Struggling to grasp how to use attributes

[mcpmedia]

So far, my first magento store has proven rocky. Partially because the learning curve is high, and partially because I am not a developer and even the explanations I see online go over my head. So now I am here, hoping some of you can sherpa me through a few "simple" tasks.

First thing I am trying to figure out is how this attribute system works. The store I am building is for technical tooling products. Each product needs the short and long description and a separate tab for "Specs"

I created an attribute named Specs, but when I edit a product, that field does not exist. The wholle idea of attribute sets is elluding me too. I don't need a set of attributes, I just need a single attribute for all products.

I purchased a plug in called "Easy Products Tabs" to then display this additional attribute, but obviously can't dispolay it because I can't figure out how to have a custom attribute on each product.

How to I get it to show up in Admin so I can add custom attributes to each product?

[iweb_p3mbo]

Hi,

Think of an attribute as a single piece of information about a product. Not a collective grouping of information.

For example.. lets imagine you are selling a Television... some of the possible attributes for that product woud be:

- Screen Size  (32, 42, 47 and so on)

- Surround Sound (Yes / No)

- HD Ready (Yes/ No)

- Colour (Black, Silver, White)

- WIFI Enabled (Yes/No)

From that list of attributes you could then have a 'Specs' tab (that would require some custom coding) that lists them attributes out in a nice table.

Now it might be okay to leave it there.. but (this is getting more indepth)

You can then have Attribute Sets... these are groups of attribute that belong to a product.. e.g. Imagine your store also sells Fridge / Freezers... a fridge / freezer wouldn't ever have Surround Sound so that attribute is redundant in the above list of attributes... so you could assign the above attributes to a 'TV Set' attribute set.. and then create a completely different set of attributes purely for Fridge Freezers (Auto Defrost, Power Consumption, Energy Rating etc..)

Hopefully this makes sense.. this is a very high level summary - the magento user-guide for attributes may help you further should you require.