James_TGP]

Hi Matt,

I've helped a large number of stores migrate their data over to shopify. I've had many store owners who require product attributes to be stored and displayed on their product page... Because I found this to be a constant pain point for a lot of store owners I ended up building out an app resolve this issue. (See solution #2)

To answer your question (as of today), there is no native way to add custom product attribute fields into shopify.

HOWEVER, there is a rather easy solution, explained below:

1) download a metafield app. Metafield apps allow you to create metafields, or 'custom fields', to store customized fields such as dimensions, height, width, length, color, etc.

TIP: If you have A LOT of product attributes, find a metafield app that allows you EXPORT & IMPORT these fields. If you don't do this, you're pretty much screwed if you want to migrate/move/bulk edit your products after the fact. 

Price Range: These apps range from $0-$20 on average.

If you want to display the product specifications on your product page, see below.

2) Download this app to create the technical specification charts/ product attribute charts / product specifications chart (whatever you call them!):

This app is the only app that allows you to create multiple charts for all of your products/ product types. When you create the chart, you can automatically have it pull data from shopify fields (like type, sku), metafields (like dimensions, color), and even allows you to provide manual entry.

https://apps.shopify.com/specification-charts

Good luck!