# Set up Ribbon's metafields

Chapter 7 of the Ribbon user guide.

Ribbon's fit scale, model line, size charts, pairings, drop dates and edit kicker read product **metafields** in the `custom` namespace, the one Shopify admin uses when you create a definition. Size charts are **metaobjects**: you write a chart once (Dresses and tops, Knitwear, Shoes) and pick it on every product it fits. Two **product tags** add badges. You don't need an app, and you only need the data for the features you use: a shop that sells only one-size accessories can skip the fit and the size chart. Every feature hides when its data is empty, and the Fit and size block has **fallback** settings you can fill instead (chapter 9), so nothing breaks while you fill them in.

## What Ribbon reads

| Name (yours to choose) | Namespace and key | Type | Example | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Fit | `custom.fit` | **Integer**, one value, with validation minimum 1 and maximum 5 | `4` | The five-step **fit scale** and its advice: 1 Runs small, 2 Runs a little small, 3 True to size, 4 Runs a little large, 5 Runs large (chapter 9). Also nudges Find my size's answer, and shows as a Fit row on the compare page. |
| Model info | `custom.model_info` | **Single line text**, one value | Model is 175 cm (5′9″) and wears S. | The **model line** after the fit advice (chapter 9), and the Model row on the compare page |
| Size chart | `custom.size_chart` | **Metaobject**, one value, referencing the **Size chart** definition (`size_chart`, below) | Dresses and tops | The product's **size guide** and **Find my size** (chapter 9) |
| Wear it with | `custom.wear_it_with` | **Product**, **List of products** | Rosie bow cardigan, Margot satin ballet flats, Mimi mini shoulder bag | The **Wear it with** section, the cart drawer's pairing and the **Wear it with link** (chapter 10) |
| Drop at | `custom.drop_at` | **Date and time**, one value | 31 Oct 2026, 6:00 pm | Shows the product as **Coming soon** everywhere (product page, quick view, cards) until that moment (chapter 11) |
| Edit | `custom.edit` | **Single line text**, one value | The spring edit | The kicker above the product title, from the **Product metadata** block (chapter 6). Optional: without it, the kicker shows the product's collection. |

And two product tags:

| Tag | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| `restocked` | A **Back in stock** badge on cards, quick view and the product page while the product is available. The tag is set in **Theme settings › Product cards › Back in stock tag** ("restocked" by default; capitals don't matter). Remove the tag when the restock is no longer news. |
| `new` | A **New** badge, whatever the product's publish date. Without the tag, products get the badge for **Theme settings › Product cards › New badge for** days (21) after they're published. Write it as `new` or `New`. |

Two more are filled in by review apps, not by you: `reviews.rating` and `reviews.rating_count` give the stars and "4.9 · 86 reviews" in the **Price** block. And a **Spec row** (chapter 6) can show any metafield you create, such as `custom.fabric`.

## Step 1: create the Size chart metaobject definition

Skip this step if you don't want size charts of your own: the Fit and size block's **Default size chart** then serves every product (chapter 9).

1. In admin, go to **Settings › Custom data**, scroll to **Metaobject definitions** and click **Add definition**.
2. Name it **Size chart**. Check that its **Type** (the handle under the name) is exactly `size_chart`, and change it if it isn't.
3. Add four fields. For each, type the name, check its **key** is exactly the one below (keys are case-sensitive), and choose the type:

| Field name | Key | Type | What goes in it |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Title | `title` | **Single line text** | The chart's name, shown under "Size guide" after the product title: "Dresses and tops" |
| Unit | `unit` | **Single line text** | `cm` or `in`: the unit the rows are written in. Anything else uses the block's **Chart unit**. |
| Rows | `rows` | **Multi-line text** | The chart itself, in the pipe format below |
| Notes | `notes` | **Rich text** | How to measure, shown under the chart: "Measure over underwear with the tape level and snug, not tight." Empty uses the block's **Chart notes**. |

4. Under the definition's access options, make sure **Storefronts** access is on, so your theme can read the charts. If you turn on **Active-draft status**, set each chart to **Active**: a draft chart isn't shown.
5. **Save**. Then add your charts under **Content › Metaobjects › Size chart › Add entry**, one per kind of garment.

## The pipe format

The **Rows** field, the Fit and size block's **Default size chart** and the Size guide section's **Size chart** all use the same format:

```
Size | Bust | Waist | Hip
XS | 78-82 | 60-64 | 86-90
S | 82-86 | 64-68 | 90-94
M | 86-90 | 68-72 | 94-98
L | 90-96 | 72-78 | 98-104
XL | 96-102 | 78-84 | 104-110
```

* **One line per row.** Cells are separated by `|`, and spaces around them don't matter. Blank lines and lines starting with `#` are ignored, so you can leave yourself notes.
* **The first line is the header.** Its first cell names the size column ("Size"); the others name the measurements ("Bust", "Waist", "Hip", or any names you like: "Length" or "Inside leg" are shown in the table too).
* **Every other line is one size**: the size label first, written as your size option's values are (matched without regard to capitals, so `xs` finds "XS"), then one cell per measurement, as a range `from-to` (a hyphen or an en dash, such as `82-86` or `82–86`) or a single number (`88`). Use `.` for decimals (`33.5`).
* **Find my size** uses the columns whose header contains **bust** or **chest**, **waist** and **hip** (capitals don't matter). A chart with none of them, such as a shoe chart (`Size | Foot length`), shows the table without Find my size.
* A line whose measurement cells aren't numbers is shown as you wrote it but skipped by Find my size. A chart with fewer than two lines that read as numbers isn't used: the product falls back to the block's **Default size chart**.

Write each chart in the unit you measure in: shoppers can switch the table between cm and in, and the theme converts it for them (chapter 9).

## Step 2: create the product metafield definitions

In admin, go to **Settings › Custom data › Products** and click **Add definition** for each metafield you need:

1. Type the **Name** (yours to choose; it's what you see when you edit a product).
2. Check the **Namespace and key** under it and change it to exactly the key in the table above. Shopify suggests `custom.` plus the name, so "Model info" gives `custom.model_info`, but "Model" would give `custom.model`, which the theme won't find. Keys are case-sensitive.
3. Click **Select type** and choose the type in the table:
   * **Fit**: **Integer**, **One value**. Add validation: **Minimum value** 1 and **Maximum value** 5.
   * **Model info** and **Edit**: **Single line text**, **One value**.
   * **Size chart**: **Metaobject**, **One value**, and choose the **Size chart** definition from step 1.
   * **Wear it with**: **Product**, **List of products**.
   * **Drop at**: **Date and time**, **One value**.
4. **Save**.

## Step 3: fill them in

Open a product in admin and scroll to **Metafields**: every definition you created is listed there. Pick the product's size chart from your entries, choose its pairings from your products, and type its fit and model line. To fill many products at once, use **Bulk edit** from the products list and add the metafield columns. Add the `restocked` and `new` tags in the product's **Tags** field.

## How the theme reads what you type

* **Fit** must be a whole number from 1 to 5; anything else (or nothing) uses the block's **Fit when a product has none** setting.
* **Model info** is printed as you wrote it, after the fit advice. Write a whole sentence: "Model is 175 cm (5′9″) and wears S."
* **Wear it with** shows available pieces first, in your order, and skips the product itself and anything already in the shopper's bag.
* **Drop at** is a moment in your store's time zone. Products are gated only while it is in the future; once it passes, nothing changes on the product and it sells as normal.

## What shows without the data

| Missing | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| Fit | The block's **Fit when a product has none** (0 by default, which hides the scale) |
| Model info | The block's **Model line when a product has none**; empty shows no model line |
| Size chart | The block's **Default size chart**, **Chart unit** and **Chart notes** |
| Wear it with | Shopify's complementary products, then related products, when the Wear it with section's **Products** is Automatic (chapter 10); the Wear it with link and its own source show nothing |
| Drop at | The product isn't gated, unless the Next drop section's grid shows it (chapter 11) |
| Edit | The kicker shows the collection the shopper came through, or the product's first collection |

In the theme editor, blocks with no data show a sample tagged **Sample** so you can see the design; shoppers never see it.

> **Note:** The block's fallbacks are typed into the product template, so they show on **every product that uses this template**. Use them for a catalog where most products share one chart, or on a template you make for those products (in the theme editor, **Create template** from the product template and assign it to those products in admin). For a mixed catalog, use the metafields.