Metafields to Multicolumns or Collections

[Plumblikeaking]

Hi,

I am looking to add a metafield to either a column within a multicolumn, or to a collection card. The multicolumn option would be my preferred option.

The above screen shot is a page I am currently editing, as you can see I have a collection list and a multicolumn set up. Only one of these will remain.

The link text ‘Baxi 428 LPG Combi’ this will remain in place, I am looking to add a specific piece of text which will allow customers to identify the their boiler. This is known as a GC Number (Gas Council Number). I would also like this information to be searchable. So if a customer types in their GC number in the search bar, it will come up within the results.

I have created the GC Number Metafield and have applied it to collections, I just cannot figure out how to show this on the collection card or the multicolumn.

Any help would be appreciated.

[PieLab]

Hi @Plumblikeaking

First, you need to create a new automated collection for each brand you want to display. To do this, go to Products > Collections and create a new collection, setting the “Collection type” to “Automated.” For the condition, simply select your “brand” product metafield, choose “is equal to,” and enter the brand name, such as “Stanley.” This creates a smart collection that will automatically contain every product with that specific brand metafield.

Once the collection is saved, go to your theme customizer to edit your homepage. Instead of a “Multicolumn” section, add a “Featured Collection” section. In its settings, you can then select the “Stanley Brand” collection you just created.

This section will now display all the correct products and will automatically update whenever you add or change the brand metafield on any item in your store. You can repeat this process for every brand you wish to feature.

Hope this helps!

[TheUntechnickle]

Hey @Plumblikeaking,

So the issue you’re running into is that multicolumn sections are basically static content blocks - they’re not dynamically pulling from your collections, which is why you can’t add collection metafields to them.

Your collection list is actually the better route here since it’s dynamically connected to your collections. Here’s what you need to do:

For the Collection List approach:

1. Click on the collection card/item in your collection list section

2. Look for an “Add block” or similar option in the settings panel

3. You should see options to add different content types - look for something like “Custom liquid” or “Metafield”

4. If your theme supports it directly, you can select your GC Number metafield from a dropdown

5. If not, you might need to add it via custom liquid using something like: {{ collection.metafields.custom.gc_number }} (adjust the namespace based on how you set up your metafield)

For searchability:

This is the trickier part. By default, Shopify’s search doesn’t index collection metafields. To make the GC Numbers searchable, you’d likely need to:

• Add the GC Number as product metafields (not just collection metafields) for each product

• Or use a third-party search app that can index collection metafields

Alternative idea: You could add the GC Number to your collection descriptions and then display that on the cards. It’s not as clean, but collection descriptions are searchable.

What theme are you using? Some themes have better metafield support than others, which might give you more options.

Shubham | Untechnickle

[tim_tairli]

Dawn would not allow this without theme code edits.
Newer themes, like Horizon family would allow you to modify product card in collection grid without theme code editing. That’s where you would be able to use a metafield value as Dynamic source.

As for search – these fields are indexed https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/storefront-search/search-behavior#searching-specific-fields (where body means product description)
So you can add a tag, unless you expose your tags in the product filter.

[mageplaza-cs]

Hi @Plumblikeaking ,
You’re basically trying to surface collection metafields (in your case, the GC Number) inside Shopify theme sections like multicolumn or collection card, and make sure it’s searchable. Let’s break it into two parts:

1. Displaying the metafield in multicolumns or collection cards

Since you’ve already created the metafield (say collections.gas_council_number), you now need to output it in the section’s Liquid template.

• For multicolumns:
  Shopify’s Multicolumn block doesn’t natively pull from collection objects (it usually just lets you add image, title, text manually). If you want your GC Number to show dynamically, you’d need to either:
  • Hardcode into the multicolumn section if each block is linked to a collection, or
  • Switch to collection cards, since those already know about collection objects.
• For collection cards:
  Edit the card snippet (snippets/card-collection.liquid in Dawn/Refresh themes). Inside where the collection title is printed, add:

<h3 class="collection-card__title">
  {{ collection.title }}
</h3>

{% if collection.metafields.custom.gas_council_number %}
  <p class="collection-card__gc-number">
    GC Number: {{ collection.metafields.custom.gas_council_number }}
  </p>
{% endif %}

• Replace custom.gas_council_number with your actual namespace/key.

That way, every collection card shows the GC number if it’s set.

2. Making metafield searchable

By default, Shopify search only indexes titles, descriptions, SKUs, variants, etc., not metafields. To make your GC Number searchable, you’ve got 2 options:

• (Native way) Add the GC Number text into the collection’s description (possibly hidden with CSS if you don’t want it visible) → then Shopify search will find it.
  Example:

<span class="gc-hidden">GC: {{ collection.metafields.custom.gas_council_number }}</span>

With CSS:

.gc-hidden {
  display: none;
}

• (Advanced way) Use a Shopify Search & Discovery app (or a third-party search app like Algolia, Searchanise, Boost) which allows indexing metafields. Shopify’s default storefront search does not index collection metafields.

If you absolutely need it native, the “hidden text in description” trick is the most straightforward workaround.

[devcoders]

Hi @Plumblikeaking

Ok dear, please share your store URL and collaborator code with me so I can check and provide you with the proper solution.