In MyCashflow, you can use product variations to differentiate between models, colors, or sizes of the same product. For instance, if you sell clothes, you can create separate variations for each color and size of the product.

You can create an unlimited number of variations, and doing so won't consume the product limit of your MyCashflow plan.

After you've created variations for the product, the visitors will select just one variation for purchase.

To see all variations of a product, in the admin panel's product card, go to the Stock tab.

Creating product variations

Product variations can be created in the admin panel, in the product card's Stock tab.

If a stock balance has been defined for the main product, to add product variations, first you must disable the main product's stock balance.

To track the stock balance for a product that has variations, define a separate stock balance for each variation.

  1. To select the product for which you'd like to create a new variation, select the product's name from the product list on the Products page.

    The product card opens.

  2. To create a new variation, go to the product card's Stock tab, and select the option There are product variations.
  3. Click Add variation.

    The product variation form opens.

  4. Provide all the necessary information in the form. If you leave any of the fields empty, the main product's information will be used instead (apart from the product code).
    Product codes for variations are mainly used for identifying the variation during data transfers between MyCashflow and other software.

    Make sure that the product codes are unique

    If multiple products or variations have the same product code, errors are bound to occur during data transfer between systems.

    Do not use the same product codes for products and variations. Even if duplicate product codes do not result in any errors, they will make it more difficult to manage the products.

    If a variation doesn't have its own product code, the product code for the main product won't be used in its place.

  5. To define stock information for an individual variation, select the option Enable stock tracking for this product.
  6. Finally, click Save.

    The product variation will be displayed in a separate row on the product variation list.

Using the variation splitter

You can use the variation splitter to display different properties for a product variation in the form of drop-down menus on your online store's product pages. You may want to use the variation splitter with product variations that have multiple properties requiring selection (e.g. size and color). In such a case, the customer will be able to select the desired variation based on its properties displayed in drop-down menus.

The variation splitter requires support in the store theme

If the variation splitter doesn't work on the product page, most probably it's not supported in the store theme.

When necessary, read more about adding support for the variation splitter to the store theme.

Note: The variation splitter doesn't support product bundles.

MyCashflow's latest default theme does not contain ready support for the variation splitter.

To create a variation by using the variation splitter:

  1. In the product card's Stock tab, click Add variation.
  2. In the variation's name, indicate its properties according to the example below:

    Property name: value | Property name: value

    For instance, for a T-shirt that comes in different sizes and colors, you can provide the following information in the variation's name:

    Size: S | Color: Red

    Size: S | Color: Green

    Size: S | Color: Blue

    Size: L | Color: Red

    Size: L | Color: Green

  3. Finally, click Save.

The variation splitter automatically converts the variations created according to the example above into interactive drop-down menus in your online store. The available options are created in the same order in which you indicate them.

Adding support for the variation splitter to the store theme

If the variation splitter doesn't work in the online store even though the variations have been named according to the required pattern, the store theme most probably doesn't support the variation splitter.

Enabling the variation splitter involves modifying the theme's HTML/CSS/JavaScript files. If you're not familiar with it, contact the designer of your store theme or our customer service.

See the theme guide article for the installation of the variation splitter.

Managing variation images

You can define variation-specific product images that will be displayed e.g. on product pages, at checkout and in notifications sent to customers from your online store.

Attaching product images to variations

The admin panel allows you to attach product images to variations in two different ways, which are presented below.

Variation images aren't compatible with the variation splitter.

If variations' names use the variation splitter, variations with product images won't work correctly on the product page:

  • Selecting a variation doesn't work in the purchase form for images attached to variations via the variation image tool on the product card.
  • Variation images attached by using captions aren't displayed in the image gallery.

Attaching product images to variations via the product card

The admin panel's product card provides an easy-to-use tool for attaching images to variations.

When you attach product images to variations in this way, the images will be displayed on the product page provided that the variation images' Interface tags have been added to the product template (themes/shop/THEME/product.html).

If necessary, see detailed instructions on how to implement variation images in the theme.

If you're not familiar with modifying your store theme's HTML/CSS/JavaScript files, contact the designer of your online store's theme or our customer service.

  1. Open the desired product for editing on the admin panel's Products page.
  2. Make sure that the image that you'd like to attach to a variation has been added to the product.
  3. In the Stock tab, click the desired variation's image.

    You will see all the images added to the product that can be attached to the variation.

  4. Select the desired image and click Save.

The image is now attached to the variation.

Attaching product images to variations by using captions

If the store theme doesn't support the product card's variation image tool, you can attach a product image to a variation by settings the variation's name as the image's caption.

When attaching product images to variations in this way, the selected variation's image will be displayed on the product page provided that the store theme is equipped with the JavaScript plugin used for changing gallery images.

Learn how to enable the plugin.

If you're not familiar with modifying your store theme's HTML/CSS/JavaScript files, contact the designer of your online store's theme or our customer service.

  1. Open the desired product for editing on the admin panel's Products page.
  2. Make sure that the image that you'd like to attach to a variation has been added to the product.
  3. From the product image list on the product card, select the newly added product image.

    The image's details and settings will open.

  4. As the image's caption, provide the name of the variation that the image should be attached to.

    Also, update the caption for the main product's image to correspond to one of the product's variations so that the image can be displayed when the variation is selected.

  5. Save the caption and close the image details. Repeat these steps for each variation that should have an individual image.

    Finally, visit your store's customer area to make sure that the image has been attached to the desired variation.

When the customer selects another variation in your store's customer area, the product image attached to the variation will be displayed.

You can now define other variations' images in the same way.

Removing images from variations

If you've attached the wrong product image to a variation, you can remove it by removing that product image from the product. As a result, the product's main image will be set as the variation's product image.

Ordering variations

  1. Grab the icon on the left side of the row. The icon becomes visible when you hold the pointer over the row.
  2. Drag the whole row to the desired location on the list.

    The variations' order will be instantly updated in your online store.

Linking to variations

After you've created product variations in your online store, you can create direct links to any of them by adding the variation's ID in the format ?variation_id=8 to the product link.

When a visitor follows the link to the product page, the variation of your choice is going to be selected on the page.

You can check variations' IDs by using e.g. the CSV export.