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Question

Variable inheritance


Ian_Mullen

Hi, I’m trying to come up with a process for setting up some white-label components that can then be dropped into other themes files and inherit their local styles, but I can’t see a way to do what I want.

For context, I have the following set up:
Local variables:
Core (core colours)
Mapped (semantically applied variables)

Core Component Library:
All the white-label components are created here.
Local components are all linked to the values of the Mapped variables.

What I want is to have other, brand-specific files that I can drag these components into. These files would have its own set of Core and Mapped variables (with the same naming conventions) and the component would ideally inherit these. However, if I link the Core Component Library to the new file and drag them in from the asset list it will just continue to inherit the variables from the original file, but it still does this even if the files aren’t linked and I copy & paste the component in. Basically, I would have a white-label repository of components that would inherit the variable styling of any themed file I dropped them into.

I know that I could solve this in the short term by using different modes in the original file, but as I only have 4 available ones, it’s not a long-term solution. Plus, it would get pretty messy really quickly.

Has anyone else tried to solve this issue? There’s a good chance that the error is between brain and keyboard, or that Figma just can’t do this at all, but any help would be appreciated!

3 replies

Gayani_S
Figmate
  • Community Support
  • 1921 replies
  • January 17, 2024

Hey Ian, it would be helpful if you could share a screen recording of what you’re trying to achieve. I can ask internally if there are good workarounds.


madslien
  • New Member
  • 3 replies
  • March 8, 2024

Did you end up finding a good solution for this?
Setting up a very similar structure now and wondering the exact same stuff.


Ian_Mullen
  • Author
  • 3 replies
  • March 22, 2024

Hi, i was just told that there are features they’re working on to allow for extended variable applications like this, but that it would be an enterprise-level feature which means jumping from just over £100 to £700 per year for one feature. I love Figma, but their pricing categories suck. Not sure why we can’t just pay for the features we want.


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