Product attributes and filters

In Magento, product properties are called attributes. Attributes power the filters on the left of a category and the specifications table on the product page.

Before you start

the property name in all the shop's languages,
the list of values (for example cotton, linen, polyester).

1. Attribute

Stores › Attributes › Product

Find an existing attribute in the list, or add a new one with the Add New Attribute button.
On the Properties tab, enter the name and choose the input type.
1. Default Label - the property name.
2. Catalog Input Type for Store Owner - for a filter, choose Dropdown or Multiple Select.
Under Manage Options (Values of Your Attribute), add values with Add Option. The Admin column is the name in the admin; the language columns are the translations customers see.

Add Option - a new row for a value. You can reorder rows by dragging.
On the Storefront Properties tab, set Use in Layered Navigation to Filterable (with results). This makes the attribute appear as a filter.

Filterable (with results) - the filter only shows values that products in the category actually have.
Click Save Attribute.

The Properties tab also has the Values Required field. Leave it at No. With Yes, the property becomes mandatory for every product in the attribute set: you can no longer save a product without a value, and imports report an error too. If a property suddenly becomes mandatory, this setting is the cause.

Values Required field on the Properties tab — Values Required - No, unless every single product must have this property.

2. Attribute set: why the attribute is missing on a product

An attribute only appears on a product if it is in the attribute set the product uses (the Attribute Set field at the top of the product form). A new attribute only becomes part of a set once you add it.

Stores › Attributes › Attribute Set

Open the set your products use (usually Default, shown as Privzeto in a Slovenian admin). If you have several sets, add the attribute to each one where you need it.
Drag the new attribute from the right-hand Unassigned Attributes column into one of the groups in the Groups column (for example General) and click Save. The group decides which section of the product form the field appears in.

Unassigned Attributes - attributes that products in this set do not have yet. Drag them into a group on the left.

If products no longer need an attribute, drag it from the set back to Unassigned Attributes. The values on the products stay saved; only the field is hidden.

3. Values on products

Open a product, choose a value in the new field and save. For many products at once, tick the products in the product list and choose Actions › Update attributes.

A filter only appears in a category that has Anchor = Yes under Display Settings, and only if at least one product in it has that value.

Common problems

The new attribute is not on the product

The attribute is not in the attribute set the product uses (step 2). Check Attribute Set at the top of the product form and add the attribute to that set.

I cannot save a product because a property is required

The attribute has Values Required = Yes. Set it to No on the attribute, or choose a value on the product.

The filter is not in the category

Check the Filterable (with results) setting, the category's Anchor setting and that the products have a value. Then flush the cache; after larger changes, filters update with a delay of a few minutes.

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