My categories are showing the wrong specifications or filters on the website
The following article includes a few tips on things to check for when the filters\specifications on the site don't match what you're seeing in Attribute Manager. The following information is only applicable if you use Attribute Manager for your categories.
Make sure the data on your site is up to date
You might have made changes to filters or specifications in Attribute Manager that haven't been updated on the site yet. Changes you make in Attribute Manager aren't automatically updated to the site. Newly added filters\specifications and changes to existing ones need to be exported from the Attribute Manager using the "Export Data to File" function from the Export Data tab. After the export, your changes will get picked up and sent to the site by the next scheduled update (these usually run every 4 hours).
You're seeing filters/specifications on the site, but you don't see them in Attribute Manager
For example: Your Attribute Manager data has been exported and a data update has run to send your data to the site, so everything is up to date. You have an item in a category called Safety Equipment. On the site that item has an attribute called Type associated with it. When you look at that item in the Safety Equipment category in Attribute Manager, you don't see the Type attribute.
If your data is up to date, this is commonly caused by the same item being in more than one category. Attributes that are associated with an item, follow that item wherever they appear on the site.
Here is an example of how it works: If an item is in the Safety Equipment category and has the attribute Size, and the same item is in the Safety Glasses category with the attribute Type, that item will show the Size and Type attributes in both Safety Equipment and Safety Glasses on the site.
A quick and easy way to see if an item is in more than one category, and what attributes it has in those categories is to do a search for the item in Attribute Manager. From the Add or Import Items tab, click "Search Items". You can then enter an item code and will get a list of categories that the item is in. Clicking on one of the category names from there will then show you the attributes that are a part of that category. All attributes you see listed under any of the categories that are returned when you search for that item will show up on that item wherever it appears on the site.
You see the filter/specification in Attribute Manager, but it's grayed out, and you can't remove it
Categories under other categories (subcategories) will inherit the attributes of their parent category.
If, for instance, the Safety Equipment category has an attribute called Size, and Safety Equipment has a category under it called Safety Glasses, Safety Glasses will also have the attribute Size. When you view Safety Glasses in Attribute Manager, it would show the attribute grayed out, and it can't be removed because the attribute belongs to the category above it (Safety Equipment).
The only way to remove an inherited attribute is to remove it from the category it's assigned to.
Note: If there are no items in the subcategory that have values for the inherited attribute, it would not display it on the subcategory.
You see a "Brand" filter on the site, but you don’t see it in Attribute Manager
Brand is a system generated filter that will automatically be shown on the site. This filter is populated by the BrandorSupplierName field. For more information on how the BrandorSupplierName field is generated, see our article on Supplier Information.
If you'd prefer to create your own Brand filter using Attribute Manager data, or you just don't want a Brand filter at all, contact Aldrich Web Solutions to turn off the system generated Brand filter.
You see a "Item Weight" specification on the site, but you don’t see it in Attribute Manager
Item Weight is a system generated specification. It gets populated with the Item Weight that is assigned to an item in WebAlliance. If the item doesn't have a weight, the Item Weight specification won't be displayed for that item. You won't see this specification in Attribute Manager, but it will appear on the items on the site by default. If you would like to remove the Item Weight specification, contact Aldrich Web Solutions.