¶ Properties and locations - flexible fields in Hummerce

Properties in Hummerce let you describe an item, a category, a customer, an order, or almost any other object with any field you need - a name, a color, a weight, a description, a photo or a file - without changing the store's code. Locations decide where and in what order a given property appears: in a specific admin panel tab, or in a specific place in the store. This is the foundation that the item catalog, variants, product configurators and multiple views in one store are built on.

As of Hummerce: a core platform feature - available in all current versions, updated 2026-09-29.

¶ Benefits and use cases

Any number of fields without code changes - a new property for an item, a customer or an order is created in the panel, not in a development project.
Multi-language properties - a separate value for each store language, e.g. a product's name and description in Polish and English.
Multi-value properties - one property holds several values at once, e.g. several colors of one item.
Multi-view properties - a separate value for each view; when a view has no value of its own, the store shows the default view's value. Traits can be freely combined - a property can be multi-language, multi-value and multi-view at the same time.
One property, many places - locations let the same property appear on several admin panel and store screens without duplicating data.
The foundation for variants, configurators and search - property types and values drive item variants, Search and filters and Virtual categories.
Moving a field set between stores - property and location definitions can be exported and imported as a file, without manually rebuilding the configuration.

¶ How it works

¶ Property types

A property's behavior depends on its type, set once when it is created. Basic types:

Short text - a single line of text.
Long text - multi-line text.
Yes/No - only two values.
Integer - a whole number, e.g. 20.
Floating-point number - a number with a decimal part, e.g. 19.99.
HTML - content edited by default in the WYSIWYG editor.
Money - a price with tax, a gross/net variant and a currency.
Enum - a list of values to choose from.
Date - a date-formatted value, usually with a calendar picker when editing.
Percent - a percentage value, e.g. a discount.
Image/Photo - a link to an image, with the option to upload a file, alt text and a target link.
File - a link to a file, with the option to upload it.
A dozen or so further, more specialized types - the full list with the names shown in the panel is returned by the ec2_property_types tool in the AI assistant.

By default the store shows and edits a property according to its type (e.g. an upload button for an image). A property's type cannot be changed after it is created - a different type requires a new property.

¶ Kinds of properties

Regardless of type, every property can be marked with one or more traits:

multi-language - values stored separately for each store language,
multi-value - the property holds more than one value at once,
multi-view - a default value that every view can override with its own (Views).

¶ Advanced property settings

A property that acts as a dictionary of values (typically an enum) has extra settings:

whether the value must come only from the dictionary, or the operator can enter a new one,
whether a newly entered value is added to the dictionary,
whether only values already saved in the dictionary are shown when editing,
whether the store suggests synonyms for the entered value to the operator.

¶ Locations

A location decides where a property appears - e.g. in an item edit tab, in the customer registration form, or when copying customer data to an order.

Location symbols usually have a three-part structure, e.g. itemAdminList: item (the object the location relates to) + Admin (the admin panel, as opposed to Shop - the storefront) + List (the specific place, e.g. a list).
Locations can be arranged in a tree - this is how, for example, the tabs in an object's edit view in the panel are built.
Editing a location lets you change its settings and manage the properties assigned to it: add, reorder and remove them.

¶ Importing and exporting properties (Data transfer)

Property definitions, together with the locations they appear in, can be exported and imported as an XML file through Data transfer - this is how a field set is moved between Hummerce stores, or how a configuration backup is saved.
A separate XML file format carries the property values saved on specific objects (e.g. static pages, property categories) - as opposed to the definitions themselves.
Importing properties can either add new elements or overwrite existing ones - overwriting attributes, meta-parameters or locations are separate options, each applying to the whole selected import scope at once.
Exporting lets you narrow the scope to a chosen language, view and property creation date.

¶ Version

Properties and locations are a core mechanism of the Hummerce platform - it works in all current versions.
Importing and exporting properties through Data transfer - available in the standard configuration.
Managing properties and locations through the AI assistant - part of the MCP server, which has been available since version 2.34 (recommended 2.35.55 or newer).

¶ Dependencies

Multi-language properties require languages configured in the store (Multilanguage).
Multi-view properties require Views.
Showing a property requires a location read by a specific panel screen or store template - a new location without a matching place in the template will not show up anywhere.
Importing and exporting properties uses the same Data transfer mechanism as other XML transfers.

¶ Implementation

A new property works after the update - creating a property and its location in an existing place in the panel or store is panel work, without code changes.
Showing a property in a new place in the template that doesn't exist yet (e.g. an extra section on the product card), or a custom way of editing/displaying it, requires implementation.
Minimum estimated time:
- a new property with a location in an existing place in the panel or store - from 1 h,
- a new location in a place the template doesn't read yet - quoted individually after a scope analysis.
What the time depends on:
- the number of languages and views for which the property has separate values,
- the number of locations the property should appear in,
- whether the store template needs changes,
- the size of the property set when importing or exporting between stores.

¶ Limitations

A property's type cannot be changed after creation - a different type requires a new property and moving the data.
A property on its own shows nothing - only adding it to a location puts it on a specific screen.
Adding a property to the store's search and filters is a separate configuration step, done outside of simply creating the property (see Search and filters).
Importing with overwrite (of attributes, meta-parameters or locations) covers the whole selected scope of the file at once - too broad a file scope can overwrite properties we didn't want to change.
We do not verify property configuration for legal compliance (e.g. product labeling requirements, GDPR for customer properties).

¶ Future development

One operation combining creating a property and adding it to a chosen location, instead of two separate steps in the panel.
Adding a property to search and filters together with adding the location, without a separate configuration step in the search module.

¶ Frequently asked questions

Can one property have different values in different store languages?
Yes - a property marked as multi-language stores a separate value for each language.

Can a property's value differ in every store view?
Yes - a multi-view property has a default value that every view can override with its own; a view without its own value shows the default value.

Can an existing property's type be changed?
No. A new property with a different type has to be created - changing the type of an existing property is not possible without losing the saved values.

Can properties be moved from one Hummerce store to another?
Yes, as an XML file through Data transfer - export from one store and import into another, with a preview of the changes before saving.

Can the AI assistant create a property and show it in the panel?
Yes, with administrator permissions - it creates the property, sets its meta-data and adds it to the chosen location.

How long does it take to add a new property?
From 1 h for a property with a location in an existing place in the panel or store; showing it in a new place in the template is quoted individually.

Views - several stores in one panel - multi-view properties as the mechanism behind the differences between views.
Variants - articles and sub-items, Search and filters, Virtual categories.
On hummerce.com: Unlimited parameterization (in Polish), Configurators (in Polish).

Want to see how properties and locations could work in your catalog? Book a free demo (in Polish).

¶ Configuration details

¶ Access in the admin panel

Property definitions and types: Assortment -> Properties - the list of property types, adding and editing a property.
Locations per object: the Properties submenu, split by the objects the locations relate to - among others Categories, Items, Customers, Orders, Static pages, View, Admins, Slot types; each shows the locations for that object type with their assigned properties.
Units of measure (a separately parameterized object) - Assortment -> Units of measure (Units of measure and sale).
Import and export: Data transfer - the <shopExtension> file for property and location definitions, the <extension> file for property values saved on objects.

¶ REST API and MCP

REST API: reading and writing properties and their values on objects - items, customers, orders, categories, pages and views (REST API).
MCP (AI assistant - MCP server):
- ec2_property_types - list of property types with names in the operator's language; worth checking before ec2_property_create - the type cannot be changed after creation,
- ec2_property_create - creates a new property (symbol, type, names per language, multi-language, multi-value, multi-view); admin only,
- ec2_property_get - full property data: type, flags, meta-parameters, names per language and every location it appears in,
- ec2_property_set_meta - sets a property's meta-parameter (_format, _mandatory, _validation, _name, _description); admin only,
- ec2_property_locations - without the target parameter shows object types and their number of locations; with target - the locations of that object; with location - the properties assigned to that location, in display order,
- ec2_property_location_add / ec2_property_location_remove / ec2_property_location_reorder - add, remove and reorder a property within a location; admin only,
- ec2_properties_xml_write / ec2_extension_xml_write - build a transfer file (property definitions and locations / values on objects) in the store's transfer directory,
- ec2_properties_xml_import / ec2_extension_xml_import - import such a file; preview mode by default, saved only with apply=true; admin only,
- ec2_transfer_xml_spec - the grammar of both transfer formats together with the specific store's vocabulary (types, locations, property symbols) - for building a file outside the panel.

¶ Store messages

A property's name and description are set directly in its definition (the Name field for each store language), not through the message editor - messages here are used for the labels of panel screens (the Properties menu and its submenus), not for the content of the properties themselves.

¶ Parameters

Meta-parameters that describe the property itself (set through ec2_property_set_meta or when editing the property in the panel):

Symbol	Description
`_name`	Property name, per language
`_description`	Property description, per language
`_format`	Hint for the format of the entered value
`_mandatory`	Whether the field is required
`_validation`	Value validation rule