View source for Liquid Template Variables - metafields

The Liquid template variable '''metafields''' is associated with the following Liquid objects:

* [[Liquid Template Variables - shop|shop]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - product|product]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - variant|variant]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - page|page]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - blog|blog]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - collection|collection]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - customer|customer]]
* [[Liquid Template Variables - order|order]]

The '''metafields''' object allows you to store extra information about your store, products, collections, orders, customers, blogs and pages. You can choose exactly what sort of information you wish to save and the exact format in which it's saved. This makes for a very powerful tool to assist you in the task of managing your store.

A '''metafield''' is made up of a key and a value organized with other keys and values under a common namespace. An optional description can also be store with the key and the value. Values can be stored as either '''strings''', '''integers''' or '''json strings'''.

=== Metafield Examples ===

As an example, you might wish to record the physical location and delivery time for your inventory.

<html>
  <style type="text/css">
  table.wikitable th { padding: 10px 20px !important; text-align: left !important; }
  table.wikitable td { padding: 10px 20px !important; text-align: left; vertical-align: middle; }
  </style>
</html>
{| class="wikitable" style="width: 100%"
!style="width: 30%"|namespace
!key
!value
|-
|inventory
|location
|Sydney
|-
|inventory
|delivery_time
|2 days
|-
|inventory
|options
|{ 'Service' => [ 'Standard', 'Express', 'Courier' ] }
|}

You can use the following code in your ''product.liquid'' template to display the '''metafield''' information.

<pre>
{% assign inventory = product.metafields.inventory %}
{% assign key = 'location' %} 
<ul>
  <li>Stock Location: {{ inventory[key] }}</li>
  <li>Stock Location: {{ inventory['location'] }}</li>
  <li>Stock Location: {{ inventory.location }}</li>
</ul>
</pre>

The delivery time for the stock can also be displayed with this code.

<pre>
{% assign inventory = product.metafields.inventory %}
{% assign key = 'delivery_time' %} 
<ul>
  <li>Delivery Time: {{ inventory[key] }}</li>
  <li>Delivery Time: {{ inventory['delivery_time'] }}</li>
  <li>Delivery Time: {{ inventory.delivery_time }}</li>
</ul>
</pre>

Finally, if you need to output all of the '''metafields''' associated with an object, you can use the following code as an example.

<pre>
<ul>
  {% for field in product.metafields.inventory %}
  <li>{{ field | first }}: {{ field | last }}</li>
  {% endfor %}
</ul>
</pre>

==== Namespace and Key name conventions ====

As you can see from the above examples, you can use a number of different methods to access the value of the '''metafield''' with a specific key. The key can be any sort of string, and can include upper and lower case letters, as well as spaces. You cannot include any sort of special characters in the key.

These rules also apply to the choice of values for the namespace.

If your key or namespace includes spaces, then you must use the bracket-form to reference the data.

For example:

<pre>
{% assign inventory = product.metafields.inventory %}
{% assign key = 'Extra Delivery Cost' %} 
<ul>
  <li>Delivery Time: {{ inventory[key] }}</li>
  <li>Delivery Time: {{ inventory['Extra Delivery Cost'] }}</li>
</ul>
</pre>

== Further Reference ==

* [[Liquid Basics]]
* [[Liquid Tag Reference]]
* [[Liquid Filter Reference]]
* [[Liquid Variable Reference]]
* [[Liquid Paginate Tag|Pagination ]]