Gardners Product Tags & Metafields¶
When Emersoft Books imports a Gardners title, it adds Shopify tags for useful catalogue attributes and stores structured book data in Shopify metafields. You can use this data to organize products, build Smart Collections, add storefront filters, and display book details in your theme.
Gardners and Ingram provide different catalogue data. Gardners uses Thema subjects rather than Ingram's BISAC subjects, and some metafields are only available from one provider.
Catalogue metafields are written only when Gardners supplies the source data or Emersoft Books can derive the value. The app-owned import tracking fields described below are set by Emersoft Books. It is normal for some imported products to have fewer catalogue fields than others.
Gardners product tags¶
Imported Gardners products can receive tags from the following data:
| Tag source | Example | When it is added |
|---|---|---|
| Thema subject | Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general |
One tag for each Thema subject label supplied by Gardners |
| Audience | Children |
When Gardners supplies a general audience |
| Audience type | Young adult |
When Gardners supplies a more specific audience type |
| Format | Paperback / softback |
From the Gardners binding code, converted to a readable format |
| Binding | Paperback / softback |
From the same Gardners binding code; the duplicate value is removed |
| Series | Series: Engineering Series |
When the title belongs to a named series |
Format and Binding currently resolve to the same readable Gardners binding label. Duplicate values are removed, so the product receives that tag only once.
Thema tags are not BISAC hierarchy tags¶
Thema is the international subject classification used by the Gardners catalogue. Gardners tags contain the subject label supplied in the feed; they do not use the 1:, 2:, and 3: hierarchy prefixes used by Ingram BISAC tags.
For example, a Gardners title may receive these two independent tags:
Fiction: general and literaryModern and contemporary fiction: literary and general
Emersoft Books uses the labels as flat Shopify tags. It does not add parent Thema categories or convert them into level-prefixed BISAC tags.
Gardners does not add Ingram-only tags
Gardners imports do not add the fixed Emersoft Books marker tag or Ingram's BISAC tags. Use the emersoft.imported_by_app metafield when you need to identify products imported by Emersoft Books.
Prefer metafields for storefront filters
Thema labels can contain punctuation such as colons and ampersands. Shopify may treat special characters unexpectedly in tag searches and Smart Collection conditions. For customer-facing filters, use the emersoft.themes metafield with Shopify Search & Discovery where possible.
Your own tags and updates¶
For a standard catalogue import, use Apply tag to all books. For a CSV Bulk Import job, use Global tags. By default, Emersoft Books merges these tags with tags already on an existing Shopify product, so tags added manually or by another app are kept.
When a CSV Bulk Import job updates existing products, it also offers a Tag merge strategy. If you choose Replace existing tags, Shopify keeps only the tags produced by that job. Use the default Merge with existing tags option unless you intentionally want to replace them.
Gardners metafields¶
Gardners catalogue data uses the emersoft namespace. Work-level information is stored on the Shopify product; information about the specific ISBN or edition is stored on the product variant.
In Shopify Admin, product metafields appear under Settings > Custom data > Products and variant metafields under Settings > Custom data > Product variants. Emersoft Books creates the definitions automatically.
Product metafields¶
| Name | Key | Type | Gardners value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | emersoft.authors |
Text list | Author names |
| Illustrators | emersoft.illustrators |
Text list | Illustrator names |
| Foreword By | emersoft.forewords |
Text list | Contributors credited with a foreword |
| Narrators | emersoft.narrators |
Text list | Narrator names, mainly for audiobooks |
| Other Contributors | emersoft.other_contributors |
Text list | Editors, translators, series editors, and other contributors |
| Harmonized Code | emersoft.harmonized_code |
Single line text | HS code for international shipping, when supplied |
| Language | emersoft.language |
Single line text | Readable language name, such as English |
| Source | emersoft.source |
Single line text | Always GARDNERS for Gardners catalogue imports |
| Themes | emersoft.themes |
Text list | Human-readable Thema subject labels |
| Star Rating | emersoft.star_rating |
Number | Review star rating supplied by Gardners |
| Audience | emersoft.audience |
Single line text | General audience description |
| Audience Type | emersoft.audience_type |
Single line text | More specific audience category |
| Min Age | emersoft.audience_age_min |
Number | Minimum target age |
| Max Age | emersoft.audience_age_max |
Number | Maximum target age |
| Series ID | emersoft.series_id |
Single line text | Gardners series name |
| Series Number | emersoft.series_number |
Decimal | Position within the series, including fractional values |
| Leading Article | emersoft.title_leading_article |
Single line text | Leading article separated from the title, such as The |
| Title | emersoft.title_main |
Single line text | Main title without the leading article |
| Subtitle | emersoft.subtitle |
Single line text | Subtitle, stored separately from the Shopify product title |
Thema codes are not Shopify metafields
Emersoft Books currently stores Gardners' human-readable Thema labels in emersoft.themes. Raw Thema codes are used internally for catalogue search but are not written to separate emersoft.thema_codes or emersoft.thema_subjects metafields.
Variant metafields¶
Each Gardners ISBN is imported as a separate Shopify product with one variant. Edition-specific data still lives on that variant so its scope remains consistent with the rest of Emersoft Books.
| Name | Key | Type | Gardners value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Description | emersoft.description |
Multi-line text | Gardners description or publisher marketing copy |
| Publication Date | emersoft.publication_date |
Date | Publication date |
| Publication Date and Time | emersoft.publication_date_time |
Date and time | Publication date at midnight when the store's timezone is available |
| Pre-order | emersoft.is_preorder |
True / False | true when Gardners reports the title as a pre-order at import time |
| Publisher | emersoft.publisher |
Single line text | Publisher name |
| Country of Origin | emersoft.country_of_origin |
Single line text | Country code supplied by Gardners |
| Binding | emersoft.binding |
Single line text | Readable binding name |
| Pages | emersoft.pages |
Number | Page count |
| Width | emersoft.width |
Dimension | Width in centimetres |
| Height | emersoft.height |
Dimension | Height in centimetres |
| Depth | emersoft.depth |
Dimension | Depth in centimetres |
| Dimension Unit | emersoft.dimension_unit |
Single line text | cm when dimensions are available |
| Format | emersoft.format |
Single line text | Product format derived from the Gardners binding |
| Edition | emersoft.edition |
Single line text | Edition statement or number |
| Media Type | emersoft.media_type |
Single line text | Book, audiobook, or e-book |
| Cost | emersoft.cost |
Decimal | Gardners price excluding VAT when available; otherwise RRP. Any cost discount configured for the import is applied before this value is stored, so it may differ from the final account price |
| Title Status | emersoft.title_status |
Single line text | Readable Gardners distribution status |
| Returnable | emersoft.is_returnable |
True / False | Whether Gardners marks the ISBN as returnable |
| Print on Demand | emersoft.pod |
True / False | Whether Gardners marks the ISBN as Print on Demand |
| Availability | emersoft.availability |
Single line text | Normalized availability such as IN_STOCK, LOW_STOCK, or PREORDER |
| Expected Availability Date | emersoft.expected_availability_date |
Date | Availability date reported by Gardners |
| Replaced By ISBN | emersoft.replaced_by_isbn |
Single line text | Replacement ISBN when this edition has been superseded |
The Gardners product weight is stored in Shopify's standard variant shipping measurement rather than an emersoft metafield.
App import metadata¶
Emersoft Books also records import tracking data on the product:
| Name | Key | Type | When it is set |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imported by App | emersoft.imported_by_app |
True / False | When the product is imported through Emersoft Books |
| Import Method | emersoft.import_method |
Single line text | Records how the product was imported |
| Created At | emersoft.created_at |
Date and time | When Emersoft Books creates the product |
| Updated At | emersoft.updated_at |
Date and time | When Emersoft Books most recently updates the product |
Using Gardners product data¶
- Use Thema tags or
emersoft.themesto organize books by subject. - Use
emersoft.audience_typeand the age fields for children's and young-adult collections. - Use compatible fields such as Binding, Format, Availability, and Pre-order in storefront filters.
- Display Publication Date in a theme block or with Liquid; Shopify Search & Discovery does not support Date metafields as filters.
- Use
emersoft.is_preorderto identify titles that were not yet published when imported. - Use
emersoft.imported_by_appto find every product imported through Emersoft Books.
Shopify's free Search & Discovery app can expose compatible product and variant metafields as storefront filters. More complex values can also be displayed with Liquid. See Shopify's supported metafield filter types for the available options.
Next step¶
Product tags and metafields do not enable fulfillment. See Gardners Setup & Fulfillment to connect your account, configure GBP shipping rates, and test an order.