Adding meta data to a component instance

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1

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! :slight_smile:

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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 :slight_smile:

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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.

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

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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

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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.