Creating and Using Custom Attribute Fields in Merchanter

Merchanter supports extended customisation through unlimited custom fields with dropdown lists of allowed values for customers, suppliers, and products. This feature allows you to capture additional information specific to your business needs, enhancing record details beyond standard system fields. Custom fields can also be used in smart searches and updated in bulk, providing both flexibility and efficiency in managing your data.

Setting Up Custom Attributes and Values

Setting up custom attributes in Customers, Suppliers and Products can be done separately for each record type. As a user who has a prime role, navigate to:

• Settings → Customer Settings→ Custom Attributes 
• Settings → Supplier Settings→ Custom Attributes 
• Settings → Product Settings→ Custom Attributes 

Depending on which attributes you would like to set up.

For this example, we will set up a new custom field for products, but the process is the same for customers and suppliers. 

To begin, click the New button in the top right of the Custom Attributes screen.

A new pop-up will open to edit the custom attribute.

You can enter an Attribute Name, for example. “Colour”.

Click the New button under Values to create defined options for your dropdown list. Here we will add Green, Red, Blue, and Yellow.

Attribute with the full list of options

Now you can Save the attribute. 

If you need to edit a value, click on it to select it and click the edit button. 

To remove it completely, use the Delete button.

If you need to change the order of the custom attributes,

You can select the record and use the Move up or Move down button to change its order in the list. In the product view and in the OData reporting.

If you navigate to a product record, then click on the about tab, towards the bottom of the record in the Custom Attributes section, you can see your new field.

Attribute Overview

You can view and manage all custom attributes for customers, suppliers, and products in a centralised overview screen. This provides a single point of control where you can audit, organise, and maintain the custom fields you’ve created across your system.

Navigate to: Settings → Customer Settings→ Custom Attributes. 

Within this screen, you have the same full management functionality:

• Create new custom attributes with dropdown value lists
• Edit existing attributes or their allowed values
• Reorder attributes using move controls if sequence matters in your forms
• Delete attributes that are no longer required

Using this overview helps maintain data quality and system usability by preventing attribute proliferation through visibility of all existing fields, enabling bulk configuration when setting up new attribute sets.

This centralised management approach ensures your custom fields remain organised, relevant, and properly maintained as your business needs evolve.

Entering Attribute Values on Individual Records

Open a customer, supplier, or product record and click Edit.

Scroll to the Custom Attributes section (usually located toward the end of the form).

Select the appropriate value from the drop-down list for the Colour field. for example, choosing “Green” from the Colour field.

Save the record. The custom data is now stored and will appear in the record's detail view.

You can add as many custom fields as you like with as many drop-down options as you need.

Bulk Editing Custom Fields

You can update up to two custom fields for multiple records at once:

From a list view (e.g., Customers, Products), use filters or multi-select to choose the records you wish to update.

Click the Edit Selected button or the Edit All button.

In the bulk edit window, you can modify up to two custom fields at a time:

Select the first custom attribute from the dropdown, Custom attribute 1

And then choose the new value from the Value for field

You can do the same for the Custom attribute 2 field and set its own value if required.

Next, enter the number in the security check and click Apply Changes. All selected records will be updated simultaneously.

Please double-check your changes before committing, as you cannot undo a bulk edit.

Merchanter does record the bulk edit in the timeline on the dashboard.

If you open the entry you can see the changes that were made and all the items affected by the bulk edit.

You also have the option to edit a selection or all of the products with the batch editor.

Searching Using Custom Attributes

Custom field values are included in each record’s search string, allowing you to use the Smart Search to filter by custom attributes.

Enter relevant keywords related to your custom fields in the search bar. For example, if you created an attribute called “Grade” and set a product to “Grade A+”, searching for “A+” will return that record.

The system will return records where those keywords match the custom attribute content

Note: This is not an exclusive field-specific search—results may include matches from other text fields in the record. While this helps locate records based on custom data, it may occasionally return broader results than expected.

Accessing Custom Fields via OData

The custom attributes you create for products, customers, or suppliers can also be accessed through the Merchanter OData feed. This enables you to incorporate custom field data into external reports, dashboards, or integrated systems, extending the utility of your tailored data beyond the Merchanter interface.

The OData feed supports up to 16 custom fields for reporting purposes. These fields are referenced numerically within the feed, corresponding to their position in the attribute table. They are named CustomAttribute1_Value through to CustomAttribute16_Value. Each numerical field maps directly to a specific custom attribute as configured in your system.

To interpret the data returned by the OData feed, you can cross-reference the numerical custom attribute fields with their definitions in the Merchanter interface.

For instance, in the example shown:

We can cross-reference CustomAttribute1_Value and CustomAttribute2_Value in the product custom attributes page.

Here we can see CustomAttribute1_Value is Colour and attribute 2 is Grade.

If you need further help with OData there are several guides available in OData - Merchanter.

Practical Use Cases

• Tag customers by "Contract Type" or "Lead Source"
• Classify products with "Grade" or "Eco-Friendly" attributes
• Add supplier-specific fields like "Certification" or "Payment Terms"

This feature enables tailored data management without altering core system structure, supporting both detailed record-keeping and efficient bulk operations.

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