Using Shopify Metafields

How to create and manage metafields to optimally display your product information on Shopify

Metafields are Shopify's answer to custom attributes. They can be applied to different parts of your Shopify store including products, customers, orders, and other objects. This article explains the various types of metafields, what information they can hold, and how to create them in a Plytix Shopify channel.

 

 

What are metafields?

Types of Metafields

- Metafields Without a Definition

- Metafields With a Definition

Metafield Definitions

Metafield Values

Metafield Lists

 

*Skip to any section in this article by clicking on the links above

 

---

 

What are metafields?

Basically, metafields are non-required fields that display custom information about your products in Shopify. For example, if you sell bicycles, you may want to display the number of speeds they have. Or if you sell food, then you'll probably need to let buyers know the ingredients they contain. Metafields can also be used internally for things like tracking inventory. There are two types of metafields:

• Metafields without definition
• Metafields with definition
  
  

---

Types of Metafields

Originally, Shopify offered three types of metafields (those in bold are currently supported by Plytix):

• Integer
• String
• JSON string

These are what we refer to as metafields without definition, and they are available only for the product level.

On the other hand, metafields with definition are available on a product and variant level. Shopify has 18 different types of metafields with definition (those in bold are currently supported by Plytix):

• Color
• Date
• Date & Time
• Dimension
• Weight
• Volume
• Integer
• Decimal
• Rating
• Product reference*
• Product variant reference*
• File reference*
• Page reference*
• URL
• Single Line Text
• Multi Line Text
• True or False
• JSON String

 

*May or may not be added in the future according to user needs

 

---

Metafields without a definition

These metafields do the same basic thing as metafields with a definition, but they are less specific and require the use of Shopify Liquid code in order to display them in your store. 

Create a new metafield without a definition: 

1. Go to the 'Metafields' section of your Shopify channel.
2. Click on 'Create metafield'.
   
3. Select 'No definition'.
4. Define the namespace and key.
5. Choose the value type ('integer', 'string', or 'JSON string').
6. Click 'Create metafield'.

Now your metafield will be available for mapping.

 

---

Metafields with a definition

The new version of metafields does not require any coding on Shopify's end to customize your product pages and is fully compatible with Shopify 2.0 themes. Create metafields in Plytix, then, if you have a Shopify Online Store 2.0 theme, you can connect most metafields to your theme by using the theme editor.

 

Create a new metafield with a definition: 

1. Go to the 'Metafields' section of your Shopify channel.
2. Click on 'Create metafield'.
   
   
3. 'Definition' is selected by default.
4. Choose if you want your metafield to apply to the 'Product' or 'Variant'. The main difference here is that by choosing variant, the metafield will not be displayed in the product detail in Shopify.
5. Define the Namespace, Definition Name and Key.
6. Choose the type of information you want in this metafield from the 'Value Type' dropdown.

7. You have the option to check the box to 'Expose this metafield to storefront API requests.' If you're not sure about this, leave it unchecked. 

8. You can also check the box 'Use in automated collection' to connect this metafield to your automated collections in Shopify. 

9. Optionally, add a description for your metafield.

10. Click 'Create Metafield'.

 

Now your metafield will be available for mapping.

 

---

Metafield Definitions

The term "definition" can be a little confusing, but you can think of it as a template for creating a metafield. A metafield definition includes several main components:

• Namespace - This is like a folder in which to keep your metafields. You can have the same namespace and key for two metafields if one is a product and one is a variant. A namespace must be between 3 - 255 characters.
• Key - The name you give your metafield. A key must be between 3 - 64 characters.
• Description - This is optional, but can help to clarify the purpose of the metafield.
• Value Type - This determines what type of information the metafield will display
• Validation Rule (not supported by Plytix) - This determines what information is valid for a metafield, for example, the number or type of characters it can contain. Different types of metafields have different types of validations, so be sure to set these up in your Shopify account.

---

Metafield Values

To add values to a metafield, you'll need to map your Plytix attributes to each one. For example, if you store you product color in a short text attribute called "Color", then this is the attribute you'll match to your color type metafield by selecting 'Match Metafield' in the 'Metafields' tab of your Shopify channel.

A panel will appear that offers options for matching a metafield to a Plytix attribute. Here you can select an 'Existing attribute' from the list....

... or click 'Create Computed' to make a computed attribute that satisfies the metafield's validation rule if needed.

If matching a metafield to a computed attribute, you'll need to complete one more step: add a formula using an operation to transform your stored attributes. After you click 'Test and Apply', the formula will appear in the "Formatting" section of your metafield.

After matching all of your metafields, click 'Save Changes' at the top of your channel. Process the channel to push your new metafields through to Shopify.

 

---

Metafield Lists

When you create a metafield with definition, you may choose either a single value or a list of values. This option is only available for metafields with the supported value types:

• Single line text
• Integer
• Decimal
• References (Product, product variant and page)
• File
• Color
• Rating
• URL
• Weight
• Volume
• Dimension
• Date
• Date and time

Additionally, some value types require units of measurement, so you'll need to match additional attributes to unit lists for these values.

• Weight
• Volume
• Dimension

 

To create a metafield list:

1. Click 'Create metafield' and give your new metafield a name. Leave 'Definition' selected.

2.  Next, select whether the list will be a 'Product' or 'Variant' metafield. Add a namespace, definition name and key for your reference.

3. Select a 'value type' from the dropdown, then select 'List of values'.

4. Click 'Create Metafield'.

5. Now you'll select which attributes to add by clicking '+ Add attributes'.

6. Once you've selected your attributes, you can drag and drop them to change their order. When you are ready, click 'Apply'.

7. Your metafield list now appears with your other metafields, but it can be distinguished by the "LIS" that appears at the start.

8. Some lists also require units of measurement. To add these, select 'Match unit list'.

9. Click on '+ Add attributes' and select attributes for your units of measurement, then drag and drop to match the order of your previously matched attributes. Click 'Apply'.

10. Your completed metafield list appears with the attributes you matched (hover to see attributes), and your units of measurement (hover to see units), if applicable.

---

 

What's next?