Custom Fields and What They Can Do For Your Miva Merchant Store

Today’s blog post comes to us from Miva Merchant Associate Web Developer, Michael Serna

You’ve seen them in your Admin panel under the utilities tab, but what do they do? Custom Product Fields, Custom Category Fields, and Custom Customer Fields can add a degree of sophistication to your store that can help to push you ahead of the pack.

In this post, I am going to illustrate to you some of the many different ways that custom fields can be used to customize your Miva Merchant store.

Custom Category Fields

Let’s begin with Custom Category Fields since they are possibly the first that you might encounter during normal browsing in your store. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could specify something about a specific category in one location in your store, and have it display on every pertinent category page? You can, with Custom Category Fields!

In the following example, a Custom Category Field* is being used to specify which categories should display on Miva Merchant’s Facebook Social Commerce page, whereas in the default layout only products can be displayed.

Consider the following applications:

• A category of shoes that share the same size chart
• A category of veterinary medicine all pertaining to the same breed of animal
• A category of mobile devices are offered with the same GB SD Card
• A category of dietary food items that all have the same caloric range
• A category of clothing with each item containing identical wash instructions. 

*Note: Custom Category Fields need to be referenced with a module called Toolkit*

Custom Product Fields

Custom Product Fields are by far the most commonly used custom field type used in Miva Merchant stores, with Custom Customer Fields quickly growing in popularity. Rather than adding lists of specifications and features in the product description, you can create custom fields for each spec and feature,  and then only display the ones that hold a value! This can be used on the PROD page or in the product list display on the CTGY page!

In the following image, the elements outlined in red are being pulled in from Custom Product Fields.

Consider the following applications

• Setting a specific icon next to the product thumbnail in the category page, such as a sale tag, or an eco-friendly icon
• Listing the gold type or the carat count of a piece of jewelry
• Storing file paths to brochures tied to specific products to open in a PDF on click
• Storing fabric types or washing instructions for clothing items
• Storing a link to a product video

Custom Customer Fields

Custom Customer Fields are increasingly growing in popularity in a lot of Miva Merchant stores. Imagine the customer information that you can collect and store with the use of Miva Merchant’s dynamic database. We know that your business keeps track of more than just your customer’s billing and shipping addresses. Let us help you organize your customer information.

In the following example, Custom Customer Fields* are used to store additional information pertinent to the store’s functionality. This removes the need for the customer to enter the same information for every purchase.

Consider the following applications:

• Store the name of your customer’s sales agent
• Store the name and birthday of your customer’s pets on your animal care site
• Store repeat special requests regarding shipping and handling
• Track how often individual customers are logging in to your store by storing their last login or a count of their total logins
• Track whether or not a customer has signed an agreement with a digital signature

*Note: Custom Customer Fields need to be referenced with a module called Toolkit. All information contained in Custom Customer Fields is tied to the Customer’s Account and thus, only available to display when they are logged in to your store.*