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Hans_Humblet
Mar 24, 2023 8:53 AM UTC
Solved

Adding meta data to a component instance

I’m looking for a way to add meta data to component instances. So like instance specific documentation, which is available in the inspect panel to viewers.

Is there any way to do such a thing in Figma?

Thanks in advance! 🙂

This topic has been closed for replies.
tank666
tank666Solution
Mar 24, 2023 11:18 AM UTC

Adding links to documentation and descriptions specifically to some instance in Figma is not possible. In this case, you will have to add something like side notes/annotations or comments.

UX/UI designer. Figma expert. Creator and developer of plugins and widgets for Figma and FigJam. Check out my resources in Figma Community: figma.com/@tank

8 replies

tank666
Mar 24, 2023 9:28 AM UTC

UX/UI designer. Figma expert. Creator and developer of plugins and widgets for Figma and FigJam. Check out my resources in Figma Community: figma.com/@tank
Hans_Humblet
Mar 24, 2023 10:45 AM UTC

Yes, I know. But what I’m after is adding meta data/documentation to specific instances of a component.

As an example: I have 2 button instances of the same component. But I want to add specific information/documentation/meta data… to one of these two buttons. However; I see no way how this is currently possible. Or am I overseeing something here?

Anyway, @tank666, thanks for you reply 🙂

tank666
tank666Solution
Mar 24, 2023 11:18 AM UTC

Adding links to documentation and descriptions specifically to some instance in Figma is not possible. In this case, you will have to add something like side notes/annotations or comments.

UX/UI designer. Figma expert. Creator and developer of plugins and widgets for Figma and FigJam. Check out my resources in Figma Community: figma.com/@tank
Marek2
New Member
Apr 23, 2023 1:17 PM UTC

Me and my colleagues are requesting the same thing: a “proper” or let’s better say “figma roadmap aligned way to do so”.

Today, we solve this problem in a non-satisfying way by adding invisible text layers to a component, link them with a “text” property, name it like the meta data attribute and fill it up with the meta data content. Unfortunately this causes some problems:

  1. components get heavier
  2. the hidden layer is there and at least editors can interact with it in the workspace
  3. search for metadata (e.g “SEARCH attribute_xyz” does explicitly NOT reveal these items, perhaps because they are hidden
  4. In order to enable Viewers to easily inspect these things, you MUST map it to a “Text” property that is then presented under “inspect”
Saulo_Vallory
Active Member
Aug 4, 2023 6:27 PM UTC

Hey, I stumbled upon your comment and I think that’s a feature I can easily add to the plugin I’m working on. My question is: how would you like to see that metadata? Here are a couple of options I can think of:

  1. Have the plugin open to see the metadata
  2. Run a plugin command to toggle metadata layers visibility in the current document
Morten_Thrane
Sep 11, 2023 10:48 AM UTC

Sounds interesting @Saulo_Vallory – did you create this plugin for metadata?

Saulo_Vallory
Active Member
Oct 29, 2023 10:11 PM UTC

I built the plugin, but did not add the metadata feature yet. For now, it allows you to generate all possible variants for a component based on the rules you set.

Here’s the plugin if you want to take a look: https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/1263631854497422865/cva-component-variance-authority

And here’s a tutorial on how to use it: https://www.figma.com/file/qIQmi9QAY7sG0CNwjFltm4/Component-Variants-Generation-Tutorial-with-CVA?type=design&t=vNh5RtVxlJVFH1pc-6

Crystal_Martin
Nov 27, 2024 5:12 PM UTC

Hi @Saulo_Vallory curious if you ever added the metadata feature and visibility to your plug-in. Would be great to have them mapped to IPTC fields and able to export/import.