Attribute Input Types

Every attribute has a type. The type decides what you fill in on the product edit screen, such as a text box, a switch or a list of options, and which settings the attribute can use. You choose the type when you create the attribute, and you can't change it afterwards.

The types

The Attribute Type list offers these types, in this order:

Type	On the product edit screen	Use it for
Text	A one-line text box.	Short values, such as a model number.
Textarea	A multi-line text box, or a text editor when Enable Wysiwyg Editor is on.	Longer text, such as care instructions.
Price	An amount next to your base currency symbol. It must be a number.	Extra amounts, such as a recommended retail price.
Boolean	A switch that's on or off.	Yes-or-no facts, such as whether a jacket is waterproof.
Checkbox	One checkbox for each option. You can tick any number of them.	Features, such as the rooms a lamp suits.
Select	A list of options. You pick one.	Choices such as Color, Size or Brand.
Multiselect	A list of options. You pick one or more.	Several values at once, such as the seasons a jacket suits.
Date	A date picker.	Dates, such as a release date.
Datetime	A date and time picker.	Moments, such as the start of a live event.
Image	An image upload in BMP, JPEG, JPG, PNG or WEBP format.	A picture, such as a size chart.
File	A file upload.	A document, such as a user manual.

Settings each type supports

Some settings can be used only with certain types. For other types they're hidden, greyed out, or ignored when you save:

Setting	Types
Options	Checkbox, Select and Multiselect. You add the choices yourself.
Input Options	Select. The options can show as a dropdown, or as color, image or text swatches.
Use in Layered Navigation	Checkbox, Select, Multiselect, Boolean and Price.
Use To Create Configurable Product	Select.
Enable Wysiwyg Editor	Textarea.
Default Value	Boolean.
Input Validation	Text.
Value Per Locale	Every type except Checkbox, Select, Multiselect and Boolean. Checkbox, Select and Multiselect attributes translate their option names instead, and Boolean attributes show Yes or No.

The other settings, such as Is Required and Value Per Channel, appear for every type. Product Attributes describes what each setting does.

What shoppers see

When Use in Layered Navigation is on, you can tick the attribute under a category's Filterable Attributes, and it becomes a filter on that category's page. Search results offer every such attribute as a filter. A Price attribute shows as a range slider, and the other types show their options as checkboxes.

For a Select attribute that configurable products use for their variants, Input Options decides how shoppers pick a variant on the product page:

Input Options	What shoppers see
Dropdown	A drop-down list of the options.
Color Swatch	A colored circle for each option.
Image Swatch	A small image for each option.
Text Swatch	A button with each option's label.

Upload size of Image and File attributes

The largest image or file you can upload for an Image or File attribute is set under Configure >> Catalog >> Products. See Attribute.