What are Custom Attributes?

Custom Attributes allow you to define additional fields that can hold information about the items in your Collections. You can think of them as labels that you might add to physical items to serve as a reminder of some important information about the piece, such as the price paid or the date it was added to your collection.

We know that no two collections are the same, which is why we added a variety of Custom Attribute types in Kolekto. These give you the flexibility to add whatever information you feel is important to your items and ensure that Kolekto remains flexible for all use cases. There is no limit to how many Custom Attributes you can add to your account, and Attributes are assigned to Collections rather than individual items, so all items that you add to the specified Collection will have the Attributes available.

When creating a Custom Attribute, it is necessary to choose a type for the Attribute. Choosing the correct type for your Attribute is important, as it will impact upon the interface you are presented with when adding items. Items within a Collection can also be filtered and sorted by any Custom Attributes that they have assigned, and the type of sorting and filter offered will depend on the type used for the Custom Attribute. The list below shows the various types that are supported in Kolekto, with a simple explanation and example of each:

Short Text:

This type should be used for any Attributes whose value will be less than approximately 50 characters in length. Although there is no physical length constraint on the value an Attribute with this type can have, the user will be presented with a single-line text input, so it is therefore not recommended for fields longer than that. Short Text Attributes support any physical character (including Emoji), but do not support multiple lines of text. Short Text Attributes are great for providing location references or custom identifiers.

Long Text:

Long Text Attributes are perfect for providing lengthy text snippets to your items. Similar to the Short Text type, there is no maximum length for values assigned to a Long Text attribute, and these fields support any physical character including both Emoji and line breaks. Long Text Attributes will generate a multi-line text input, and are thus suited to data that may run on to several lines, such as descriptions or notes.

Number:

Number Attributes can contain only valid numeric values. Kolekto will also add formatting (such as thousand separators will be automatically added). Number Attributes can be extremely useful for adding Item quantities, number of pieces, etc.

Year:

Year Attributes are a great way of adding year information to your items. They present the user with a friendly year picker, and are perfect for defining the year of manufacture.

Date:

Date Attributes contain full dates, and provide the user with a datepicker for valid dates only. They are particularly suited to adding purchase dates, expiry dates or similar to your Items. Values will respect the user's specified date format.

Time:

Sometimes it is helpful to add a specific time to an item. Time Attributes provide a convenient way of adding timestamps to items via a user-friendly time picker on both the desktop and mobile application. Time Attributes are useful for defining alarms or schedules. Values will respect the user's specified time format.

Date and Time:

This type combines both Date and Time types, allowing Items to feature both a date and timestamp. They are useful for adding creation times to your Items. Any values assigned to a Date and Time Attribute will also respect the user's specified date and time formats.

Price:

Price Types allow you to easily add currency values to your items. When you create a new Price Attribute, you will also define a currency for any values (at the time of writing, Kolekto supports US Dollars, Euros and Pounds Sterling). Price Attributes can be extremely useful for defining purchase prices or values.

List:

List Attributes allow you to specify a set number of values, and present the user with a drop-down input to choose a pre-defined value from the list when adding an Item. List items can be added or removed, and may contain any alpha-numeric characters. List Attributes are excellent for adding fields that have set options, such as condition, type, manufacturer, etc.

Yes/No:

Otherwise known as boolean values, Yes/No Attributes allow you to define fields that have either a "Yes" or "No" value. Such Attributes are perfect for marking items as sold, traded, or for sale.