Some items need the buyer to answer a question before adding them to the cart, such as a name to engrave, a ribbon colour, or a date to print. Modifier options collect that answer. A modification rule can then adjust the price or weight for a specific answer, such as adding a surcharge for premium gift wrap.
What It Controls
You manage modifier options on the merchandise item form in the Modifier Options card. You manage related price and weight changes in the Price/Weight Modification Rules panel below it.
Prerequisites
- The merchandise item you want to personalize, open on the create or edit form.
- Open the item and switch on Modifier Options.
- Choose Add Modifier Option to create a question for this item only, or choose Add Shared Modifier Option to reuse a question defined once for your whole catalog.
- For an item-only question, set its Type: (see the table below), enter the Name: the buyer sees, and review the Option ID:. Rhythm generates the ID from the name, and price or weight rules use it to find the question.
- Tick This modifier option is required if the buyer must answer the question before buying.
- Save the option, then save the item.
Question Types
| Type | What the buyer does | Extra settings |
|---|---|---|
| Text | Types an answer | Optionally limit the answer to a maximum number of characters you set |
| Dropdown | Picks one value from a list you enter | Optionally set a default value |
| Checkbox | Ticks a yes-or-no box | — |
| Date | Supplies a date | — |
A shared modifier option is defined once in your catalog setup and can be added to any number of items. You still decide separately for each item whether the question is required.
Price and Weight Rules
After an item has at least one question, you can add a rule in the Price/Weight Modification Rules panel. The rule checks the buyer’s answer to a chosen question. When the answer matches one or more trigger values, the rule changes the price, the member price, or both, or it changes the weight. Each change adds, subtracts, or multiplies by the amount you enter.
Warning
A configured price adjustment has been reproduced where it does not take effect in the store's shopping cart, even though the rule is set up correctly. If a buyer's cart does not reflect the surcharge or discount you expect from a modifier answer, verify the total with staff before assuming your rule is wrong.
- Choose Add Price/Weight Modification Rule.
- Pick the Modifier Option: the rule reacts to, then choose the Trigger Values: that should fire it. Trigger values are offered only for questions with a fixed list of values, such as a dropdown.
- Tick Adjust the price, member price, or both to change the price. Choose an Operation: (add, subtract, or multiply), enter an Amount:, and choose whether the change applies to the price, the member price, or both.
- Tick Adjust the weight to change the shipping weight in the same way.
- Save the rule, then save the item.
Dependencies and Precedence
- You must switch on personalization before you can add any question or rule. If you switch it off later, buyers no longer see the questions, but the saved questions and rules stay on the item.
- A price or weight rule identifies a question by its identifier. If you remove that question from the item, or the identifier changes because the question name changed, the rule no longer points to a question.
Change Impact
Warning
Removing a modifier option does not remove any rule that refers to it. After that, you cannot save the item until you either delete the orphaned rule or restore a question with that identifier.
Tip
An item's Option ID is generated from its Name and regenerates every time you change the name, even for a question you already saved. If a price or weight rule already refers to the old identifier, renaming the question can silently break that rule. Check the rules panel after renaming a question.
Validation and Errors
| What you see | Why | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Duplicate modifier option IDs detected | Two modifier options on the item have the same identifier, including a shared option added twice | Remove or rename one of them |
| Modifier references missing modifier option "<id>" | A price or weight rule names a question that the item no longer has | Delete the rule, or restore a question with that identifier |
| The question section will not save without at least one value | A dropdown question was saved with no values entered | Add at least one value, or remove the question |
Related
- Set Up Warehouses and Bins: where the stock a personalized item ships from is organized.
- Custom Fields Explained: the Platform mechanism for storing extra data on a record, which is a different tool from a buyer-facing modifier option.