By howard hayakawa, web developer

1. First instruction is to plan, plan, plan.
2. Know how many options values you want in the set before you start.  I haven’t figured out how to add one if I picked wrong to start.  For example, if you have 4 colors, the “set size” is four.
3. It’s obvious but be sure to have the option type and values done first.  You can’t put them into a set if they don’t exist.  See "creating options".
   
4. To start, get to the Attribute Set section.  
   1. In the navigation under “catalog” you’ll see Attribute Sets.  Click it.
5. You’ll see a list of existing attribute sets.  If you want to know what’s in one, click edit next to the name.  What you see is a list of the option values in that set.
6. Finally to add an Attribute Set
   1. Click “insert”
   2. Pick option name.   This is the type of option you’re creating a set for.  If it’s about sizes, pick size.
   3. Enter “set size”.   This is number of values you want to define in the set.  If a shoe comes in size 4,5,6,7,8 in two widths, the set size is 5x2 or 10.
   4. Click “create”
   5. You’ll see a list of pull-downs.  In the example above, you’ll see 10.
   6. For each one, select a unique value until all values you want are selected
   7. Enter the name of the set.
   8. Click save

1. A significant reason for taking the time to create attribute steps is consistency.  Adding 15 items one at a time is prone to error.
2. Don't get too carried away creating option sets.  If you'll only use it once, it's just as easy to add them into the product one at a time.
3. You might consider creating an attribute set that covers the majority of products and add the few extra attributes one at a time.  For example if all the shoes for a manufacturer come in sizes 8-13 make an attribute set for that.  Then add sizes 6 and 7 for the few shoes that come in that size.