Origo Help
Product families
Use product families to define which facts apply to a kind of product; Classification is the related alias in existing terminology.
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Key concepts and when to use them
A product family, also called a Classification in existing terminology, is a reusable product structure. It connects a product kind to applicable and required attributes. It is not a category: categories organise customer discovery, while families organise data entry.
Permissions and preparation
Agree the product kinds that need different facts before creating families. Administrators and authorised editors can maintain the shared model; viewers can inspect the product structure.
Steps
- List the product kinds that need materially different information.
- Create a product family for each durable structure.
- Attach attributes that are relevant or required for that family.
- Organise the attributes into groups and panels for editing.
- Create sample products and variants to confirm the family covers the real workflow.
Verification
Check that a product in each family presents the expected fields, that unrelated fields are absent, and that variants retain their parent family and shared structure.
Common mistakes and rules
- Do not use a category as a product family.
- Do not make a new family for a minor marketing difference.
- Do not let a variant use a different family from its parent product.
Work through a representative example
Create a Chair product family and attach attributes for seat height, frame material, and upholstery. Create an armchair and a dining chair from that family, then review the fields on both. Add colour variants under one parent only after the shared Chair structure is complete. The variants should retain their parent’s family instead of introducing a new structure for colour.
Review the family before a bulk import: every required attribute should have a clear source column or agreed default. Do not assign a family merely because its category name looks similar.