*Admin panels › Products*

# Option Set Manager

The reusable choices that turn one product into many, the option builder that makes and adds them, and the inputs that collect personalization from shoppers. 6 parts.

Quick links

- [The option sets list](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#sets)
- [Making a set in the option builder](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#builder)
- [Adding an option to a product](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#product)
- [Changing a shared set, and copies](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#copies)
- [The option set page](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#choices)
- [Modifiers and their rules](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/#advanced)

**Where to find it:** WP Admin › EasyCart › Products › Option Sets

*The list*

## Your option sets

Every set in the store, what kind it is, and who uses it.

### The option sets list

Every set, what kind it is, and who uses it

An option set is a named group of choices, such as Size with small, medium and large. Make it once and add it to as many products as need it: twenty shirts share one Size set rather than each carrying its own copy.

The list shows each set with the label shoppers see, its **Kind**, its **Choices**, who it is **Used by** and whether it is **Required**. The kind says what the set does and how shoppers choose, such as **Variation set · Dropdown** or **Modifier · Radio group**. A set made for one product reads **Only** and that product’s name under Used by, and links to it.

Tiles count and filter the list: **All**, **Variation sets**, **Modifiers** and **On one product** on the left; **Not used**, **With copies**, **No choices** and **Missing swatches** on the right, for the sets worth a look. **Bulk Actions** set several required or optional at once, or delete them.

Each row’s menu has **Edit option set**, **View products**, **Add to products…**, **Duplicate** and **Delete**. Two more appear only where they apply: **Let other products use it** on a set made for one product, and **Merge copies…** on a modifier that has copies.

![Products › Option Sets.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-sets-607.jpg)

> **💡 Note:** Deleting a set shows exactly what is affected and offers to replace it instead. Undo is available for 30 days. For a step by step walkthrough, see [How to Add Sizes, Colors and Custom Options](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/).

*The option builder*

## Making and adding sets

One window makes a set, adds it to a product, and asks who a change is for.

### Making a set in the option builder

Add option set: how shoppers choose, a name, the choices and a preview

**Add option set** opens the option builder. The same window opens wherever a set is added, on this list and in the product editor, so a set is made the same way everywhere.

**How shoppers choose** comes first: **Dropdown** or **Swatches**, or one of the modifiers that ask for something: **Text field**, **Text area**, **Number**, **File upload**, **Radio group**, **Checkboxes**, **Quantity grid**, **Date**, **Dimensions** or **Dimensions, fine**. For a dropdown or swatches, **What each choice does** decides the rest. **Makes a variation** makes each choice a version of the product with its own SKU, price, weight and stock. **Adds to the item (modifier)** lets each choice add to the price or weight with no stock of its own; it can be optional, and other choices can show or hide it.

Then **Name it**. Type **Size: S, M, L** in **Name** and the window fills the choices too. The **Label on the product page** is made from the name, such as Choose a size, until you type your own, and **Name in the cart and on orders** left empty is the label without words like Choose a. If you already have a set of that name and kind, the window says so and offers it: using it means one change later reaches every product.

**Choices** takes a name, a **SKU ending**, what it **Adds to price** and its weight for each. Drag to reorder; Enter adds the next. **Paste a list** takes one choice per line, and +2.00 after a name sets its price. **Preselect the first choice** picks it for the shopper. **On the product page**, beside the form, shows the set as shoppers will see it as you type.

From this list the window also offers **Add it to products now**: find products and add the set to them as it is created. Nothing changes on a product until the set is added to it. **Create option set** makes it; **Create & add another** clears the window for the next one.

![The option builder: Size: S, M, L typed as the name filled three choices, with the preview beside them and a note that a set called size already exists.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-builder-607.jpg)

### Adding an option to a product

Use one you already have, or make one for this product

In the product editor, the **Options** card lists the product’s **Variation sets** and then its **Modifiers**, each with its choices and who uses it, such as **Shared · 4 products**. **Add an option**, **Add a variation set** and **Add a modifier** open the option builder for that product. Without PRO the editor’s **Option sets** section holds two sets.

**Use one you already have** lists your option sets and modifiers, the most used first, with their choices. Search by name or choice, or show only variation sets or modifiers. A set already on the product says **On this product**. Pick one and **Add** puts it on the product as it is: a shared set stays shared.

**Make a new one** is the builder above, plus two things. **What this does to** the product says what will happen before you add it, such as 5 variations becoming 15, and that the new variations start on at the product’s price or with no stock, ready to set in Variations. A modifier never changes stock or variations. **Who uses it** asks who the set is for: **Only** this product, where changes never touch another product, or **Other products can use it too**, which saves it to your option sets as well.

A product can have up to five variation sets with PRO, two without. When it has five, the builder offers a modifier instead.

![The product editor’s Options card: one variation set, shared by four products, and no modifiers yet.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-product-options-607.jpg)

![Add an option on a product: Use one you already have, with each set’s choices and who uses it.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-product-pick-607.jpg)

![Make a new one on a product: what it does to the product, and Who uses it, Only Fall Coat or other products too.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-product-new-607.jpg)

> **⚠️ Careful:** Combinations multiply quickly. Three sets of four choices is sixty-four variations, each with its own stock and SKU. Read what the window says it will do before you add a set.

### Changing a shared set, and copies

Every product or only this one, sharing a product’s own set, and merging copies

**Edit** on a set in a product’s Options card opens it in the option builder. When other products use it too, **Who is this change for?** asks before you save: **All** of the products, so the set changes everywhere it is used, or **Only** this product, which gets its own copy with your changes while the others keep the set as it is. The button says which, such as **Save for all 4 products**. Before you save, the window lists what the change does: choices added become new variations with no stock, and a choice removed takes its variations, with their SKUs and stock. Past orders keep the name.

A set made for one product can be shared later. **Let other products use it**, in its row menu or at the top of its editor, saves it to your option sets so every product can use it.

Copies happen: a modifier made on several products, each its own, with the same name. The **With copies** tile and a note above the list find them, with **Review copies**. **Merge copies…** in the modifier’s row menu lists the products whose copy matches and those **Left as they are**, with the reason. Merged, they all use the one saved set, so a change reaches every one of them. Each product keeps where the modifier shows, who sees it and its rules; carts and past orders keep what was chosen, and Recent changes lists each product with Undo.

![Edit on a shared set from a product: Who is this change for? with All 4 products or Only Fall Coat.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-copies-who-607.jpg)

> **💡 Note:** Pick a shared set when the same choices belong on many products, and Only this product when one product needs something different. A copy made for one product never changes the others.

*One set*

## The option set page and modifiers

A set’s own page, and the inputs that collect something from shoppers.

### The option set page

Name it, Choices, Who uses it, and how choices multiply into variations

Click a set on the list to open its own page. The header says its kind, how many choices it has and how many products use it. **Name it** holds the internal **Name**, the **Label on the product page**, the **Name in the cart and on orders**, the **Type** and whether the shopper must choose before adding to cart; variation sets are always required.

The label is the prompt shoppers read above the choices, and a drop-down’s first entry, such as Select Shirt Size. The name in the cart and on orders is what the cart, checkout, order emails, invoices and the order itself print beside the choice, such as Size: Small. Leave it blank and the name is worked out from the label: a leading Select, Choose or Please select and a trailing colon come off, so Select Shirt Size becomes Shirt Size, and the field shows that name in grey. Orders placed before the name existed keep what they recorded, with the prompt taken off when they print.

**Choices** lists each choice with its swatch, a **SKU suffix**, a price and a weight, which adjust the product unless you pick Override, and which one is the default. Drag to reorder, or **Paste a list…** with one choice per line. A **Storefront preview** beside it shows the set as shoppers will see it.

Where a product has more than one variation set the choices multiply: three sizes and three colors make nine variations, each with its own stock and SKU. Removing a choice also removes the variations it made, and you are shown the exact effect before anything is deleted.

**Who uses it** lists every product with the set and how many variations each has, and **+ Add to more products** adds it to others. A change here reaches every one of them. The **Set health** list flags gaps such as no default choice or choices missing a SKU suffix. **Danger zone** deletes the set after showing what is affected, and offers to replace it instead.

![Name it, on an option set’s own page: the label Select Shirt Size, and Shirt Size worked out as the name in the cart and on orders.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-choices-name-607.jpg)

![Choices, with the storefront preview beside them.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-choices-607.jpg)

![Who uses it: every product with the set and its variations.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-choices-used-607.jpg)

### Modifiers and their rules

Inputs that collect something rather than pick a variation

Modifiers ( PRO ) collect something from the shopper and travel with the order. They can add a price but never change stock, and they do not create variations. Without PRO a modifier is shown read-only.

**Rules & validation** shows only the rules for the set’s type. Text fields and areas take a length, a **Text case** ( as typed, UPPERCASE, lowercase or Title Case ), **Allowed characters** ( letters, numbers, spaces and mixes ) and a **Placeholder**. The rules apply as the shopper types and again when the item is added to the cart, so pasted text cannot slip past them.

File uploads take a list of **Accepted file types**; scripts, web pages and SVG files are always refused. Numbers and dimensions take a minimum, maximum and step, and a quantity grid takes row and column limits. Every type has a **URL variable** that pre-selects a choice from a link.

Swatches take a **Swatch size**: Small (20px), Medium (30px), Large (40px), Extra large (60px), or 80px up to 200px in steps of 20, large enough for photo swatches of fabrics or prints. Photo swatches are PRO.

On a product, a modifier’s rules can show it only for some choices, such as when Size is Large. On the product page, the choices of a radio group or checkboxes show as cards the shopper can click anywhere on, with the price on the right and the choice made marked in your store’s main color.

![Rules & validation of a swatch set, with the swatch size at 200px.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/option-set-manager-swatch-size-605.jpg)

> **💡 Note:** Files shoppers upload reach you through the order emails, and who can open those links is set under [Settings › Emails & Documents › Email](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/email-settings/).

*Keep going*

## Related panels

- [Options & Variations](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-options-variants/): The Options card on a single product.
- [Inventory Report](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/inventory-2/): Stock held against each variation.
- [Products](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-settings/): Option filters in the store sidebar.
- [Products](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/products-product-list/): The catalog these sets are used across.
- [Email](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/email-settings/): Who can open files shoppers upload.
- [Media](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-media/): Per-option galleries, which follow the first set.

## Ready to run your store on WP EasyCart?

Everything in this guide works with the free plugin. PRO and Premium add subscriptions, memberships, wholesale pricing and more. Try every PRO feature free for 14 days.

[Start your free trial](https://www.wpeasycart.com/wp-easycart-professional-14-no-risk-trial/) · [See what is included](https://www.wpeasycart.com/wordpress-shopping-cart-pricing/)

![The WP EasyCart admin: orders and offers](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/cta-wpeasycart-pro-v2.jpg)

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Source: https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/ ( updated 2026-11-06 )