The new component properties are great for simple components, but for complex components that include nested components, I think they need one more piece to make them the most useful.
If I have component A that has a text property and put an instance of it inside of component B, I would love if when I placed an instance of component B to have the text property of component A available in the right sidebar options without having to dig deeper into the component and directly select component A.
I can see how this could get messy, but maybe there could be a toggle to surface the option(s) or not in the parent could be n option. If I remember, that’s how Sketch kind of handles override availability in complex components and what Figma has just implemented with the new property types is actually very similar to how Sketch handles text and component swap overrides.
Unfortunately it looks like that plugin isn’t ready yet to take advantage of the new property types, but I’ll keep an eye on it. It also looks like that issue is marked solved because there’s a plugin for it, which I don’t feel is a great solution since, just like in this instance, updates to Figma could break its functionality. I’m sure many people would appreciate this functionality baked in.
Oh, I haven’t tried Selection Variants after the update, I’m sure it will be updated soon.
To expand on the reddit link you shared, I think it’s a different discussion. We should separate two use cases:
Nested components that are fully-fledged components outside of their parent: in this case it makes sense to have the properties on the children level, and a native “Selection Variants” would be useful
Nested components that are only used as base components for construction and quick maintenance: now that Automations are possible, and with the new feature allowing to select similar layers in a variant set, it is my feeling that the trend is moving away from base components, and it’s increasingly easier to have all variations directly on the parent level.
But I agree, this issue shouldn’t be marked as solved.
I agree, I hope this will be solved in an update very soon.
Like many others, I use base/building block components for nesting inside variant components. So I was pretty sad to see that the new component properties didn’t show up on a variant component. It makes it less powerful than expected.
It’s marked as solved just so people know what they can use this solution in the meantime. It doesn’t mean Figma won’t work on this. Also just FYI Figma’s updates and API are built in such a way that they don’t break plugins.
Voted, really could use this. I’ve tried dealing with this by overriding children within a parent component as needed, however this really breaks down and has weird prototype effects.
Happy to see I am not alone. We were taught to build our component with “base” component. I mean, it has always been presented as the best way to create a component. And now this feature does not manage this approach at all. I am sure they will dig deeper on this subject.
