How to add new custom category attribute in Magento

By: Vedran Subotic, Last updated: Oct 22, 2019 | Published: Mar 28, 2011

Sometimes you need to extend functionality of Magento categories. There is several ways to do that, I will show you how it can be done.
You can do that by modifying and adding data into some of tables directly, but it can be waste of time if you don’t know what you are doing.
This post will describe how you can add new custom category attribute in your Magento store via sql_setup script.

MySQL setup script will look something like this, it depends on your needs and how you would like to configure your new attribute:

$installer = $this;
$installer->startSetup();
 
$entityTypeId     = $installer->getEntityTypeId('catalog_category');
$attributeSetId   = $installer->getDefaultAttributeSetId($entityTypeId);
$attributeGroupId = $installer->getDefaultAttributeGroupId($entityTypeId, $attributeSetId);
 
$installer->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'new_cat_attrb',  array(
    'type'     => 'int',
    'label'    => 'New Category Attribute',
    'input'    => 'text',
    'global'   => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,
    'visible'           => true,
    'required'          => false,
    'user_defined'      => false,
    'default'           => 0
));
 
 
$installer->addAttributeToGroup(
    $entityTypeId,
    $attributeSetId,
    $attributeGroupId,
    'new_cat_attrb',
    '11'					//last Magento's attribute position in General tab is 10
);
 
$attributeId = $installer->getAttributeId($entityTypeId, 'new_cat_attrb');
 
$installer->run("
INSERT INTO `{$installer->getTable('catalog_category_entity_int')}`
(`entity_type_id`, `attribute_id`, `entity_id`, `value`)
    SELECT '{$entityTypeId}', '{$attributeId}', `entity_id`, '1'
        FROM `{$installer->getTable('catalog_category_entity')}`;
");
 
 
//this will set data of your custom attribute for root category
Mage::getModel('catalog/category')
    ->load(1)
    ->setImportedCatId(0)
    ->setInitialSetupFlag(true)
    ->save();
 
//this will set data of your custom attribute for default category
Mage::getModel('catalog/category')
    ->load(2)
    ->setImportedCatId(0)
    ->setInitialSetupFlag(true)
    ->save();
 
$installer->endSetup();

In your config.xml file of your module you will need to add this part in order to install correctly your new category attribute:

<resources>
	<new_attribute_csv_setup>
	  <setup>
		<module>New_Attribute</module>
		<class>Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Mysql4_Setup</class>
	  </setup>
	  <connection>
		<use>core_setup</use>
	  </connection>
	</new_attribute_setup>
	<new_attribute_setup_write>
	  <connection>
		<use>core_write</use>
	  </connection>
	</new_attribute_setup_write>
	<new_attribute_setup_read>
	  <connection>
		<use>core_read</use>
	  </connection>
	</new_attribute_setup_read>
</resources>

Pay attention on class tag here, class must be: “Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Mysql4_Setup”.

If you did this correctly, you will get something like this:

Enjoy coding!

Published in:

83 comments

Sk Nasim says:
Feb 02, 2018 at 11:39
How to filter category with custom attribute.
Reply
Adam says:
Sep 30, 2016 at 9:21
So, do i need to reinstall again or not?
Reply
Atul Rai says:
Apr 16, 2016 at 12:02
is this code works fine with magento 1.9.2.2
Reply
jaydipsinh says:
Sep 23, 2015 at 9:23
Please Check Below Comment that have if you can added select box.
http://myphpinformation.blogspot.in/2014/09/create-new-custom-category-attribute-in-magento.html
Reply
ND says:
Mar 02, 2015 at 10:10
How to set sort order?
‘sort_order’ => 10
but it not worked
Reply
Bob says:
Oct 07, 2014 at 13:05
This might also be necessary:
php indexer.php –reindex catalog_category_flat
Reply
valarmathi says:
Sep 08, 2014 at 7:41
I want to upload multiple images for categories without using static blocks. How can we do that through coding blocks?
Reply

wordfull article..!
but I want to add wisywig editor.
Please see following code:

$attribute1  = array(
    'group'         => 'General',
     'input'         => 'textarea',
     'type'          => 'text',
     'label'         => 'Custom attribute',
     'backend'       => '',
     'visible'       => true,
     'required'      => false,
     'wysiwyg_enabled' => true,
     'visible_on_front' => true,
     'is_html_allowed_on_front' => true,
     'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
);
$installer->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'news', $attribute1);

but its not working for me. 🙁
please help…

Vishal says:
Jun 07, 2014 at 2:58
HI
i would like to add custom category attribute in ‘Sort by’.
Can i do that .
Reply
Ruvini says:
Jan 30, 2014 at 7:54
Thanks Lampix.
Your code works like a charm and I wish I found this a couple of days ago.
This is the quickets way to add a new category attribute.
Reply
kapil says:
Nov 13, 2013 at 19:51
ADD below code in app\code\local\Meteorify\Customcatattrb\sql\customcatattrb_setup\mysql4-install-0.0.1.php
startSetup();
$attribute = array(
‘type’ => ‘text’,
‘label’=> ‘Bottom Description’,
‘input’ => ‘textarea’,
‘global’ => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
‘visible’ => true,
‘required’ => false,
‘user_defined’ => true,
‘default’ => “”,
‘group’ => “General Information”
);
$installer->addAttribute(‘catalog_category’, ‘bottom_description’, $attribute);
$installer->endSetup();
?>
———————————————————-
app\code\local\Meteorify\Customcatattrb\etc\config.xml
0.0.1
Meteorify_Customcatattrb
Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup
default_setup
——————————————————
app\etc\modules\Meteorify_Customcatattrb.xml
true
local
Reply
Vishal says:
Oct 28, 2013 at 11:56
I need to create hidden attribute and I am setting ‘visibility’ = false, but attribute is created as visible.
Please help me out.
Thanks
Reply
Lampix says:
Jun 19, 2013 at 10:21
If you just want to add an attribute to a category tab you don’t have to use a module (testet in 1.7.0.2). Paste the following code (adapt it to your needs… look at Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Setup at line 87+ for reference) at the beginning of any .phtml file and call it once. (I used catalog/category/view.phtml so the code gets executed when I view a category in the frontend, but the choice is really up to you… Delete the code afterwards)
$setup = Mage::getModel(‘catalog/resource_setup’, ‘core/resource’);
$setup->startSetup();
$setup->addAttribute(“catalog_category”, “default_sort_dir”, array(
‘type’ => ‘varchar’,
‘label’ => ‘Default Product Listing Sort Direction’,
‘input’ => ‘select’,
‘source’ => ‘catalog/category_attribute_source_sortdir’,
‘required’ => false,
‘sort_order’ => 51,
‘global’ => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,
‘group’ => ‘Display Settings’
));
$setup->endSetup();
Reply

Got it to work but it’s not like the suggested code here.. This is what I had to do but I’d like to know why this is off from the post. Cheers

Making a highlight category yes/no bool

CompanyName = Pleasures
ModuleName = Catattributes

in app\code\local\Pleasures\Catattributes\etc\config.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <modules>
        <Pleasures_Catattributes>
            <version>1.0</version>
        </Pleasures_Catattributes>
    </modules>
    <global>
		<resources>
			<catattributes_setup>
			  <setup>
				<module>Pleasures_Catattributes</module>
				<class>Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup</class>
			  </setup>
			  <connection>
				<use>core_setup</use>
			  </connection>
			</catattributes_setup>
			<catattributes_setup_write>
			  <connection>
				<use>core_write</use>
			  </connection>
			</catattributes_setup_write>
			<catattributes_setup_read>
			  <connection>
				<use>core_read</use>
			  </connection>
			</catattributes_setup_read>
		</resources>
    </global>
</config>

in app\code\local\Pleasures\Catattributes\sql\catattributes_setup\mysql4-upgrade-0.1-1.0.php
(note i had to use upgrade so that i could get it installed on the existing site)

<?php
$installer = $this;
$installer->startSetup();
$installer->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'highlight_cat',  array(
    'type'     => 'int',
    'label'    => 'Highlight',
    'input'    => 'select',
    'source'   => 'eav/entity_attribute_source_boolean',
    'global'   => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,
    'required' => false,
    'default'  => 0
));
$installer->endSetup();

in app\etc\modules\Pleasures_Catattributes.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<config>
    <modules>
		<Pleasures_Catattributes>
			<active>true</active>
			<codePool>local</codePool>
		</Pleasures_Catattributes>
    </modules>
</config>

Than .. it worked but never could i get any combo with the posted to work. and if you want to access it you can do this

if ($category instanceof Mage_Catalog_Model_Category) {
            $url = $category->getData('highlight_cat');
        } else {
            $url = Mage::getModel('catalog/category')->load($category->getId())
                ->getData('highlight_cat');
        }

I’m only saying what it took to get a stable set of file to upload to a 1.7.2 version of magneto CE not that I warranty anything anyone does of the feedback I’m providing

Jeremy Bass says:
Jan 04, 2013 at 4:01
Any chance that you could post the example files? Trying to follow this is requiring a lot of fill in the blanks. Personally I’m a learn from seeing the whole thing kind of guy. Really interested in learning what to do. Thanks for the how to here. Cheers -Jeremy
Reply
Dimitris says:
Dec 13, 2012 at 13:05
what do you Mean Punnet?
what action to change?
its not very clear to me at least
Reply
Puneet says:
Dec 13, 2012 at 11:43
i have create a module and i create a attribute in manage category that is maltipalselect but i don’t know that where can i change save acction
Reply
Dimitris says:
Dec 06, 2012 at 23:44
is there a way to work with this extra field through REST API?
Coz i give a try with no success.
Reply
Sjoerd says:
Nov 22, 2012 at 16:59
Many thnx. This info helped big time. Not all info is correct, id’s have changed in Magento many times over but all in all good info.
Reply
Tom says:
Oct 03, 2012 at 16:56
certainly useful. thank you. I am also looking for a solution to assign an attribute of downloadable PDF to each product.
Reply
Lee says:
Sep 11, 2012 at 14:04
Really useful, thanks. Is is possible to use this to allow adding of a file upload.
I need to assign a downloadable PDF to each category. Any ideas greatly appreciated.
Reply
Anshuman says:
Sep 01, 2012 at 14:01
For all who have problem in adding attribute to General Information Tab
go eav_entity_attribute table find your attribute id and change attribute_group_id from 3 to 4
Reply
Yaroslav says:
Jul 26, 2012 at 15:42
Hi, I’m new in magento, as many more and I was looking through the code to see if can fits my needs but for what I see seems to me that it does not. I asked already on Magento forums and on StackOverflow, I post here the link to the question to see if anyone can help: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11665563/linking-categories-through-different-attributes
Reply

I copied all the example and it didn’t work 🙁 Nothing new shown up in ‘General Information’ tab. I only managed to create text attribute in “General” tab (NOT “General Information”):

$installer = $this;

$installer->startSetup();
$installer->addAttribute('catalog_category', 'priority', array(
    'type' => 'varchar',
    'label' => 'Priority',
    'input' => 'text',
    'global' => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_STORE,
    'visible' => true,
    'required' => false,
    'user_defined' => false,
    'default' => ''
));

$installer->endSetup();

Hy,

To create a new attribute for a product you could use the following snippet inside your install script

$this->startSetup();

$this->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'id_of_attribute', array(
    'group'                    => 'General',
    'type'                     => 'int',
    'input'                    => 'select',
    'label'                    => 'Attribute_Label',
    'global'                   => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL, // or other scope
    'visible'                  => 1,
    'required'                 => 0,
    'visible_on_front'         => 0,
    'is_html_allowed_on_front' => 0,
    'is_configurable'          => 0,
    'source'                   => 'eav/entity_attribute_source_boolean', //select the appropriate source
    'searchable'               => 0,
    'filterable'               => 0,
    'comparable'               => 0,
    'unique'                   => false,
    'user_defined'             => true,
    'is_user_defined'          => true,
    'used_in_product_listing'  => true
));

$this->endSetup();

I hope it helps you

prasad says:
Jul 07, 2012 at 5:04
Hi, i am new to Magento . I am try to add custom attribute to product. I need help to create a custom attribute in product using sql setup.
Reply
sunil says:
Jun 21, 2012 at 12:08
I need a help regarding custom category attribute
I want to add select dropdown as a custom category attribute
can you tell me the how to do that ?
how to assign values to that dropdown?
Thanks
Reply
Senthil says:
May 24, 2012 at 19:57
@shubh
Could you pls expalin somewhat clear.
Reply
shubh says:
May 22, 2012 at 12:00
How can i get attribute value of attribute
Reply
Konstantin Ivanov says:
Mar 15, 2012 at 21:25
And how can I do so in this category, the products have no prices, but to make a client request. I have install question extensions in products, if you can help me for other things – the abolition of purchase button and paste text and only for this category. Thank you in advance.
Reply
Haney says:
Feb 08, 2012 at 13:07
@Senthil: To create a new tabpage, I copied the core/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Catalog folder to local/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Catalog. And then under Catalog folder, in Category/Tabs.php, duplicated the ‘Category Products’ as:
$this->addTab(‘products’, array(
‘label’ => Mage::helper(‘catalog’)->__(‘Category Products’),
‘content’ => $this->getLayout()->createBlock(‘adminhtml/catalog_category_tab_product’, ‘category.product.grid’)->toHtml(),
));
to:
$this->addTab(‘categories’, array(
‘label’ => Mage::helper(‘catalog’)->__(‘Associated Categories.’),
‘content’ => $this->getLayout()->createBlock(‘adminhtml/catalog_category_tab_category’, ‘category.category.grid’)->toHtml(),
));
At the end, I literally duplicate the local/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Catalog/Category/Tab/Product.php to local/Mage/Adminhtml/Block/Catalog/Category/Tab/Category.php. In Category.php, instead of:
$collection = Mage::getModel(‘catalog/product’)->getCollection()
I am loading category collection as:
$collection = Mage::getModel(‘catalog/category’)->getCollection()
Now it is showing me ‘Associated Categories tabpage under categories and it loads categories but they don’t load as I’m expecting. When I click on add new category, it shows all the categories under ‘Associated Categories’ but when I click on any of the categories, they disappear. I want to be able to link any category to any other category. Also on clicking ‘Reset Filter’ button, it loads the products.
Reply
John says:
Feb 07, 2012 at 19:14
Sorry, the xml tags didnt seem to render.
Are the file paths right though?
Reply
John says:
Feb 07, 2012 at 19:11
Just to make sure:
app\etc\modules\AL_CategoryAttributes.xml:
true
local
app\code\local\AL\CategoryAttributes\config.xml:
0.1.0
CategoryAttributes
Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Mysql4_Setup
core_setup
core_write
core_read
The mysql setup file:
app\code\local\AL\CategoryAttributes\sql\categoryattributes_setup\mysql4-install-0.1.0.php
Does is look correct?
Reply

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