Product Assignments
Assignments allow you to control exactly where your Option Groups appear on your storefront. OptionBay uses a rule-based system that gives you the flexibility to target your entire catalog, specific categories, individual tags, or hand-picked products.
Accessing Assignments
Assignment rules are managed within each Option Group. When editing a group in the Addon Builder, look for the Assignments section located below the field builder area.
Assignment Types
You can mix and match these rules to get the perfect coverage:
1. Global (All Products)
If enabled, this group will appear on every single product in your WooCommerce store. This is perfect for universal options that apply to everything you sell.
Best for: Rush Processing, Gift Wrapping, Insurance, Terms & Conditions.
2. Specific Products
Search for and select individual products by name. The group will only appear on these specific items.
Best for: Highly customized products that need unique options (e.g., a single "Custom Engraved Watch" product that needs an engraving text field).
3. Product Categories
Select one or more WooCommerce categories. Any product assigned to these categories will automatically display this option group.
Best for: Managing options at scale for entire collections. For example, all products in the "T-Shirts" category automatically get the "Sizing & Color" option group.
4. Product Tags
Similar to categories, you can target products based on their WordPress tags. This is useful when you need cross-category targeting.
Best for: Targeting products that share a trait across multiple categories (e.g., all products tagged "Personalizable" regardless of whether they're in "Mugs" or "T-Shirts").
Priority & Ordering
When a product has multiple option groups assigned to it (e.g., both a "Gift Wrapping" global group and a "T-Shirt Sizing" category group), you can control the order in which they appear on the product page using the Priority setting.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| How it works | Groups are sorted numerically by their priority value. |
| Lower = First | A group with priority 1 appears above a group with priority 10. |
| Default | If no priority is set, groups default to 10. |
TIP
Use priorities like 5, 10, 15 instead of 1, 2, 3. This leaves room to insert new groups between existing ones without having to renumber everything.
Assignment Exclusions
Exclusions allow you to create negative rules — telling OptionBay where a group should not appear. This is incredibly powerful for handling exceptions to broad rules.
How Exclusions Work
If a group is both included (e.g., via a "Global" rule) and excluded (e.g., via a "Specific Product" exclusion), the exclusion always wins. The group will not be displayed on that product.
Common Use Cases
| Scenario | Inclusion | Exclusion |
|---|---|---|
| Gift wrap on everything except digital downloads | Global (All Products) | Category: "Digital Downloads" |
| Size chart on all apparel except socks | Category: "Apparel" | Category: "Socks" |
| Custom engraving on all jewelry except earrings | Category: "Jewelry" | Tag: "Earrings" |
Troubleshooting Assignments
If a group isn't appearing on a product as expected, check the following:
- Status: Ensure the Option Group is set to Published, not Draft. Draft groups are never shown on the frontend.
- Exclusions: Check if there is an active Exclusion rule targeting that specific product, category, or tag. Remember: Exclusions always override inclusions.
- Cache: If you are using a caching plugin (like WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, or LiteSpeed Cache), you may need to clear your cache after changing assignment rules.
- Theme Hooks: Your theme must fire the standard
woocommerce_before_add_to_cart_buttonhook. Most themes do, but some custom page builders might require manual placement.