Shopify metaobjects are a powerful feature for making the operation of your e-commerce site more efficient. They allow for more flexible data management than traditional metafields, letting you manage multiple related pieces of data at once, such as product information, store information, and brand information. This article explains the basic concept of metaobjects through to specific practical applications.
What Are Metaobjects?
Shopify metaobjects are a new mechanism for flexibly managing and extending data for products, collections, and more. They are similar to traditional metafields, but a key feature of metaobjects is that they can bundle and manage multiple fields together. This makes it possible to create more complex data structures and use them efficiently.
For example, if you want to manage detailed product information or custom data all at once, using metaobjects lets you operate efficiently while maintaining data consistency.
Difference from Metafields
Metafields and metaobjects are both tools for managing custom data, but they differ in the following ways.
Metafields: Suitable for managing a single piece of data. For example, they are used when adding individual information such as a product's "material" or "size."
Metaobjects: Since multiple fields can be bundled and managed together, more complex data structures can be created. For example, they are useful when managing multiple related pieces of data at once, such as "event information," "author information," "store information," or "brand information."
The blog article below introduces how to use metafields along with practical examples. Please use it as a reference.
How to Create and Use Metaobjects
(Example of displaying "notes" on a product page)
This section introduces how to manage "notes" information about a product using a metaobject and display it on the product page.
* These setup steps use the Rise theme, so if you are using a different theme, please note that step 5 may not work exactly as described.
Step 1. Create a Metaobject Definition
First, create a metaobject definition in the Shopify admin. In the definition, you set the fields to include in the metaobject (e.g., text, image, link, etc.). This lets you determine the data structure in advance.
(1) From the Shopify admin, go to "Content > Metaobjects"
(2) Click "Add definition"
(3) Enter the name and type of the metaobject definition
(4) Add the fields to be used in the metaobject
This time, to manage the title and details of the notes, we added a "Single line text" field for the title and a "Multi-line text" field for the details.
(5) Enable "Storefront access" in the Options section
Enable this so the information can be displayed on the product page.
(6) Click "Save"
Step 2. Create a Metaobject Entry
Next, add an entry based on the definition you created. An entry refers to the actual data (record) registered to the metaobject.
This time, we'll register a set of title and detail data as an entry in the "Notes" metaobject created in Step 1.
(1) From the Shopify admin, go to "Content > Metaobjects"
(2) Click the metaobject created in Step 1
(3) Click "Add entry"
(4) Enter the entry data and click "Save"
Step 3. Make the Metaobject Referenceable from a Product Metafield
So that notes can be set for each product, create a metafield definition in the product metafields that can reference the metaobject created in Step 1.
(1) From the Shopify admin, go to "Settings > Custom data"
(2) From the list of metafield definitions, click "Products"
(3) Click "Add definition"
(4) Enter a name (in this case, "Notes")
(5) Enter the namespace and key (in this case, "custom.notes")
(6) Choose "Metaobject" as the content type
(7) For the reference, select the metaobject created in Step 1
(8) Click "Save"
Step 4. Link the Entry Data to a Product
For each product, set the entry data created in Step 2.
(1) From the Shopify admin, click product management
(2) From the product list, select the product for which you want to enter country-of-origin information
(3) From the "Notes" item in the metafields section, select the appropriate entry data
(4) Click "Save"
Step 5. Display the Metaobject on the Product Page
(1) From the Shopify admin, go to "Online Store > Themes"
(2) Click "Customize" on the theme where you want to display the notes
(3) From the select box at the top center of the screen, select the product template
(4) Click the plus icon at the location on the left where you want to add a block
(5) From the list of blocks, select the "Collapsible row" block
(6) Click the database icon above the heading field of the "Collapsible row" block
(7) Select "Product metafield > Notes > Title" in order
(8) Click the database icon above the row content field of the "Collapsible row" block
(9) Select "Product metafield > Notes > Details" in order
(10) Click "Save"
That completes the setup.
Examples of Metaobject Use Cases
Managing Store Information
Source: Makino Shoten
"Makino Shoten," which sells handicraft supplies, manages information about its stores located in Kagoshima using metaobjects. On its Shopify store, this metaobject information is used for the store list page and individual store detail pages.
Landing Pages
Source: Shopify Editions Summer 2023
Made possible starting with Shopify Editions Summer 2023, metaobjects can now also be used to quickly create landing pages.
To create a landing page using metaobjects, you need to enable "Publish entries as web pages" in the Options section.
Shopify Apps Useful for Managing Metaobjects
Matrixify
Matrixify is a Shopify app that lets you export all kinds of Shopify data, such as products and blog articles, and use its import feature to bulk-edit data. It's useful when you want to manage and edit large volumes of metaobject data at once using CSV.
The blog article below introduces Matrixify in more detail. Please use it as a reference.
[Bonus] Shopify Apps That Leverage Metaobjects
RuffRuff 予約販売
RuffRuff 予約販売 is a Shopify app that lets you easily run pre-order sales with simple settings. With just one app, you can implement a variety of marketing initiatives beyond pre-orders, including member-only sales, limited-time sales, deferred payment, quantity limits, and recurring sales.
The pre-order rules configured in RuffRuff 予約販売 are managed using metaobjects, making it the first Shopify app in Japan to leverage metaobjects.
RuffRuff Author Profiles
RuffRuff Author Profiles is a Shopify app that makes it easy to display profile information for writers and creators on blog articles and products. The author profile data created with RuffRuff Author Profiles is managed using metaobjects.
In Closing
Using metaobjects allows you to manage complex information in a clear, centralized way. By applying the notes setup steps introduced here, you can reflect a variety of data on product pages, such as campaign information or brand information. By combining metafields with the Options section settings, you can flexibly add whatever information your storefront needs. We encourage you to build a data structure suited to your own store to create more compelling product information pages.
