thread Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this? in Orders, Menu Items, Catalog & Fulfilment

New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Sat, 20 Sep 2025 09:31:34 GMT

In our store we carry discs. One disc mold can come in a variety or plastics, weights and colors. Previously, when entering in new inventory, we would go to the item (name of disc) and add its variation by typing in plastic from the plastic set, color from color set, and weight from weight set. It was easy .

This new upgrade is absolutely horrible and and time consuming . Now, when I hit add variation it brings up boxes next to the option set. Then it makes you click on that box, and MANUALLY UNCHECK EVERY OPTION!!!! For each set.

For example, I get a disc called an A1 in 300 plastic that is purple and weighs a 150 grams. Previously I could just type in each set option, it would go to it, I highlight then done. Now, I have to manually uncheck every single plastic except 300, and so on.

I have over 500 discs in my shop right now to put in the system and I want to cry. There is no way I can enter my inventory this way . If I erase the option set and add a new simplified one it will earse every disc with that option set attached to it thaty is allready in the system.

What t he hell were you guys thinking with this terrible update?

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:19:56 GMT

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:30:54 GMT

Hey there @soothingvapor.

So, I just tried to add a test item with variations that are part of my options. I didn't have to manually uncheck all of them to select the one(s) I wanted. All I had to do was:

Add the option set (say color)
On the next screen (Add options), I didn't change anything, just clicked Next button.
On the next screen, I unchecked them all AT ONCE by clicking the box next to "all variations."
Then I selected ONLY the variations I wanted and clicked the "create xxx" button.

It was really all quite painless and it took me only a few seconds for each variation.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:27:59 GMT

That works when adding inventory through point of sale app. That does not work when adding inventory on our desktop in square for retail, which is how we add inventory, add pictures, and which connects to our barcode printer.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:30:41 GMT

It works for me on my laptop just fine. I never use the POS app for item maintenance. It's too limited.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:31:51 GMT

My guess is is that your browser's cache might be causing a problem. Have you deleted history and cookies recently? If not, I'd give that a go, because if I can do it on a desktop/laptop in a browser, you definitely should be able to as well.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:33:37 GMT

I will try now and I hope that works! Unfortunatly the nice man on customer service logged into our account and he was seeing the very same things I was.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:37:45 GMT

That is very odd, indeed. What browser and computer/operating system are you using? Also, I'll do a video of what I'm doing and post it here shortly.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:40:09 GMT

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:43:47 GMT

This is what happens when adding variation. You have to press the arrow in the middle which makes the box above pop up with all option set choices checked. There is no option to uncheck all, it has to be done mannually. I just cleared all cache as well and restarted computer. Unfortunately it is doing the same thing on three devices plus the device the customer service rep was using. He said it seemed to be only on square for retail dashboard, and said on his regular square dashboard it looked like this wasnt happening so it might be a square for retail thing.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 18:53:14 GMT

@soothingvapor Ok. Try THESE STEPS instead of what you usually do:

DO NOT click on Add Variations
Instead, look for the Options section. There should be an Add button in it.
Choose an. option set
Click Done on the next window
Click the check box beside "All variations" to turn everything off
Choose the options that apply to this item, the click "create...."
Repeat 326 for any other option sets that are required
Finish your item definition and save it.

Does that work?

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:13:12 GMT

The Variations section above the items saying created from these option sets is the only section on an item page where options are mentioned when I dont press add variation. The option sets I need for the variations of an item are allready picked since there are exsisting items in inventory .

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:15:42 GMT

I think you are explaining what to do from the old screen before this update occured. Which was very convienient but it does not exsist anymore.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:17:25 GMT

Also, this is for adding variations to exsisting items, not for adding variations to new items. We have hundreds of items that all have variations so I rarely have to add a new item, just the variation.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

TheRealChipA — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 19:47:03 GMT

No need for sarcasm. I am a seller like you a THE PAGE I WAS EXPLAINING FROM is the one I have. Obviously I do not have the new experience, yet. You didn't have to assume the worst about me, but I guess that some people's minds just work that way. I was going to do some more digging -- especially since I now know that this is about UPDATING existing items, not ADDING new items, like the title of your original post says. If I had known that to begin with I would have been more helpful. Anyway, given your unneeded attitude, I'll let you take your chances and unsubscribe from this thread. Best of luck. Looks like you'll need it.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

alexws — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 21:34:41 GMT

Hi @soothingvapor, thank you for bringing this issue with the new item creation & editing experience to our attention, and I'm sorry for the problem it caused you. We're looking into how we can improve this so it's easier to only select the option values you need for the item you're creating. In the meantime, we've re-enabled your account for the previous experience.

I'd love to follow up with you when we have a better solution implemented for this to make sure your workflow remains smooth with the new item creation experience.

Thank you,

Alex

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

soothingvapor — Fri, 29 Aug 2025 22:17:40 GMT

I genuinely apologize if that came off snarky or sarcastic! That was not my intention at all but I can see how it might have come across that way. I was just so perplexed as to why the switch eliminated that screen and the convienience.

I was on the phone with customer service majority of the day. I just went in to show our employee what was going on and it looked like they changed it back! Thank goodness!!

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

berryleeshoes — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:19:56 GMT

This is the worst, most unintuitive and most ineffective upgrade yet. Used to be you would go to options and add one. You could then move it to an alphabetical ordered state (by increments since the list didn't scroll), save it and it would appear in the set order in the item library listing.

Now, none of that works. You can't simply create a variation, on any of the pages, and when you do, it is saved in the options page and does not appear in the top-level items. You can't 'create' a variation for this second page, but if you do, it won't be retained.

You people have improved this to absolute unusability.

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

berryleeshoes — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 22:31:18 GMT

Did you ever figure out how to add a variation to your listings? I still can't...

Re: New Update with adding items with variations is terrible. Is there any way around this?

vorlage — Sat, 28 Mar 2026 08:43:43 GMT

The interface is not great.

Adding a new product with the variant set, it adds ALL variants. And you have to delete them one by one and click a confirmation button for each one. We have 100+ colours. This is one of the worst "enhancements" I've seen. horrible.

To work around this, we have a junk variation set with one variation. We add the junk one, then add the other variation sets, then delete the junk one. The capability is already there in your system, but not enabled.

Adding a variation set to an existing product deletes ALL existing variants. Why not allow us to assign a default value to all existing variants? horrible. Did you not consider this? It's totally bizarre.

We have no workaround for this, other than adding all potential variation sets a product could have upfront. Too bad about any existing products. We have to delete them and recreate them, using the awful process above.

Thanks.