How to add variants of a product, link existing products as variants, and update variants from a parent product in Plytix
In this article, we will show you what variants are in Plytix, how to set them up, and how to send updates from parent products to variants.
Understanding Product Variants
Resyncing Updates from a Parent
Unlinking Variants from a Parent
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Product Variants
Working with parents and variants is a great tool when you’re selling different versions or options of the same product.
Think of a parent product as the framework for what you want to sell. A variant then, reflects the configured versions of that product that make up the different options that you will actually sell.
For example, you may be selling a t-shirt in different colors. The “framework” of those options is your parent product, and the different color options that you’re selling are your variants.
The benefit of using product variants is that:
- You have a built in relationship that organizes your information better
- You can sync changes made to the parent product so that they appear in the variant product record
Creating Variants
There are two ways to add new variants in Plytix:
1. Via import
2. Within the product's detail page:
To add variants from a product's detail page:
- Navigate to the product you want to be the parent.
- Click the "Variants" tab to manage variants for the product.
- Here you will see all the connected variations displayed and you can add additional variants of your product.
4. Click the "Add Variant" button on the left side of the screen
5. From here you can create a new product as a variant, or you can link an existing product as a variant.
ℹ️ If a product belongs to a family, you can only link products that belong to the same family. If there are no other products in that family, you will only have the option to create a new product as a variation.
6. If the parent product belongs to a product family, the variants will inherit the values of attributes with inheritance ON which will cause the variant values for those attributes to be replaced by the parent's.
Confirm your selection and click "Add variant."
ℹ️ You can have up to 300 variations per parent product.
Resyncing Updates from a Parent
If the parent product belongs to a family, attributes with the inheritance status ON will automatically be synced onto variants whenever they're updated in the parent.
If you have edited an inherited attribute for a particular variant, it will show as "Overwritten" and that variant will no longer inherit the value from the parent for that attribute in particular. You can always resync an overwritten attribute with the value from the parent by clicking "Resync" directly in a Variant's detail page.
You can also resync all overwritten attributes of a variant so they can inherit the value from the parent directly from a parent's product page.
To resync variants:
1. Go to the parent's detail page and click on the "Variants" tab
2. Choose the variants for which values you want to resync back with inherited parent attributes
3. Click "Resync"
4. Select the attributes you'd like to resync with the value from the parent
5. Click "Next," then confirm your decision and click "Resync variants"
⚠️ Resyncing variants will cause the inherited values from the parent to be restored. This will replace any value edited in the variant for the attribute that was resynced.
Then all the changes will be applied for all the variations listed in the table.
Unlinking variations
If you have created a link to a product within Plytix that you want to unlink so that it becomes its own product, you can select the variant on the list, and press the "Unlink" button above the table view.
What's Next
- Learn how to manage product categories
- Learn how to link assets to products
- Learn about setting up other types of product relationships
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