*How-to › Product setup*

# How to Add Sizes, Colors and Custom Options

Sell one product in many sizes and colors, and collect engraving, files and dates. You build option sets, add them to a product, price and stock the variations and add personalization. 9 parts.

Quick links

- [How options work](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#how-it-works)
- [Step 1. Create an option set](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#set)
- [Which type to choose](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#types)
- [Step 2. Add option sets to the product](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#attach)
- [Step 3. Price and stock each variation](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#variants)
- [Step 4. Show a picture for each choice](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#images)
- [Step 5. Add personalization (PRO)](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#modifiers)
- [Test it on the storefront](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#test)
- [If it does not work](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/#troubleshooting)

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

*Before you start*

## What you are building

What you need, and the difference between variations and modifiers.

### How options work

Option sets, variations and modifiers, and what you need

**What you need.** WP EasyCart. The free plugin gives you Dropdown and Swatches option sets, up to two on a product, made in the option builder. PRO or Premium adds up to five sets, image swatches, the product editor’s Options card, the Variations table with a SKU, price, stock, weight and cost per combination, and modifiers. There is a free trial if you want to try them.

**Option sets.** An option set is a named list of choices, such as Size with Small, Medium and Large. The option builder makes one wherever you are: on Products › Option Sets, or on the product itself. A set can be shared by as many products as you like, or belong to one product only.

**Variations.** Dropdown and Swatch sets create variations. Every combination of choices, such as Blue Medium, is one variation that can carry its own SKU, price and stock. Shoppers must pick before they add to cart.

**Modifiers (PRO).** Every other type collects something instead of picking a variation: engraving text, a file upload, a date, a gift-wrap checkbox. They can change the price but never touch stock.

The steps: create the set, add it to a product, price and stock the variations, show a picture for each choice, then add modifiers if you need them.

*Set it up*

## Five steps

Create the set, choose its type, add it to the product, price and stock the variations, add pictures and add personalization.

### Step 1. Create an option set

Products › Option Sets › Add option set

Go to **EasyCart › Products › Option Sets** and press **Add option set**. The option builder opens. Under **How shoppers choose**, pick **Dropdown** (one pick from a list) or **Swatches** (tap a chip or photo). Under **What each choice does**, leave **Makes a variation** chosen for sizes and colors you stock. With PRO, **Adds to the item (modifier)** makes the same list an add-on instead: each choice can add to the price or weight, with no stock of its own.

Under **Name it**, type **Size: S, M, L** in **Name**. The name becomes Size and the three choices fill in for you. The **Label on the product page** is made from the name, such as *Choose a size*; type over it to change it. The cart, checkout, order emails and invoices print **Name in the cart and on orders** with the choice, such as *Size: Small*; left empty, it is the label without words like Choose a. If you already have a set with that name, the builder says so and offers it, so one set serves every product.

Under **Choices**, give each choice a **SKU ending**, what it **Adds to price** and its weight. **Add choice** adds a row, Enter adds the next, and **Paste a list** takes one choice per line, with +2.00 after a name for a price. **On the product page** shows the set as shoppers will see it. To put it on products straight away, find them under **Add it to products now**. Press **Create option set**.

Click the set on the list to open its own page, where each choice has these columns:

**Swatch**: a color, or with PRO a photo or pattern.
**Choice**: the name shoppers see.
**SKU suffix**: added to the product’s SKU on cart lines and orders, joined by the separator in Settings › Products (a dash by default), so SHIRT plus RED plus L becomes SHIRT-RED-L.
**Price**: a choice can add to the price, replace it, add once per order, multiply it, or, on text inputs, charge per character. Pick *Override* when a choice sets a new price outright.
**Weight**: adds to the product’s shipping weight.
**Default**: the choice that starts selected.

There, **Paste a list…** takes a name, a price and a SKU suffix per line, so *Large, 2.00, -L* is a Large that costs 2.00 more with the SKU code -L. Press **Save**. Variation sets are always required, so shoppers cannot skip them.

You can also skip this step and make the set on the product: step 2 shows how.

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

![A set’s own page: each choice with its swatch, SKU suffix, price, weight and default, and the storefront preview.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/option-set-manager-choices-607.jpg)

> **💡 Note:** Editing a set on its own page changes every product that uses it. To change it for one product, press Edit on that product’s Options card and choose only that product: it gets its own copy.

### Which type to choose

Two free types, ten PRO modifier types

**Variation types, free.** *Dropdown* and *Swatch*. Use them for size, color, material or anything the customer must choose and you must stock.

**Modifier types, PRO.** A Dropdown or Swatches set made with *Adds to the item* is listed as *Modifier · Dropdown* or *Modifier · Swatches*: it picks without creating stock variations. *Radio group* and *Checkbox group* offer priced add-ons. *Quantity grid* lets a customer buy a quantity of each choice on one page. *Text input* and *Text area* take engraving or a message. *Number* takes a value with a minimum, maximum and step. *Date* takes a pickup or event date. *File upload* takes artwork or a photo. *Dimensions (whole inch)* and *Dimensions (sub-inch)* take a size.

Rule of thumb: if you count it, use a Dropdown or Swatch. If you only ask about it, use a modifier.

### Step 2. Add option sets to the product

Options & variations › Add an option

Open the product in **EasyCart › Products** and choose **Options & variations** in the list on the left.

**Free edition.** The **Option sets** card has two slots. Choose a set in each, or add one with **Add an option set**. The card previews the variations they make.

**With PRO.** The **Options** card lists the product’s **Variation sets**, up to five, then its **Modifiers**, each with its choices and who uses it. Press **Add an option** ( or **Add a variation set** ) and the option builder opens for this product with two ways in:

**Use one you already have** lists your option sets, the most used first, with their choices. Search or show only variation sets, pick one and press **Add**. A shared set stays shared.
**Make a new one** is the builder from step 1, made for this product. Type **Size: S, M, L** and add prices if the choices cost more. Then **Who uses it**: **Only** this product, so changes never touch another one, or **Other products can use it too**, which also saves it to your option sets.

**Read what it will do.** Before you add it, the window says what changes, such as *Variations: 5 become 15*, and that the new variations start on at the product’s price, ready to set in step 3. Combinations multiply: the first set times the second, and so on, so two sets of three choices make nine variations.

**Changing a set later.** Press **Edit** on its row. When other products use it, the window asks **Who is this change for?**: all of them, or only this product, which then gets its own copy. A set made for one product can be shared later with **Let other products use it** on Products › Option Sets.

You can also start from the set. On Products › Option Sets, the row menu has **Add to products…**. That is the quick way to put a new set on a whole range.

![The 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)

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

> **⚠️ Careful:** Combinations multiply fast. Three sets of four choices make 64 variations, and each may need its own stock. Check the count before you confirm.

### Step 3. Price and stock each variation

PRO: the Variations table

With PRO, the **Variations** card lists one row for every combination, built for you. The columns are **Variation**, **SKU**, **Price**, **Stock**, **Weight**, **Cost** and **On**.

A grey value in a cell is what applies while you leave it empty: the product’s SKU, the price the shopper pays and the weight the parcel gets. Fill in only what differs. **Cost** is what one costs you, which reports use for profit. **On** takes a combination off sale without deleting it.

**Change many rows at once.** Tick rows, or the box in the header for the whole page. A link then offers to select every matching variant. A bar opens: **Set** Price, Stock, Weight, Cost, SKU or On / off for the ticked rows, then press **Apply**. A price can be set *to* a value, or moved *up by* or *down by* an amount or a percent. A variant without a price of its own starts from the price the shopper pays now. Setting stock this way also starts counting it for those variants.

**Build SKUs from a pattern.** Choose SKU in the bar and type a pattern. `{sku}` is the product’s SKU, `{options}` is the variant’s choices, such as S-White, and `{1}` to `{5}` is one choice each. So `{sku}-{options}` gives SHIRT-S-White. Leave it empty to use the product’s SKU.

**Copy a value down.** A cell’s ↓ button, or Ctrl+D, copies its value to every row below it on the page. Enter and the arrow keys move between rows, and Escape puts a cell back.

**Nothing is saved until you press Save.** The card counts your edits, for example *3 variants changed. Save to keep them.*, with **Undo changes**. The product’s **Save** saves the table along with every other section, and **Discard** drops it all.

**More on each row.** The ⋯ menu has **Count stock for this variant** or **Stop counting stock: it never runs out**, and **Google Merchant details**. **Filter** narrows the table to the variations that are on or off, or to one choice. **Update variations from a spreadsheet**, under the table, has **Download CSV**: change stock, SKUs or prices, then import the file back. Variations the file leaves out are removed.

**Choose how stock is counted.** In the **Inventory** section, **Track stock** can be *Not tracked*, *Total* (one number for the product) or *Per variant* (one number for each combination). Choose Per variant for sizes and colors you stock separately, then set each Stock in this table. Until then the Stock column says *Whole product* or *Not tracked*. Click it to change how stock is counted.

Changing the option sets later does not wipe your work. A variation whose choices still form a valid combination keeps its SKU, price and stock.

![The Variations table with three rows ticked and the bar set to raise their price by a percent.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options-variants-607.jpg)

> **💡 Note:** Table edits wait for Save, but adding or changing an option set in step 2 applies at once. Removing a choice removes its variations, with their SKUs and stock.

### Step 4. Show a picture for each choice

Swatch images and a gallery per option

**Swatches.** A Swatch set can use a color for each choice. With PRO you can use a photo or pattern instead: press the swatch and choose an image. Set the size under **Rules & validation** as **Swatch size**: 20, 30, 40 or 60px, or 80px up to 200px for photo swatches big enough to show a fabric or a print.

**A gallery per choice (PRO).** In the product’s **Media** section, turn on **Different images per option**. A picker named **Editing the gallery for** lets you build a separate gallery for each choice. The *Default* gallery shows until the shopper picks, and for any choice without its own photos. The galleries follow the first option set on the product, so attach Color first if you sell by color. Turn on **Drive galleries from the first modifier** to follow the first modifier instead.

The gallery and these switches save as you change them, without Save. For dozens of choices, **Export image sets** gives you a spreadsheet of every choice’s images to fill in and import back.

![The Media section with Different images per option on and the Editing the gallery for picker.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/options-variants-04-media-per-option-604.jpg)

### Step 5. Add personalization (PRO)

Text, files, dates and add-ons that never touch stock

In the **Options** card, press **Add a modifier**. The option builder opens: pick one of your modifiers under **Use one you already have**, or **Make a new one** and choose how shoppers answer, such as **Text field**, **File upload**, **Date** or **Checkboxes**. The window says what it adds to the price. A modifier never changes stock or variations, and a product can have as many as you need.

The set’s own page, on Products › Option Sets, holds the rules. Under **Rules & validation**, only the rules that fit the type show.

**Text input and Text area.** Set the length, **Text case** (as typed, UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case), **Allowed characters** (anything, letters, letters and spaces, numbers, letters and numbers) and a **Placeholder**. The rules apply as the customer types, and again when the item goes to the cart.
**Number.** A minimum, maximum and step.
**File upload.** Tick the file types you accept, or leave all unticked for the default list. Scripts, web pages and SVG files are always refused.
**Requirement.** Turn on *Shopper must choose before adding to cart* to make it required, and set the **Error message** shoppers see if they skip it.
**URL variable.** Lets a link pre-select a choice.

**Show a field only when it matters.** On a modifier’s row in the Options card, press **Rules**. **Conditional Logic** reads: *Show* or *Hide* this modifier when *ANY* or *ALL* of these rules match. Use it so an artwork upload only appears once the shopper ticks a personalization box. **Use these rules** off keeps the rules saved and always shows the modifier. Press **Save Rules**.

The Option Set Manager doc lists every input type and its rules.

![The option set editor, Rules & validation, for a text input modifier.](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/options-variants-05-rules-validation-v2.jpg)

*Check it and keep it running*

## Good to know

How to test it, and what to check when something looks wrong.

### Test it on the storefront

Pick every kind of choice once

Save the product, then open it in a private window.

**1.** Every set should show with its label, and the required ones should start selected or ask for a choice.
**2.** Pick a choice with a price. The price should update as you pick, and radio and checkbox choices show as cards you can click anywhere on.
**3.** Pick a choice with a photo. The image should change.
**4.** Try to add to cart with a required set empty. You should see its error message.
**5.** Add to cart, then look at the cart line. Each choice should read as its name and value, such as Size: Small, the SKU should show the model number and codes, and the price should match.
**6.** If Track stock is Per variant, set one combination to zero and check it cannot be bought.

### If it does not work

The usual snags with options and variations

**I cannot add a third set.** The free edition allows two sets on a product, and PRO allows five. Turn the extra ones into modifiers, or combine them.

**My table edits are gone.** Edits in the Variations table wait for the product’s Save. Leaving the page or pressing Discard drops them.

**The Variations table and modifiers are missing.** They need an active PRO or Premium license. Without one the editor shows the free Option sets card instead, and says what a save would change on a product that still has PRO options.

**I see a lot of variations and it feels heavy.** Combinations multiply. The table warns when a product has a lot of them and suggests switching option sets that you do not track by SKU, price or stock into modifiers.

**A modifier set is read-only.** It needs PRO or Premium to edit or assign. You can still view it and delete it.

**A warning about stock when I change a type or remove a choice.** Removing a choice removes its variation stock rows, and turning a variation set into a modifier removes stock tracking on the products that use it. The screen shows the exact impact before it goes ahead, and offers Undo for 30 days when you delete a set.

**The price is wrong.** Check the choice’s price rule. *Add* and *Override* are very different. A variant’s own Price in the table replaces the product’s price for that combination. Role prices and volume tiers are set in the product’s Pricing section.

**The cart shows the wrong option name.** The name beside each choice in the cart and on orders is worked out from the set’s label. If it reads oddly, open the set in Products › Option Sets and type the name you want in **Name in the cart and on orders**.

**Two sizes count as one for stock.** Track stock is set to Total. Change it to Per variant in the Inventory section, then enter each size in the table.

Still stuck? Open a ticket at [wpeasycart.com/my-account](https://wpeasycart.com/my-account).

*Keep going*

## Related panels

- [Option Set Manager](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/option-set-manager/): Every panel in the Option Set Manager.
- [Options & Variations](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-options-variants/): The Options & variations section of the product editor.
- [Media](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-media/): Product media and per-option image sets.
- [Inventory](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-inventory-shipping/): Track stock and the rest of the Inventory section.
- [Products](https://docs.wpeasycart.com/docs/administrative-console-guide/product-settings/): Option filters in the store sidebar, and the SKU separator.

## 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/how-to-guides/how-to-add-sizes-colors-and-custom-options/ ( updated 2026-11-06 )