Show different details on each product (metafields)

Give each product its own badges, facts, icons, care guide or size chart from one template. Step by step, with screenshots, and when you don't need it at all.

Authored by Zack LamFounder, doTask

WhereSettings → Metafields and metaobjects in your Shopify admin to create them; the database icon beside a setting in the theme editor to connect them.

Most of Manifest works by typing into the theme editor. That text is the same on every product, which is fine for things like your delivery promise. When a detail changes from product to product (Vegan on one, not another; a different size chart; a care guide), you store it on the product itself in a metafield, and tell the theme editor to read it from there.

Quick wayType it in the blockAdd the block and type the words in the editor. Every product shows the same thing. No setup.

Per productUse a metafieldCreate a field once, fill it in on each product, connect it once in the editor. Each product shows its own.

Skip itLeave the block outNothing breaks. Remove the block, or leave its text empty and it stays hidden.

TipCheck first: Shopify may already have the field you need. Dietary preferences, allergens, certifications, material and many more come ready with the product's category, and Manifest shows them with no setup. So do Shopify's Subtitle and Care guide fields. See Product details with no setup.

It takes about ten minutes the first time. You'll do three things: create the field, fill it in on your products, and connect it in the theme editor. Sidekick can do the typing for you: see Set up products and pages with Sidekick.

Step 1: Create the field

In your Shopify admin, go to Settings, then Metafields and metaobjects.
Choose Products (or Pages, for team pages).

Settings, Metafields and metaobjects, with Products and Pages highlighted — 1: Products, for details on product pages. 2: Pages, for team profile pages.

Click Add definition in the top corner.

The list of product metafield definitions with the Add definition button highlighted — Your product fields are listed here. Add definition creates a new one.

Type a name people will understand, such as Dietary. Shopify shows the field's key underneath, such as custom.dietary. You only need the key for a Comparison table row.
Under Type, pick what kind of detail it is. For a short line of text, choose Single line text. For a longer text with paragraphs, choose Rich text. For a page, such as a size guide, choose Page.
Click Save.

Adding a product metafield named Dietary, with its key custom.dietary highlighted — 1: The name you'll see on products. 2: The key Shopify makes from it.

The type list open with Single line text highlighted — Single line text suits most short details. The One or List switch beside Type lets a field hold several values, used for Badges and Specs.

Step 2: Fill it in on each product

Open a product in Products.
Scroll to Product metafields near the bottom. Your new field is there. Type the value for this product, such as Vegan, and save.
Leave it empty on products it doesn't apply to.

The Product metafields card on a product, filled in with a size guide, care guide, warranty, core, terrain, pack size, specs and badges — Each product has its own values. Empty ones simply don't show on the store.

Step 3: Connect it in the theme editor

You do this once. Every product using the template then shows its own value.

Open the theme editor on a product page. In the left panel, open Product and select the block, such as Icons with text.
Next to the setting, click the small database icon.

The theme editor with the Icons with text block selected and the database icon beside its Text setting highlighted — 1: The block. 2: The database icon beside the setting you want to fill from a metafield.

Pick your field from the list, such as Terrain.

The list of product fields that can be connected, with Terrain highlighted — Only fields that fit the setting are listed.

The preview shows this product's value straight away. Click Save.

The product page showing All-mountain from the metafield, and the setting showing it is connected to Terrain — 1: The value on the product page. 2: The setting now reads from the metafield. Click the x on it to disconnect.

TipIf a product leaves the field empty, that line doesn't appear on its page. Use this for details only some products have.

Three fields Manifest reads by itself

These need no connecting: create them and fill them in, and they appear. Name them exactly as below so their keys match.

Badges: key custom.badges, type Single line text set to List. Shows your own badges, such as Bestseller, on product cards and in the product page's Badges block. Tags that start with badge:, such as badge:New, still work too.
Specs: key custom.specs, type Single line text set to List. Short facts, such as All-mountain, on product cards (turn on Show specs and pack size in Theme settings, Product cards) and in Range tabs.
Pack size: key custom.pack_size, type Single line text. Such as 60 capsules, after the price on product cards.

Good places to connect

Subtitle block: reads Shopify's standard Product subtitle field by itself. Connect it only to use your own field instead.
Icons with text: one Single line text field per line, such as Dietary and Testing.
Tabs and accordion content: Rich text fields, such as How to use or Ingredients.
Size chart and Info popup: a Page field, so each product opens its own page. See Size charts.
Notice and Trust badges: text fields for per-product delivery messages.
Team pages: Page fields for the portrait, role, introduction and picks. See Team pages and profiles.
Comparison table rows: set Where the values come from to Product metafield and type the key, such as custom.pack_size.

Which settings accept which fields

Text settings: single line text, numbers, dates, measurements, ratings and money.
Rich text settings: all of the above plus multi-line and rich text.
Image settings: a File field set to images. Video settings: a File field set to videos.
Link settings: URL. Color settings: Color.
Product, collection and page pickers: a Product, Collection or Page reference.

NoteSliders, checkboxes and dropdowns can't be connected, and neither can Theme settings (the paintbrush icon). Only settings inside sections and blocks have the database icon.