Shuttle can fill in Etsy attributes for you when it sends Shopify products to Etsy. You set the values once for each Etsy category, and Shuttle applies them to every matching product, so you don't have to edit each listing on Etsy afterwards.
What are Etsy attributes?
Etsy attributes are extra details Etsy keeps for a listing, such as color, occasion or size. They help Etsy sort your products and show them to shoppers.
Each Etsy category has its own set of attributes. On the Etsy Attributes page in Shuttle, a red asterisk marks the attributes that Etsy requires for a category.
Where to set Etsy attributes
You set Etsy attributes in Shuttle under Settings > Catalog Mapping > Etsy Attributes. The page holds two kinds of values:
Global Attributes: values for every product, whatever its category.
Category attributes: values for one Etsy category, kept in templates.
Set attributes for an Etsy category
On the Etsy Attributes page, click Add category, search for the Etsy category and click Select. Categories you have already added are in the category list at the top of the page.
The category opens with its Default template. Fill in the values you want for products in this category. Leave an attribute empty to skip it.
Click Save.
Shuttle applies the values of the Etsy category that the product is sent to Etsy with.
See Ensuring Your Products Are Assigned to the Correct Categories to control which category each product gets.
Take attribute values from Shopify metafields
Each attribute in a category's Default template can take its value from a Shopify metafield, so products can carry their own values. In the Default template, each attribute has a Shopify metafield key column, where you enter the metafield as namespace.key.
If the product has a value in that metafield, Shuttle sends that value instead of the one you set on the Etsy Attributes page. If the metafield is empty, Shuttle uses the value from the page.
Two limits apply to metafield keys:
You can only enter metafield keys in the Default template.
Attributes that take more than one value can't be linked to a metafield.
Use templates for groups of products
Templates let you give some products in an Etsy category different values from the rest. Each category starts with its Default template, and you can add more.
Open the category and click Add template.
Name the template (up to 24 characters) and click Save name.
Fill in the values for this group of products.
Click Automate, then choose an option under Assign based on…:
Tags: the product has one of these tags.
Title keyword: the product's title contains one of these words.
Collections: the product is in one of these Shopify collections. Enter the collection names exactly as they appear in Shopify.
Etsy sections: the product is in one of these Etsy sections.
Separate multiple values with commas, then click Save.
Upper and lower case don't matter in template rules. A title keyword also matches part of a word, so "hood" matches "Hoodie".
For example, say you sell hoodies and t-shirts in the same Etsy category. Create a template named Hoodies, fill in your hoodie values, and set it to apply to products tagged "hoodie". Your hoodies then get those values, and everything else in the category gets the Default template.
Which template does a product get?
Shuttle picks one template for each product, based on the template rules in its Etsy category:
If a product matches a template's rule, Shuttle uses that template.
If it matches no template, Shuttle uses the Default template.
Any attribute left empty in the chosen template is filled from the Default template, and then from Global Attributes.
If a product matches more than one template, Shuttle uses only one of them, so keep your rules from overlapping.
Shuttle never applies a template without a rule on its own. It only uses that template when you pick it by hand while transferring a single product to Etsy.
Set Global Attributes
Global Attributes give every product a value, whatever its category. On the Etsy Attributes page, choose Global Attributes (all products) in the category list, or click Configure Global Attributes.
Global Attributes fill any attribute that a product's category templates leave empty, as long as Etsy offers that attribute for the category.
When does Shuttle apply Etsy attributes?
Shuttle always applies Etsy attributes when it transfers a new product to Etsy.
When Shuttle updates a product, it applies attributes only when Attributes is one of the fields you choose to update and the Master Switch doesn't block it. Even then, Shuttle only fills attributes that are still empty on the Etsy listing. It never changes an attribute that already has a value on Etsy.
Shuttle also leaves alone any attribute that the listing uses for its variations.
If Etsy doesn't accept an attribute, the listing is still transferred without it.
Choose attributes when transferring a single product
When you transfer a single product to Etsy, you can choose its Etsy category in the transfer window. You can then pick a template from the Template list, or set the attributes by hand.
Fill Shopify metafields from Etsy attributes
The metafield keys in a category's Default template also work in the other direction. When Shuttle transfers an Etsy product to Shopify, it copies the listing's attribute values into the linked metafields.
The metafield must already exist in your Shopify store. When you update products, Shuttle copies these values only when Metafields is one of the fields you choose to update.