WooCommerce product attributes, global vs local

Woocommerce Global & Local product attributes

Two different product attributes are available in WooCommerce, local and global product attributes. In WooCommerce both options are called attributes, but there is a difference in the functionality of these attributes.

Global attributes

These are the properties that you will find in the WP-Admin under Product > Attributes. All attributes created here are at on a global website level and can be used with all products. You can use these attributes in the shop sidebar using the “layered nav” widgets.

Local attributes

These attributes are created when you create or edit a product. You cannot use these attributes to filter and they are only visible on the product page itself.

Making the right choice

Importing global attributes can slow down the webshop when importing a big amount of attributes for many products. This is a large amount of data which makes the database considerably larger and therefore slows down both the webshop and the import process. If no filters are used in the webshop, we recommend choosing local attributes.