Manufacturers Workspace
How to manage manufacturer descriptions and use them as an optional AI content layer.
What It Is
Manufacturers Workspace is the MerchantDrafts admin area for WooCommerce product manufacturers (brands).
It manages the native WooCommerce manufacturer description — the product_brand term description field — and makes it available as an optional context layer in MerchantDrafts product content generation.
Why It Exists
Manufacturer information sits between store identity and product-specific details.
In practical terms:
- Business Context explains the whole store
- Category Context explains the product group
- Manufacturer Description explains the maker — terminology, positioning, design language
- Product Emphasis explains the specific product angle
This gives MerchantDrafts an optional maker-level layer for more precise product writing without requiring operators to repeat brand context at the product level.
What Operators Can Do
In Manufacturers Workspace, operators can:
- review WooCommerce product manufacturers (brands) in one catalogue-style view
- select multiple manufacturers
- generate manufacturer descriptions in bulk using AI
- review and edit generated descriptions before writeback
- write descriptions back to WooCommerce (
product_brand.description)
Catalogue UI
The Manufacturers catalogue follows the same general interaction model as the Products and Categories Workspaces:
- a sticky table header with a compact action row above it
- inline row actions for Open and Generate / Generated
- generated drafts reviewed inline below the table
What the Manufacturer Description Is
The Manufacturer Description is the native product_brand term description field in WooCommerce.
It is an optional context layer that tells MerchantDrafts about the maker:
- terminology and vocabulary the manufacturer uses
- design language or positioning cues
- any maker-specific framing relevant to the product
It is intentionally lightweight. It acts as a subtle cue, not a dominant category layer.
How It Flows Into Product Writing
When enabled, the Manufacturer Description is inserted into the prompt stack for core product content only:
- Business Context
- Category Context
- Manufacturer Description ← optional, when enabled and non-empty
- Writing Pattern
- Product Emphasis
If no manufacturer description is available, or if the per-generation checkbox is off, MerchantDrafts skips this layer silently.
Product Editor Visibility
After a generation, the product editor Info tab shows an Active layers row that includes:
- ✓ Manufacturer Description → Open — confirms a resolved manufacturer description was available and enabled for the current generation; links to Manufacturers Workspace
- – Not set — open Manufacturers Workspace — shown when no manufacturer description is available
- – Disabled for this generation — shown when the product-editor checkbox is off
The per-generation checkbox in the product editor controls whether the resolved manufacturer description is used for that specific generation run. It is not a sticky per-product setting in v1.
Storage
MerchantDrafts uses native WooCommerce manufacturer term storage:
product_brand.description— the only live manufacturer-description field used by Manufacturers Workspace_mdrfts_brand_description_generated_at— timestamp of the last AI-generated description_mdrfts_brand_description_model— model used for the last generation
The default behaviour (whether manufacturer description is enabled or disabled for new generation runs) is stored in mdrfts_enable_manufacturer_description_default.