Why is the sec.hidden metafield not working on specific product visibility?

[backertg]

Hello,

We do a lot of products that are designed for one specific customer.   We need the product to be active and be visible to the customer if we send them a specific link but NOT to be included in the Catalog function or visible by a search.  There are a few threads that propose using a custom metafield assigned to those products which hides the product as we need - that seems like a perfect solution and solves the exact problem we are facing.

We are running into a couple difficulties.  I created the seo.hidden metafield.  I also created a collection called hidden to assign for those products.  My "test product" is active, and is assigned to the hidden collection, and has the seo.metafield assigned as the integer 1 in its product definition page.  See pic below.  Here are the issues and what I am experiencing.

If the test product is published on the online store sales channel, it can be found by anyone by looking at the navigation menu catalog selection which lists all products.

If the test product is not published in any sales channel that the product is not seen in a catalog listing however it is not available as a link to send to anyone nor is it available to be able to send a review or any other communications to that customer as it is "not in the store".

I really don't see what use adding the metafield is as it doesn't seem to do anything.  Am I missing a step to activate that metafield within the store theme somehow?

Really would appreciate your thoughts and help on this one.

Thank you!

[PaulNewton]

Hi @backertg  your operating on a multiple bad premises that's' why it doesn't work like you think it would.

---

@backertg wrote:

We need the product to be active and be visible to the customer if we send them a specific link but NOT to be included in the Catalog function or visible by a search

---

That is NOT the point of this feature.

It's about SEO and search suppression for machines that respect crawling rules.

Read the dev docs

https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/marketing/seo#step-2-hide-a-resource-from-search-engines-and-sitemaps

What your describing is access-control / content gating, not a native shopify feature, you'll need an app like locksmith if you want unfindable products findable only through shared links or per customer permission. 

---

@backertg wrote:

If the test product is published on the online store sales channel, it can be found by anyone by looking at the navigation menu catalog selection which lists all products.

---

If you link to something in the menu system it doesn't matter if the destination page exists or not, it's still linked by the theme just purely outputting the menu information you have given it.

Edit the menu to not contain unwanted links

https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/online-store/menus-and-links 

If a product/page is published even if search engines don't crawl that page, that doesn't prevent people from finding or navigating to that page because you have put it online publicly without access controls (i.e. behind a customer login, or an app).

[backertg]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for the response. I do understand what you are saying. That is
where the previuos threads I was referring to started (locksmith) and then
moved to multiple threads on how this can be done with the seo.hidden
metafield. There are also several videos posted showing it works.

If indeed the product still could be found by a crawler it is a very low
probability someone would ever find that by accident nor want to order
someone elses item.

What is the purpose of the seo.hidden metafield if not for this use?

Best,

Todd

[PaulNewton]

It's about SEO and search suppression for machines that respect crawling rules.

 SEO/search suppression is not enough, were talking screen-door vs an actual door for a moving car.

For personal products, If there are products that are private to a customer that should not be accessed, viewed or purchased by other customers,  or any visitor,  or by anything then you need a process for access control added to the shopify store.

Doubly so if these product contain sensitive private info like names, addresses, contact info, DOB, photos ,etc.

Triply so for GDPR in the EU.

[backertg]

Hello,

Thank you for the response however that does not actually answer the
question about why it doesn't function to actually hide a "seo.hidden"
product from either a collection or the catalog. I still see multiple
examples of it used in this way that archives keeping the product and its
link active for a directed order and review which is what we want to
achieve.

I also see an alternate route of excluding a specific collection from the
catalog. If we placed the customer products into a new collection called
hidden or custom, I see examples of creating a new collection call "All"
that replaces the system default collection. Then you are able to include
only the collections desired in the catalog.

Would you be able to give an example of how either of these methods should
be properly implemented in shopify or an example of a liquid code snippet
that would exclude a collection called "Hidden Collection" from the catalog
page?

Just to reiterate, all we are trying to do is create and maintain a custom
product design listing that is intended for only one customer designed to
their requirements and keep it from being available in the general catalog
on the shopify site search.

Thank you,

Todd