Variant Grid Editor

Variant Grid Editor

The Variant Grid Editor provides Excel-like spreadsheet editing for variants across multiple products. Edit prices, SKUs, inventory, and other variant fields in a familiar grid interface.

Overview

The Variant Grid Editor is designed for scenarios where you need to set different values for each variant. Unlike Targeted Bulk Edit (which applies the same value to all), the grid lets you edit each row individually.

Key Features:

  • Excel-like navigation and editing
  • Edit multiple fields per variant
  • Per-location inventory columns
  • Change tracking with visual highlights
  • Automatic backup before saving
  • Copy/paste support

Opening the Editor

  1. Select products in the main grid
  2. Click Spreadsheet Edit > Variants in the toolbar

The editor loads all variants from your selected products into a single editable grid.

Grid Layout

Frozen Columns (Read-Only)

The first two columns are frozen and cannot be edited:

Column Description
Product Product title for context
Variant Variant title (e.g., "Large / Blue")

Editable Columns

Column Description Notes
SKU Stock Keeping Unit Text field
Price Variant price Decimal, 2 places
Compare At Compare-at/original price Decimal, 2 places
Cost Cost per item Decimal, 2 places
Barcode UPC, EAN, ISBN, etc. Text field
Weight Product weight Decimal
Unit Weight unit Dropdown: lb, oz, kg, g
Tax Is taxable Checkbox
Inv Policy Inventory policy Dropdown: DENY, CONTINUE
Country Country of origin 2-letter ISO code
Province Province/state of origin Code validated against country
HS Code Harmonized System code 6-13 digits

Metafield Columns

If your store has variant metafield definitions, the grid automatically adds columns for each defined metafield. Metafield columns appear after the standard fields.

Supported metafield types:

Type Editor Notes
single_line_text_field Inline text Direct editing
number_integer, number_decimal Inline text Validated as number
boolean Checkbox Single-click toggle
money Popup editor Amount + currency JSON
rating Popup editor Value + scale bounds
date, date_time Popup editor Date picker dialog
color Popup editor Colour picker dialog
weight, dimension, volume Popup editor Measurement + unit
url Inline text URL validation on edit
json Popup editor JSON editor dialog
rich_text_field Popup editor TinyMCE editor
list.* types Popup editor List editor dialog
Reference types Popup editor Reference picker

Hybrid editing: Simple types (text, numbers) edit inline. Complex types show a small button (▸) in the cell — click it to open the popup editor.

Metafield validation: Each cell validates against its type constraints. Invalid values show a red border with an error tooltip. For example, a number_integer field rejects decimal values, and a rating field enforces scale bounds.

Inventory Location Columns

If your store has multiple inventory locations, additional columns appear for each location showing current inventory levels.

Managing Location Columns:

  1. Click the Locations dropdown in the toolbar
  2. Check/uncheck locations to show/hide their columns
  3. Maximum 10 locations can be displayed at once
  4. First 3 locations are selected by default

Editing Cells

Key Action
Tab Move to next cell
Shift+Tab Move to previous cell
Enter Confirm edit, move down
Arrow keys Navigate between cells
F2 Enter edit mode
Escape Cancel current edit

Editing

  1. Double-click a cell to enter edit mode
  2. Type the new value
  3. Press Enter to confirm or Escape to cancel
  4. Modified rows are highlighted in yellow

Copy/Paste

  • Ctrl+C - Copy selected cells
  • Ctrl+V - Paste into selected cells
  • Works with Excel and other spreadsheet applications

Metafield paste support:

Pasting into metafield columns validates the value against the metafield type. Supported paste formats:

Metafield Type Paste Format
money 19.99 or {"amount":"19.99","currency_code":"USD"}
rating 4.5 or {"value":"4.5","scale_min":"1","scale_max":"5"}
boolean true, false, yes, no, 1, 0
number_integer Whole numbers only
number_decimal Decimal numbers
json Valid JSON string

Invalid paste values are rejected with a validation summary dialog showing which cells failed and why.

Validation Summary

When saving or pasting, if any cells have validation errors, a Validation Summary Dialog groups errors by type and shows affected rows. You must fix all errors before saving.

Change Tracking

The editor tracks all changes and provides visual feedback:

  • Yellow row background - Row has pending changes
  • Header counter - Shows "X changes" in the header
  • Status bar - Displays total products, variants, and change count

Discarding Changes

Click Discard Changes to revert all modifications to their original values.

Saving Changes

  1. Make your edits in the grid
  2. Review the change count in the header
  3. Click Save to apply changes to Shopify
  4. Wait for the save operation to complete

What happens on save:

  1. Automatic backup is created (for variants with price/cost changes)
  2. Changes are sent to Shopify in batches
  3. Local cache is updated
  4. Progress is shown in the status bar

Auto-Close Option

Enable Auto-close on success to automatically close the dialog after a successful save.

Inventory Editing

Single Location

If you have only one inventory location, its column appears automatically.

Multiple Locations

For multi-location stores:

  1. Click Locations dropdown
  2. Select which locations to display (max 10)
  3. Edit inventory quantities per location
  4. All location changes are saved together

Inventory Policy

The Inv Policy column controls overselling behavior:

Policy Behavior
DENY Cannot sell when out of stock
CONTINUE Can oversell (allow backorders)

Common Use Cases

Update Prices Individually

When each variant needs a different price:

  1. Select products with variants to reprice
  2. Open Variant Grid Editor
  3. Edit the Price column for each row
  4. Save when complete

Bulk SKU Entry

Enter unique SKUs from a spreadsheet:

  1. Copy SKU column from Excel
  2. Select first SKU cell in grid
  3. Paste (Ctrl+V)
  4. Verify and save

Adjust Inventory Across Locations

Review and adjust inventory at multiple warehouses:

  1. Open Variant Grid Editor
  2. Show relevant location columns
  3. Adjust quantities as needed
  4. Save changes

Update Costs After Supplier Change

Update cost-per-item for margin tracking:

  1. Select affected products
  2. Open grid editor
  3. Update Cost column values
  4. Save

Set Weights for Shipping

Add or update weights for shipping calculations:

  1. Select products needing weights
  2. Open grid editor
  3. Enter Weight and select Unit
  4. Save

Best Practices

  1. Work in batches - Select 20-50 products at a time for manageable grids
  2. Review before saving - Check the change count matches expectations
  3. Use filters first - Filter in main grid to select related products
  4. Copy from Excel - Prepare data in Excel, then paste into grid
  5. Check inventory locations - Ensure correct locations are selected

Comparison: Grid Editor vs Bulk Variant Fields

Scenario Use This Tool
Set same value for all variants Bulk Variant Fields
Set different value per variant Variant Grid Editor
Apply formula (e.g., +10%) Bulk Variant Fields
Review and adjust individually Variant Grid Editor
Pattern-based SKU generation Bulk Variant Fields
Manual SKU entry from list Variant Grid Editor

Troubleshooting

"Loading takes a long time"

  • Large selections with many variants take longer
  • Try selecting fewer products (20-50 at a time)
  • Variants are loaded in batches from Shopify API

"Some inventory columns missing"

  • Click Locations dropdown to show hidden locations
  • Maximum 10 locations can be displayed
  • First 3 are shown by default

"Changes not saving"

  • Check for validation errors (negative prices, etc.)
  • Verify network connection
  • Check Shopify API rate limits
  • Review error messages in status bar

"Inventory not updating"

  • Ensure variant has inventory tracking enabled
  • Check inventory item exists (some historical variants may lack this)
  • Verify you have write_inventory permission

"Weight not saving"

  • Ensure weight value is positive
  • Select appropriate weight unit
  • Variant must have inventory item for weight storage

Field Validation

The Variant Grid Editor validates field values as you type, showing a red border and error tooltip for invalid entries. Save is blocked until all validation errors are resolved.

Validation Rules

Field Rule Example Error
SKU Max 255 characters "SKU cannot exceed 255 characters"
Barcode Max 255 characters "Barcode cannot exceed 255 characters"
Price Cannot be negative "Price cannot be negative"
Compare At Cannot be negative, should be > Price "Compare at price should be higher than price"
Cost Cannot be negative "Cost cannot be negative"
Weight Cannot be negative "Weight cannot be negative"
Country Empty or valid ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code (e.g., US, CN, GB) "Must be a valid 2-letter country code"
Province Empty or valid province/state code for the selected country "Invalid province code for US"
HS Code Empty or 6-13 digits (dots and spaces allowed as separators) "HS Code must be 6-13 digits"

Province/State Validation

Province codes are validated against the selected Country of Origin using ISO 3166-2 data. For example:

  • US (United States): CA, NY, TX, FL, etc.
  • CA (Canada): ON, BC, QC, AB, etc.
  • AU (Australia): NSW, VIC, QLD, etc.

If the country field is empty, province validation is skipped.

Updating Province Codes (Developer)

Province/state codes are stored in an embedded JSON file. If codes change (rare):

  1. Download the latest data from: https://github.com/olahol/iso-3166-2.json
  2. Replace HFProductManager/Resources/iso-3166-2.json
  3. Rebuild the application

Province codes are updated by ISO approximately once per year.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Action
F2 Enter edit mode
Enter Confirm edit
Escape Cancel edit / Close dialog
Tab Next cell
Shift+Tab Previous cell
Ctrl+C Copy
Ctrl+V Paste
Ctrl+S Save changes

See Also