Attributes are divided into two groups, Attribute Types and Attributes.
These are used to group the attributes for the stock items.
Each stock item can have a maximum of 5 attributes linked to them, each with their accompanying attribute type.
Attribute Types are similar to a department, in that they group the attributes together.
These are the tags that you want associated with the stock item for additional detail.
Attributes are similar to a stock item in the sense they are grouped by the attribute types.
Go to File > Sales > Stock Item Attributes.
On the left side of the window you set up the Attribute Types.
This is essentially a Department for the attributes you want to make available for your Stock Items.
These are general grouping headings that will group your attributes into manageable lists.
Attribute Types can also be locked to specific Stock Item Columns.
The Stock Item Columns which an Attribute Type is available to are displayed under the Available in Columns.
ALL means that the Attribute Type is available to all Stock Item Attribute columns, number(s) refer to the Stock Item Attribute columns which the Attribute Type is locked to.
Go to File > Sales > Stock Item Attributes > Add New Attribute Type > Add Attribute Type > Save.
Add as many attribute types as you will need > Press the X at the top right of the window to exit attribute type settings.
When creating or modifying Attribute Types, you have the option to make the Attribute Type available to specific columns.
When the All option is ticked, the Attribute Type is available to all Stock Item Columns in the Stock Items screen.
When one or more numbers are ticked, the Attribute Type will only be available to those columns in the Stock Items screen.
Example: To lock Country of Origin to Column 1, select Country of Origin from the Attribute Types list and press Modify.
Then next to "Available in Columns", enable the checkbox underneath "1", then press Save.
When you open a Stock Item for modifying (File > Stock Control > Stock Items > Modify), the Attributes section will only show Country of Origin in Column 1
The remaining Columns will not show Country of Origin
When creating new Stock Items, there are five Attribute Type dropdown boxes that can be configured to automatically populate with default Attribute Types.
This is useful to help maintain consistency across Stock Items and reduce the amount of time spent manually selecting the same Attribute Types when creating new Stock Items.
To assign a Default Attribute Type for each Attribute Type Column:
Select an Attribute Type on the left-hand side > Modify.
Enter a Default Column number between 1 to 5 in the Default Column field.
The Default Column field only accepts values between 1 to 5; attempting to enter any other numbers or characters into the field will be ignored.
Repeat the process for each of the Default Column numbers between 1 to 5.
Once a Default Column number has been assigned to an Attribute Type, it cannot be used for any other Attribute Types.
Attempting to do so will trigger a prompt "This Default Column has already been used".
The value entered in the Default Column field is checked against the checkboxes configured against the "Available in Columns".
If the Available in Columns checkboxes restrict an Attribute Type to one or more columns and the value entered in the Default Column field does not match those columns, a prompt "This Default Column does not match your Lock Column" will be displayed when attempting to save the change.
Example: Available in Column is set to 1 but the Default Column is set to 5.
Attempting to save this configuration will result in the prompt "This Default Column does not match your Lock Column".
Example configuration and behaviour
Default Column 1 - Container Type
Default Column 2 - Country of Origin
Default Column 3 - Dietary
When creating a new Stock Item via Back Office > File > Stock Control > Stock Items > Add, the Attributes dropdown boxes will be pre-filled using the Default Columns that were set above.
Once you have added some attribute types, you can start adding attributes to them.
On the left-hand side, select the attribute type you want to add attributes to.
The buttons on the left-hand side of the screen will change to reflect the attribute type you have selected.
Go to File > Sales > Stock Item Attributes > Select Attribute Type > Add New [Attribute Type Name] > Enter Attribute Description > Save.
Add as many Attributes for the Attribute Type that you wish.
Add additional Attributes for your other Attribute Types.
Press the X at the top right-hand side of the window.
It is possible to add new attributes to Stock Items direct from the Stock Item List.
This will save a lot of time and help to add more attributes on the fly.
You will need to configure Attribute Types before you can do this, but you are able to add as many Attributes you need once this has been done.
Go to File > Stock Control > Stock Items > Modify > Attributes > Select Attribute Type > A “+” symbol will be next to any existing Attribute Types > Press it to add new Attributes to the Attribute Type.
Enter the Attribute Details and press the “+” symbol.
You can add as many as you like.
Exit the screen to set one.
Select one of the Attributes you have just added.
Range Programming can also be used to set the Attribute Types and Attributes for multiple Stock Items at once.
This can be done by opening the Range Programming function, entering the Code range that you want to perform range programming against, select Attribute 1 to Attribute 5 from the Fields, then select the Attribute Type and Attribute that you want to set.
See Range Programming for more information on how to use this function.