Metafields

This page lists every metafield the Tackle theme reads, and how to create each one in Shopify.

A metafield is extra data on a product, variant, collection or article. The theme reads this data and shows a feature only when the data exists. If a metafield is empty, the feature stays hidden. You do not need to fill every metafield.

Before you start:

• You need the Shopify admin with permission to edit settings.
• Create the definitions once. After that, you can fill them on each item.
• Use the namespace and key exactly as written. The theme looks for custom.season_start, not season_start.
• You do not need a storefront access setting. The theme reads metafield definitions in Liquid. The Storefront access option is only for the Storefront API (headless builds).

Create a metafield definition

Repeat these steps for each row in the tables below.

1. In the Shopify admin, click Settings.
2. Click Custom data.
3. Click the owner type: Products, Variants, Collections or Articles.
4. Click Add definition.
5. In Name, enter the label for the merchant, for example Season start.
6. In Namespace and key, enter the namespace and the key from the table. For custom.season_start, the namespace is custom and the key is season_start.
7. In Type, choose the type from the table.
8. For a number from 1 to 12, set a lower limit of 1 and an upper limit of 12 if the definition form offers them.
9. Click Save.

Collections

Owner: collection. Use these on each collection that has a season, a brand or a species page.

Month values are numbers: 1 is January and 12 is December. The theme shows month names from the locale file.

Products

Owner: product. Use these on each product.

Product metafields that the theme reads

custom.species should hold collections. The theme reads the season data from those collections. The Search and Discovery filter cannot use collection references, so keep a text copy in custom.species_names for the Species filter.

Specification metafields (namespace specs)

The spec table shows the metafields that the theme reads for product specifications. Each row is one key. Type the key in the Namespace and key field as specs. followed by the key.

Use the type in the table. Measurements must use the Dimension, Weight or Volume type so the theme can show both metric and imperial units.

Notes on the table:

• A key can appear in more than one profile. Create its definition once.
• Fields marked "Key fact" appear in the key facts block on the product page and on the product card line.
• Values come from the product, or from the variant when the variant has the same key. See the variant section below.
• Shopify category metafields (for example shopify.fishing-rod-action) are read for a few keys when the product has no value for that key in specs. The theme maps eight spec keys to category metafields; the list is in snippets/spec-rows.liquid. A list value shows as comma-separated text.

Variants

Owner: variant. Variant metafields use the same specs namespace and the same keys as products.

• Use variant metafields for values that change by model, for example length or weight on a rod with several lengths.
• The model table picker reads up to four variant keys. You set those keys in the block setting "Column 1 metafield key" to "Column 4 metafield key" on the variant picker block.
• A variant value wins over a product value for the same key.

Articles

Owner: article.

Search and Discovery filters

Use the Shopify Search and Discovery app to let customers filter collections by these fields. The theme shows the filters that the app returns. It does not build the filter list itself.

To set up a filter, install Shopify's free Search & Discovery app. Then open Filters, click Add filter, choose the source, and click Save. Drag the rows to change their order, then click Save again. Filters accept text, number and true/false metafields. They do not accept collection references or dimensions.

Make these filterable when you need them:

1. Species: custom.species_names, the text copy of custom.species
2. Technique and other tags: use the product tags or a list metafield that you add
3. Water type: use a list metafield or tags
4. Season: custom.season_start and custom.season_end on collections, if you want season filters
5. Specifications: the specs keys with a list, range or number type, for example specs.line_weight, specs.length or specs.capacity

Choose only the specification keys your customers ask about. Each filter adds work for the shop.

Rules to remember

• Every feature stays hidden when its metafield is empty. The theme does not show a blank heading or an empty box.
• In the theme editor, an empty feature shows a short helper line that names the metafield to fill. Visitors do not see the helper line.
• Use the namespace and key exactly as written. A key with a different spelling is not read by the theme.