System/Default Catalog Attributes

In magento,Product attributes & Attribute sets are important concepts to understand.

In simple words, an attribute represents a characteristic of a product. An attribute give you the facility to add new product properties without having to write a single line code or to add a new column in your database.The data entry fields that is completed when adding a new product to the catalog are attributes. Attributes provide product information and are used as search criteria and to present a selection of options.

Assigning attributes to the products enables your customer and search engines to find them easily.

Attribute also decides what product should be displayed when a customer search for a keyword.

For example, if the product is a shirt then Fabric,Sleeves,Neck,Fit,Style,size and color will be its properties means its attributes.

Another example is, if the product is shape then Sole Material,Heel shape,Heel height,Color,SIZE,Upper Material,Inner Lining,Ankle Height can be its attributes.

Attribute sets:

Now, It is very obvious that I don't want to use shoes attributes for shirt. This is where the attribute sets come in. An attribute set is a combination of various attributes, setting all the fields we will need for a certain type of product. When creating a product, I will select the attributeset it belongs to. By doing so, all the desired fields will be available for particular type.
System Attributes:

First,we will see meaning of system attributes which are required by store to function properly. Later on we will see its properties.

General Attributes

Attribute Code	Description	Data Type	Required
name	It is the name of the product which is used by customer to identify the product and it is display on product description page and wherever the product is listed.	Text	Yes
description	It is the description of the product which gives more details of product to the customer.	String	Yes
short_description	It is brief description of the product. The use of this attribute varies by theme.	Text	Yes
sku	SKU stands for Stock-Keeping Unit which is unique product identification number that is used to track inventory items.	Alphanumeric (AZ, 0-9)	Yes
news_from_date	From this date,product will be considered as new and will be featured in new product listings.	Date/Time	No
news_to_date	Till this date,product will be considered as new and will be featured in new product listings.	Date/Time	No
status	It decides whether the product is available for sale or not.if it is not available then it will not listed in catalog. Its value can be: enabled (1) disabled (2)	Binary (1, 2)	Yes
url_key	It is part of the URL that identifies the product.	Text	No
visibility	It specifies whether this product is visible from the catalog, search, both, or neither. It has following values: 0 (Not Visible Individually)  1 (Catalog)  2 (Search)  3 (Catalog, Search)	Text	No
gift_message_available	It specifies if a message can be included with this product purchase. Its values  can be: Yes No Use Config	Text	No
is_imported	It specifies if the product can be included in product RSS feeds. It's values can be: 0 (Yes) 1 (No)	Yes/No (0,1)	No

Image Attribute

image	It is URL address of the base image, or the main image of the product that is displayed when customer clicks the product image.	URL	No
thumbnail	It is URL address of the thumbnail image used in product listings.	URL	No
small_image	It is URL address of the small image used in product listings.	URL	No

Design Attributes

custom_design	It is used to specify a custom theme for the product detail page.	Yes/No (0,1)	No
custom_design_from	It is date to begin using the custom theme for the product detail page.	Date/Time	No
custom_design_to	It is date to stop using the custom theme for the product detail page.	Date/Time	No
custom_layout_update	Using this you can apply custom XML to modify the product detail page layout.	XML	No
page_layout	It decides the column layout of the product detail page. following are the options included: No layout updates Empty 1 column  2 columns with left bar 2 columns with right bar  3 columns	Text	No
options_container	It decides the type of container used to display product options. Following are the options included: Product Info Column Block After Info Column	Text	No

Gift Card Attributes

allow_open_amount	It decides whether the dollar value of the gift card can be specified by the customer.	Text	Yes
open_amount_main	It is the minimum amount if the gift card allows open amounts.	Numeric	No
open_amount_max	It is maximum gift card amount if the gift card allows open amounts.	Numeric	No

Pre loaded Attributes

color	It specify the color of the product.	Text	No
cost	It is the cost of the product which generally used for internal purposes only.	Numeric	No
manufacturer	It is the  name of the manufacturer of the product	Text	No

All these are system attributes. Now, We will see what are the attribute set and attribute Group in next post and how to create them.