Module 1 of 3

Properties and values

One property for each detail. One value for each meaning. In your own words. Everything else in OneSila builds on this.

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What are properties and values?

Think of a product's spec sheet, or the label inside a T‑shirt. Each line names something about the product: that's a property. What's written next to it is the value.

Property	Value, for one T‑shirt
Colour	Navy
Size	M
Material	100% Organic Cotton
Fabric weight (gr/m2)	180

The property stays the same for every T‑shirt. The value is what changes from one product to the next.

What they're for

Being found

Shoppers filter on them in your shop. Marketplaces use them in search.

Being listed

Marketplaces won't list a product until the properties they require have a value.

The product page

The specs on a product page, care instructions, safety notes: shoppers read them before they buy.

Writing content

OneSila's AI uses them to write titles and descriptions. Better properties, better text.

Your own records

Supplier, shipping or customs details. With Public Information off, they stay in OneSila.

Saying it once

You fill in a value once, in OneSila. Every channel gets it in the form it needs.

The same idea, other words

In OneSila	What others call it
Property	Attribute (Magento, WooCommerce, Amazon), aspect (eBay), metafield (Shopify), specification, characteristic
Value	Attribute value, option (Magento), term (WooCommerce)
Select Values	The list of options for one property: value list, picklist, dropdown

All your properties and values together are sometimes called your taxonomy: the way you describe your whole catalogue.

The basics

Every channel asks about your products

Your webshop wants a T‑shirt's colour and size, so shoppers can filter on them. Amazon wants colour, size, brand and material before it lists the shirt. eBay asks almost the same, but never quite. Each of these is a product detail.

Amazon · Shirt

Color *

Size *

Brand Name *

Collar Style

eBay · T‑shirts

Colour *

Size *

Fit *

Neck style

Your webshop

Colour, Size, Material… You decide which ones shoppers can filter on.

Simplified examples. * means the marketplace requires it.

Same detail, different words Amazon says Color, eBay says Colour, your webshop says whatever you decide. In OneSila you describe the product once, in your own words. Linking your words to each marketplace's words is called mapping. More on this in module 3.

Why it matters Your team writes Navy on some T‑shirts and navy blue on others. Your webshop now shows two colour filters for one colour, and a shopper who clicks Navy misses half your T‑shirts. One small mess in your values shows up wherever your products go.

In this module you learn to

Choose the right property type for a detail.
Keep values consistent: one value for one meaning.
Clean up values after an import.
Name properties in your own words, and know where those names show up.

Step 1

Pick the right kind of property

Every property holds one kind of value, called its Type. The type decides what people can fill in. Pick it to match the detail, not the first thing that comes to mind.

Single Select

One option from a list. Colour: Navy. Size: M.

Multiselect

Several options from a list. Activity: Running, Hiking.

Whole Number Decimal Number

A number. Put the unit in the name: Fabric weight (gr/m2), and fill in the number only.

Yes/No Choice

Yes or no. Can it be gift wrapped?

Short Text Description

Free text. Only for text that's different on every product.

Date Date and Time

A launch date, a best‑before date.

Properties list with type, products, rules and public information — Properties › Properties. Each property with its type, how many products use it, how many product rules it's in, and whether it's Public Information.

A rule of thumb Do the answers repeat across products? Make it a list: Single Select, or Multiselect when a product can have several. Is it a measurement? A number, with the unit in the name. Should shoppers filter on it? Then a Single Select of the numbers works better. Free text only for what's truly unique.
Does the customer choose it when they buy, like the size of a shirt? Use Single Select: one clear choice from a list. That's what lets one product come in several sizes. More on this in module 2.

Step 2

One meaning, one value

The options in a list are called Select Values. A list only helps when each meaning appears once. Navy is one value. Not "Navy", "navy blue" and "NVY" side by side.

Select Values tab of the Colour property — Properties › Colour › Select Values. A tidy list: seven colours, each once. Usage count shows how many products use each one.

On your webshop

Every value becomes a filter option. Two spellings of one colour means two filter options, and shoppers miss half your products.

On a marketplace

Each of your values is mapped to one of theirs, once. Two values for one meaning means two mappings that can point different ways.

A real case A customer's catalogue had "disco party" and "DIsco parties" as two values of the same property, plus British and American spellings side by side. Support's advice: merge them into one value. In their words: "The cleaner the properties, the cleaner the pushes to other channels will be." Step 3 shows how.

Step 3

Tidy your values after an import

When you import a channel, most of its values get mapped to yours on the way in. Some mess still slips through, and it's worth a look once the import is done.

Free text becomes a list

Some marketplace details are free text, like Amazon's text fields or a Mirakl attribute without a list. When your property is a list, every different spelling becomes its own value. So "Navy" and "navy" both show up.

Old values come along

Values typed differently over the years arrive as separate values too. Look at the Usage count: a value with 0 is used by no product.

Four organic cotton values selected, with the Merge button — Properties › Select Values, searching "organic cotton". Three identical values and a near‑duplicate, all in Material. Only one is used, by 6 products. They're selected, ready to merge.

Search the list. Type a word you use a lot, like a colour or material, in Select Values.

Select the duplicates and click Merge. Pick the value to keep. The others are merged into it and deleted.

Products follow. Every product that used a merged value now has the kept one. Its channel mappings move along too.

Merging only works within one property. "Navy" in Colour and "Navy" in Fabric Colour stay separate.

Step 4

Your words, not theirs

Properties are yours. Name them the way your team talks: Colour, not Color, if that's what you say. Each channel's own words are handled by mapping, not by renaming.

On your storefront, names show as they are

Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce get your property names and values exactly as they are in OneSila. Rename Size to "Size (Amazon)" to keep track, and shoppers see "Size (Amazon)". A property only one marketplace needs, like Style (eBay), is fine when it really is a different detail. Just keep it out of your storefront's rule: module 3 shows how.

On a marketplace, mapping translates

Amazon says Color, you say Colour. You map Colour to Color once. Amazon gets its own word and its own values. Your names stay yours. Module 3 explains more.

General tab of the Colour property — Properties › Colour. **Public Information** on means the property is sent to your channels. **Translations** holds its name in other languages: each channel gets the language it asks for.

OneSila helps When you create a property with a name close to one you have, OneSila shows Properties with Similar Names Found. Use the one you have, unless it really is a different detail.

Your turn Open Properties › Select Values and search for a colour or size you sell a lot, like "navy" or "xl". Do you see one value twice, or two spellings of one thing? Note them down. That's your first clean‑up after an import.

Check yourself

6 questions

Pick one answer for each. You'll see right away if it's right, and why.

1In "Colour: Navy", which is the property and which is the value?

Show the answer

Right answer: B. Colour is the property, Navy is the value. The property names the detail. The value is what's filled in for this product. Colour is the same for every T‑shirt; Navy changes from one to the next.
2People write the same colour in different ways: Navy, navy blue, NVY. Which type stops that?

Show the answer

Right answer: C. Single Select. Everyone picks the same Navy from a list, so nobody can type "NVY". Short Text and Description are free text, so the mess stays. Yes/No only holds yes or no.
3A shirt comes in S, M and L, and the customer picks one. Which type fits Size?

Show the answer

Right answer: D. Single Select. The customer picks exactly one size: one clear choice from a list. Multiselect allows several at once, and a shirt can't be S and M at the same time.
4A value has a Usage count of 0. What does that mean?

Show the answer

Right answer: A. No product uses it. Usage count shows how many products use a value. A 0 is often a leftover, for example from an import. A good one to merge or remove.
5Material has "100% Organic Cotton" three times. One is used by 6 products, the others by none. What do you do?

Show the answer

Right answer: C. Merge them into one. The products follow. Merge keeps one value and moves every product to it. Deleting the one in use (B) leaves 6 products without a material. Leaving them (A) keeps the mess.
6You rename Size to "Size (Amazon)". What do shoppers on your Shopify store see?

Show the answer

Right answer: B. Size (Amazon). Storefronts show your names exactly as they are in OneSila. Name properties for the people who read them.

Next · Module 2

Product rules

A product rule defines what a kind of product is: which properties belong together, and how strict each one is. It brings structure to your catalogue, and tells you when a product is finished.

Go to module 2