Manage your attributes

Summary

If you are not familiar with the concept of attributes, you can read our What is an attribute? article.

See your attributes

Go to Settings/Attributes, to see all the existing attributes or create a new one.

Attribute grid pagination

The attribute grid displays 25 attributes per page. To browse attributes pages, click on the page number you want to reach or use the filters.

You can sort out attributes by clicking on the column header on the grid.

Search on an attribute label

To quickly find an attribute, use the search bar available above the grid. Use your attributes label to find what you are looking for.

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If your attribute does not have any label translated, it will not pop in the search results. Make sure your attribute has its labels translated.

Filter on attributes

The attribute grid comes with a filter bar.

  1. Enter your filter criteria
  2. The grid is automatically updated when a new filter is set

You can filter on the following attribute information:

  • The attribute type
  • The attribute group it belongs to
  • The scopable property (one value per channel)
  • The localizable property (one value per locale)
  • The smart property (Yes/No) if there is a rule defined on this attribute (Enterprise Edition only)
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By default, attributes will be displayed in the catalog locale selected in the product grid. If an attribute code appears into brackets like [color], it means it has not been translated into the current locale.

Shortcut actions on each attribute

There is a set of actions available for each attribute. You can find on the right side of the grid. Buttons are visible when you hover your mouse over the line.

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The shortcut actions are only displayed if you have been granted the appropriate rights. Please refer to Manage your user roles to learn more about roles.

Create an attribute

Let's create an attribute! You will be able to select the most appropriate attribute type to perfectly match your needs.
For example, you can choose to create a text attribute (free text) or a drop down list (simple or multi select) with a selection of values, to make sure users will select one of the predefined options. Create a metric attribute to fill in the weight/size/length... of your products.

To create an attribute in the PIM:

  1. Go to Settings/Attributes
  2. Click on the Create attribute button
  3. Select the attribute type you want to create
  4. The attribute edit page is displayed. The following properties are required to finalize the creation of your attribute:
    • A code to identify the attribute
    • An attribute group: the attribute group the attribute will belong to
    • A unique value (Yes/No): if the value for this attribute is unique (field available or required depending on the attribute type)
    • A value per channel (Yes/No): Will your product attribute values differ on the channels?
    • A value per locale (Yes/No): Will your product attribute values differ on the locales?
    • Locale specific: to enable this attribute only to specific locales and not all of them
    • Usable in grid: whether or not the attribute can be displayed as a column or used as a filter in the product grid or in the proposal grid (EE only - since 2.2)
    • Read only: when enabled it prevents this attribute from being edited through the UI, it can only be updated through imports, API or rules (Enterprise Edition only)
    • Validation parameters: depending on the attribute type chosen (see Validation for the different attribute types).
  5. Click on Save to create your attribute.

The attribute is now created, you can add a translation for each enabled locales under the Label translations tab. If you need to edit some other attribute's property, please refer to the section Edit attribute properties

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Simple and multi select attribute types do rarely need to be localisable since all their options can be translated in any enabled locales in the PIM.

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Please note that the following attribute codes cannot be used in Akeneo PIM:
id, identifier, Identifier, associationTypes, category, categories, categoryId, completeness, enabled, family, Family, groups, associations, products, scope, treeId, values, label, LABEL, Label, parent.
We strongly recommend you not to use any of these codes even if the letter case is different, for instance Id, Groups.

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If you cannot access the attribute page or if you cannot add a new attribute, it is probably because you do not have the role permission to. Please refer to Manage your user roles to learn more about roles.

Parameters according to specific attribute types

Each attribute has specific properties to add more control on attribute's values:

  • Date attribute:
    • Min date: the earliest date that can be accepted
    • Max date: the latest date that can be accepted
  • A short text field: text attribute:
    • Maximum number of characters: maximum number of characters that an attribute value can have
    • Validation rule: how the value should be validated: such as an URL, as an Email, or using a regular expression
  • A long text field: text area attribute:
    • Maximum number of characters: maximum number of characters that an attribute value can have
    • Enable WYSIWYG: activates the WYSIWYG feature
  • File and image attributes:
    • Maximum size allowed in MB
    • Allowed extensions files: png, jpg, pdf, doc, etc ...
  • Metric attribute:
    • Allow negative values for the attribute
    • Allow decimal values for this attribute
    • Minimum value: the smallest value allowed
    • Maximum value: the largest value allowed
    • Metric family: family measurement unit to be used for the attribute (weight, dimensions, area, etc. )
    • The default unit of measurement
  • Price attribute:
    • Allow decimals for the attribute values
    • minimum value: the smallest allowed value
    • maximum value: the largest allowed value
  • Number attribute:
    • Allow negative values for the attribute
    • Allow decimals
    • Minimum value: the smallest allowed value
    • Maximum value: the largest allowed value

For instance, you can add a regular expression on a text field to use it for EAN codes. As they contain 13 digits, we can add a validation rule based on the following regular expression: /^[0-9]{13}$/

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The simple and multi select attribute types, as well as Yes/No (boolean) attribute have no specific validation properties.

Edit attribute properties

To edit an attribute:

  1. Go to Settings/Attributes
  2. Select the attribute to edit in the grid and click on the line or on the edition shortcut
  3. Change the properties and click on Save

You can change the following properties of an attribute:

  • Attribute group: the attribute group the attribute belongs to
  • Labels: these are labels that appear when they are displayed in the PIM
  • Locale specific: if it must apply to specific locales not all of them
  • Usable in grid: whether or not the attribute can be displayed as a column or used as a filter in the product grid or in the proposal grid (EE only - since 2.2)
  • Read only: when enabled it prevents this attribute from being edited in the UI, it can only be updated through imports or rules (Enterprise Edition only)
  • Validation parameters (see Parameters according to specific attributes types)
  • Options (for simple or multi select attribute types only): these are predefined values that the user can select
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After an attribute is created, it is not possible to change the following properties:

  • its code
  • its type
  • the unique value property
  • the value per channel property
  • the value per locale property

Manage attribute options

You can define option values for simple and multi select attribute types. Options can be added, edited, sorted or deleted.

See attribute options

To see your attribute options, remove an option or add a new one:

  1. Go to Settings/Attributes
  2. Select the attribute to edit, then click on the relevant row in the attribute datagrid
  3. Click on the Options tab

Add a new option

  1. Click on Add an option button
  2. Give a unique code to the new option
  3. Click on the green checkmark at the end of the option line to confirm the creation or on the cross to cancel the option's creation.

The option is instantly created.

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You can add and update many lines at once but you will have to save each line before leaving the page. You cannot use the main Save button to record your new options.

Edit option labels

  1. Click on the small pencil icon change the option label(s) or code
  2. Click on the green checkmark to confirm or on the cross to cancel

Sort out options

Options can be automatically sorted by alphabetical order using the toggle button Sort automatically options by alphabetical order on the top of the attribute's options page. If you want to define your own sort, you can drag and drop option rows to reorder options manually.

Delete an option

Click on the Delete button to remove an option

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A deleted option can no longer be used as a value for the attribute of a product. If a product had this value, it will be removed from the product's attribute.

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Since 2.3, if an attribute option is used in a variant product or a product model as a variant axis value, the option cannot be removed, an error message will be displayed. Please refer to the what is a family variant article for more details about variant axes.

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An option that is used by a published product cannot be deleted. Unpublish the product to be able to delete the option.

Manage rules on attributes (EE only)

If you are not familiar with the concept of rules, you can read our What is a rule? article.

If a rule applies to your attribute, this rule will be visible under the Rules tab.

The Rules screen is composed of several information:

  • Rule's code: the name of the rule imported
  • Rule's condition(s): the conditions to apply the rule, starting with "If"
  • Rule’s action(s): the actions to do if the product matches the condition(s), starting with "Then"
  • Number of affected products (if calculated): the number of products that are impacted by the rule (this calculation can be run from the Settings/Rules page, see the dedicated section Calculate the number of affected products for rules.

The rules have to be read from left to right: conditions and then actions.

Like on the Settings/Rules page, you can execute or delete rules from the Rules tab.

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All active rules can be seen from the Settings/Rules page. See our Get started with the rules engine to learn every thing about rules.

Check the attribute history

All changes made on attributes are saved and visible under the attribute’s history, for example: a label change, a property change, etc.

For each change, an attribute version is created. The following information is tracked down for each version:

  • The person or system that made the changes
  • The date and time (up to seconds) of the changes
  • The old value and the new value of each modified field

To view the attribute versions:

  1. Open and edit the attribute page
  2. Click on the History tab and the list of version will be displayed
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Unlike products you cannot restore or revert an attribute’s version.

Delete an attribute

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Please first delete your attribute from the families it is used in and then from the products. After this, you will be able to delete safely your attribute.

You have two ways to remove an attribute:

Through the attribute edit form:

  1. Select the attribute to delete
  2. Click on ... for other actions and then Delete on the top right corner
  3. Confirm the action in the popin

Through the Delete shortcut in the grid:

  1. Select the attribute you want to remove from the attribute grid
  2. Place your mouse over the line of attribute in the grid, the button Delete is prompted (trash can icon)
  3. Click on the trash can icon
  4. Confirm the action in the popin

The attribute and all its relevant information will be deleted in Akeneo PIM. Once you have confirmed the action, it cannot be reverted.

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An attribute used in a published product cannot be deleted.

 

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