An attribute set is a collection of attributes.  This is definitely easiest to describe with an example.  Let’s say one of your categories is “LCD Displays”.  In addition to the default Magento attributes, you want to show your customers some extra information in the front-end:

• Screen Size
• Brightness
• Maximum Resolution

You went through the process of creating each of these attributes in the “Attributes Manager”.  If you didn’t, read the tutorial on creating attributes. Now you’re ready to create some LCD Display products.  It would certainly be annoying to have to associate each of these attributes separately to each LCD Display product.  No worries - you don’t have to.

Creating an attribute set

To create an attribute set:

1. Navigate in the admin to Catalog -> Manage Attribute Sets.
2. Press “Add New Set” in the top right
3. The next page let’s you name the set, and base it on another attribute set. A good name might be “LCD Displays”.
4. Based On: You can select another attribute set as the starting point for the set you’re about to create.  It will take all the attributes from the ‘based on’ set and let you modify this set to create the new one. Select the ‘default’ set for now, and press “Continue.”
5. The next page is where you actually assign attributes to this set.  The column on the right contains all unassigned attributes - you should see the LCD Display attributes from above in this list.  Press “Add New” on the middle column to create a new “group” within this attribute set.  Groups determine certain display options/sort order in the front-end, and correspond to certain tabs in the product page in the admin.  In this case, naming your group something like “LCD Displays” would make sense. Click the image below for more detail:


6. Your group now appears under “general” in the center column.  Now, drag the LCD attributes from the “Unassigned attributes” column into this group.Click the image below for more detail.
To remove attributes from the center column, simply drag them back to the Unassigned Attributes list to the right. You will not be able to remove System Attributes, marked with a red circle on the icon, but you can remove all other Simple Attributes.

You’re done!  Press “Save Attribute Set”.

Note: At this time you cannot change a product’s attribute set after the product has been created.  You can however add or remove attributes from a product set while it’s being used by products.  Do so at your own risk - if you need to remove an attribute, it might be wiser to set it to “Display: No” in the attribute manager.  This way the data is not lost, but the attribute will not display to your customers.

Using Attribute Sets

Now you’re ready to create some LCD Display products!  It’s easy as pie:

1. Go to Catalog -> Manage Products
2. Press “Add Product
3. Under “Attribute Set,” select the “LCD Displays” set you just created.


4. Since you created a group called “LCD Displays”, you now have a tab called “LCD Displays” in the Product editor page.  Under this tab, the three attributes you added to the group are ready for data entry.  Click the image below for more detail:


5. Save the product!

There you have it!  Now to create additional LCD display products, simply follow steps 1-5 above to your hearts content - enjoy!