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Adding meta data to a component instance


Hans_Humblet

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! 🙂

Best answer by tank666

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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8 replies

tank666
  • 4859 replies
  • March 24, 2023


Hans_Humblet

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
  • 4859 replies
  • Answer
  • March 24, 2023

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.


Marek2
  • 1 reply
  • April 23, 2023

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

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

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


Saulo_Vallory

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

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.


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