# Per-product and per-variation messages - Stockline 1.x documentation

> Give one product, or one variation, its own stock message, icon and colour on its Inventory tab.

> [!NOTE]
> This is part of **Stockline Pro**.

Stockline's messages are store-wide. With Stockline Pro, a product can have its own: "Back mid-November" on a product you're restocking, "Made to order in our Portland studio" on another. A variation can have its own too, such as "Size S is back in December".

![A product's own out of stock message on its product page](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/24/screenshot-1-99400f45.png)

## On the Inventory tab

Edit the product and open the **Inventory** tab of the Product data box. Below the stock settings is a field for each stock state:

- **Out of stock message**
- **Backorder message**
- **In stock message**
- **Low stock message**

Type a message, then **Update** the product, as with any other product field. Messages can use bold text, links, `{qty}` and `{product}`, as described in **Placeholders and formatting**.

![The message fields on the Inventory tab, with their previews](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/1293/screenshot-3-90da2ba3.png)

Under each field is a small preview of the stock line for that state, with a tag:

- **now**: the product is in this state at the moment, so this is what shoppers see. It follows the stock settings on the page, so change the quantity or **Allow backorders?** and the tag moves straight away, before you save.
- **store**: the field is empty, so the product uses the store-wide message shown. On a variation, **product** means it uses the product's own message.
- **backorders off**: the product tracks its stock and **Allow backorders?** is **Do not allow**, so it can't be on backorder yet. The preview shows what shoppers will see once you allow backorders.

Hover over a tag for a reminder of what it means.

Every state's icon and colour are set in the preview dialog: click the eye button next to a field. See **The preview dialog**.

## Variations

Each variation of a variable product has the same message fields in its panel on the **Variations** tab, with the same previews and eye buttons. Save them with **Save changes**, like the rest of the variation.

![A variation's message fields, below its stock settings](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/1294/screenshot-5-d7a731ef.png)

When a shopper picks that variation, its own message appears.

![A variation's own message and icon on the product page](https://storage.extendiment.com/media/27/screenshot-2-254f06c6.png)

## What's used when a field is empty

Each part of the stock line (message, icon and colour) is looked up on its own:

1. the variation's own setting, if it's a variation and has one,
2. else the product's,
3. else the store's, from **WooCommerce → Settings → Products → Stock messages**.

So you can change just one thing. Give a product only a delivery truck icon for on backorder, and it keeps the store's backorder message and colour. Give one variation only a message, and it keeps the product's icon and colour.

An empty message all the way up means WooCommerce's own text, as in Stockline.

> [!TIP]
> Put a message on the product (the parent) when it applies to every size or colour, and only use the variation fields for the exceptions. When the product is back, empty the field again and it goes back to the store-wide message.

## Removing a product's own settings

Empty the field (or, in the dialog, choose **Store default** or **Product's** for the icon and colour), then update the product. Nothing is stored for an empty field, so the product follows the store-wide settings again, including any later changes to them.

## Which states

Per-product settings cover Stockline's four states: in stock, low stock, on backorder and out of stock. States added by other plugins, such as Preorderline's Pre-order, use their store-wide settings.

Source: https://www.extendiment.com/plugins/stockline/docs/1.x/per-product-messages