Attributes

Attributes are your own fields that describe products, for example material, colour, warranty or capacity. You define them once. They then appear on the Attributes step of the product form and on the product card, grouped into sections that you name.

Where to find it: Catalog → Attributes

When you'll use it

• You set up the catalog, before you add or import products.
• You add a new field that every product, or every product in certain categories, should have.
• You make a field required, or remove a field nobody uses.
• You add or remove an option on a list.
• You decide how a set should take a field over from the products inside it.

Key concepts

• Attribute — one field on the product card. It has a name, a field type and a section.
• Section — a named group of attributes. Every attribute belongs to exactly one section, so you need at least one section before you can create an attribute.
• Field type — how the value is entered: a list, a text box, a number, a switch and so on. See Field types.
• Options — the entries to choose from, for list-type fields.
• Product categories — an attribute normally applies to every product. You can limit it to chosen categories and their subcategories.
• Required — a product cannot be saved while a required attribute is empty.
• Active / inactive — an inactive attribute disappears from product cards, but the values already saved stay.
• Nothing is provided in advance. A new workspace has no sections and no attributes.

Don't recreate what products already have

These are already part of every product. See The product record:

• the name;
• the codes: SKU (stock keeping unit), EAN (European Article Number) and UPC (Universal Product Code);
• the price, currency and VAT rate;
• the unit, parcels, weight and dimensions.

Create attributes only for what is specific to your goods.

The screen

The list, on the left. It has a search box and a Filters button, which filters by status and by type. Attributes are grouped under their sections. Click a section's header to fold it. Each attribute row shows:

• a dot: green for active, red for inactive;
• the name and the field type;
• in n products or used nowhere: how many products have a value for it;
• the categories it is limited to, if any.

Inside each section there is a button to add an attribute, and at the end of the list there is a dashed New section button. Next to a section's name is a pencil (edit the section) and, for an empty section, a bin (delete it).

The editor, on the right. Until you choose an attribute, it says Select an attribute from the list. An open attribute is edited in steps, shown as tabs:

Step	When it is shown	What it holds
Definition	Always	Name, field type, section, categories, texts shown with the field, behaviour in sets
Validation	Text, number, slider and month types	Length or number limits, months that can be chosen
Options	List and image types	The entries to choose from
Appearance	Button and month types	The accent colour, with a live preview
History	Existing attributes	Who changed the attribute and when

Back and Next are in the bar at the bottom.

• On a new attribute, the final button is Create attribute, on the last step.
• On an existing attribute, Save is on every step. If a step still has something missing, Save is dimmed. Click it anyway and the editor opens that step and marks the field.

The page header has Delete attribute, and Discard changes while you have unsaved changes.

📷 Screenshot to add: the Attributes screen with two sections in the list and an attribute open on the Definition step.

Common tasks

Create a section

1. Go to Catalog → Attributes.
2. Click New section at the end of the list. On an empty screen, click Create section.
3. Type the Section name. Optionally, choose an Icon and a Color.
4. Click Save.

To rename a section, click the pencil next to its name. Only an empty section can be deleted: move or delete its attributes first, then click the bin.

Create an attribute

1. In the section where the field belongs, click the button to add an attribute.
2. On Definition, type the Name and choose the Field type. A new attribute starts as a Dropdown list. A short description of the type appears underneath. Click Show an example of this field to try it.
3. Check the Section. It is required.
4. Optionally:
   • turn on Required field in the product card;
   • choose Product categories to limit the field to some products;
   • type a Field description (a sentence always visible under the field) and a Field hint (grey text inside the empty field);
   • choose the Value in a set.
5. Click Next and fill in the steps that this type has: Validation, Options, Appearance.
6. Click Create attribute.

The new attribute is placed at the end of its section and appears on product cards immediately. Products themselves are not changed: a product has a value only after someone fills it in.

Add, reorder or remove options

List and image types have options to choose from.

1. Open the attribute and go to the Options step.
2. Click Add option and type the Label. Optionally, choose an icon. Button types also accept an option image.
3. For image types, click the thumbnail, or drag a photo onto the option, to upload the picture. To add several photos at once, drag them onto Add option: each photo becomes a separate option.
4. Drag an option by its handle to reorder.
5. To remove an option, click its bin. A saved option moves to a Removed when you save box. Click Undo there to bring it back.
6. Click Save.

Every option of a list or button type needs a label. Every option of an image type needs a photo; its name is optional. Photos can be JPG, PNG, WEBP, AVIF, GIF or HEIC. Your browser makes them smaller before they are sent.

Under each option you can see Selected in products: n or Not selected in any product. If you remove an option that products use, Complaia asks Remove options selected in products? when you save, and lists the products. After you confirm, the option is removed from those products too.

Set limits on what can be entered

On the Validation step:

• Text types — Minimum length and Maximum length. Each type also has its own upper limit, which cannot be raised:
  • short text: 1000 characters;
  • long text: 20 000;
  • URL: 2000;
  • e-mail address: 320.
• Number and Slider — Minimum, Maximum and Step. With a step of 0.5, the values 1 and 1.5 pass but 1.2 does not.
• Months — click a month to turn it off. A month that is off cannot be chosen on a product. The last available month cannot be turned off.

Make an attribute required

1. Open the attribute. On Definition, turn on Required field in the product card.
2. Read the notice that appears. It tells you how many existing products have no value, for example Missing value: 14 products. Those products cannot be saved, even for an unrelated change, until someone fills the field in.
3. Click Save.

Limit an attribute to categories

1. Open the attribute. On Definition, open Product categories and tick the categories.
2. Click Save.

The field then appears only on products from the chosen categories and their subcategories. With nothing chosen, the field reads All categories and the attribute applies to every product. On a product outside the chosen categories the field does not appear, and it is not required even if the attribute is required.

Because a category covers its subcategories, the list hides the subcategories of categories you already chose. If you choose a parent category after one of its subcategories, the subcategory is taken off the list of choices.

Decide how a set takes over the value

A product set can fill its attributes from the products inside it. Value in a set on the Definition step decides what happens when those products have different values. The choices depend on the field type:

Choice	What the set gets
Only a shared value	The value, when every product has the same one; otherwise nothing.
Union of values	Every value of its products, without repeats. A green product and a red product make a green and red set.
Shared part	Only what all products have.
Join into one text	The different texts, separated by commas.
Yes when at least one item has it / Yes when every item has it	For yes/no fields.
Lowest value / Highest value	For numbers, sliders and dates (shown as Earliest date / Latest date).
Sum with quantities	For numbers: each product's value times its quantity, added up.
Do not inherit	Nothing. You fill the field in on the set yourself.

If you do not build sets, leave the default.

Deactivate or delete an attribute

Action	How	What happens
Deactivate	On Definition, turn Active off and save.	The field disappears from product cards; saved values stay. Turn it back on at any time.
Delete	Click Delete attribute in the page header and confirm.	The attribute is removed and its value is cleared from every product that had one. This cannot be undone.

Before deleting, the confirmation tells you how many products have a value and names some of them.

See who changed an attribute

1. Open the attribute.
2. Go to the History step.

Field types

Type	What it is
Dropdown list	A dropdown with search. One value; good for long lists.
Dropdown list (multiple)	A dropdown with search where several values can be selected.
Single option (button)	A row of buttons where exactly one is selected.
Multiple options (buttons)	A row of buttons where several can be selected.
Short text	A single line of text.
Long text	A box for several lines of text.
Number	A number, with an optional range and step.
Yes / No (toggle)	A switch.
Date	A calendar for picking a day.
Slider (numeric range)	A slider that sets one number within a range.
Choose from list + text	A list of ready values plus a field for your own.
URL address	A web address. It must start with http:// or https://.
Email address	An e-mail address. It must contain the at sign and a domain.
Color	A colour picker.
Image (library + upload)	Pictures prepared on the attribute, plus the option to upload your own on the product.
Photo (library)	A picture chosen from the attribute's own set. Nothing can be uploaded on the product.
Months (calendar)	A grid of twelve months to click.

On the attribute list, the types are shown with shorter names, for example List for Dropdown list.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
Create a section first	An attribute must belong to a section and you have none.	Click Create section, then add the attribute.
Give the field a name.	The Name is empty.	Type a name.
Choose a section.	The Section is empty.	Choose a section. If the list is empty, create a section first.
This field type needs at least one option	A list type has no options.	Add an option on the Options step.
A note that some options have no value or label	An option of a list or button type has no label.	Type a label, or remove the option.
Every item needs a photo uploaded.	An image option has no picture.	Click its thumbnail and upload one, or remove the option.
A step tab is locked.	An earlier step is incomplete.	Point at the tab to see what is missing.
A message that a section with attributes cannot be deleted	The section is not empty.	Move or delete its attributes.
These attributes point to a section that no longer exists, so they do not appear on the product card.	The attribute's section was removed.	Open the attribute and choose an existing Section.
A product cannot be saved because required attributes are missing.	A required attribute is empty on that product.	Fill it in on the product's Attributes step.
The field does not show on a product.	The attribute is inactive, or limited to other categories.	Check Active and Product categories.
A subcategory is missing from Product categories.	One of its parent categories is already chosen, so it is covered.	Nothing to do. The parent covers it.
The category is the scope of some attributes. when deleting a category	This attribute is limited to that category.	Change Product categories on the attribute first.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See the Attributes screen	Attributes: View
Create an attribute or a section	Attributes: Create
Edit an attribute, its options or a section	Attributes: Edit
Delete an attribute or a section	Attributes: Delete

People who work with orders, shipments, production orders or invoices can see attribute values on those screens without any attribute permission.

Related

• Categories — what an attribute can be limited to
• The product record — where attributes are filled in
• Product types & structure — sets
• Importing products — attribute columns in a file
• Glossary — attribute