Why Product Variations Lose Their EAN or Share the Same EAN

Problem Description #

Some users report that after assigning EAN/GTIN codes to products, particularly variable products or their variations, the EAN either does not save, disappears after saving, or all variations end up sharing the same EAN.

Common symptoms: #

• On product edit (backend), after saving, the EAN field becomes blank. WordPress.org+1
  
• All variations show the same EAN, despite expecting unique per variation. WordPress.org
  
• On product listing or feed/export, variation EANs are missing or incorrect. WordPress.org
  

Cause: #

• The plugin’s storage logic for variable products may require that EAN be set individually per variation rather than on parent product. If user tries to set EAN at parent-product level only, variations may not inherit correctly.
  
• For bulk or import workflows (e.g. using CSV, WP All Import), if meta key or attribute mapping is misconfigured, EAN values may fail to save.
  
• Some product/variation setups or third‑party plugins may interfere with saving post meta for variations.
  

Solution: #

1. When working with variable products: never assume EAN set at parent product will automatically propagate, edit each variation and set EAN individually.
   
2. If using bulk import/export or CSV import plugins (e.g. WP All Import), ensure you map the correct meta key (default is _alg_ean) to the EAN column. WordPress.org+1
   
3. After saving variations, check in database or on product front/back end to confirm EAN is persisted.
   
4. If EAN disappears or resets: temporarily disable other plugins affecting product save or meta (especially custom fields, variation management, bulk editors) and test for conflicts.
   
5. Update plugin to latest version (as plugin gets bugfixes; recent changelog shows many fixes for variation and meta handling). WordPress.org+1
   

Prerequisites: #

• WordPress + WooCommerce installation.
  
• Latest version of EAN Barcode Generator (checks up to latest WC). WordPress.org
  

Additional Notes: #

• When managing many variations, consider using plugin’s bulk‑assign tools carefully, test on a small batch first.
  Keep backup before bulk updates.