Change metadata key without screwing things up

Squiz Matrix Support
1

We have a "location" metadata select field that is applied to a couple hundred assets. Each one of those has a location set for that field.

 

Recently I got a request to change the name of one of the fields, e.g. adding an additional word to it when it prints on the front end. 

 

So, my question is, which should I change, the key or the value and still keep that specific field associated with the assets it is already applied to? I don't want to change that name and have it no longer show up for all the assets that one field is showing on.

2

Do you have a dev instance you can test on?

 

I think you are safe to change the key, it's just the value attribute I would be more worried about. 

 

Question; why do you need to change the metadata field name, and value for front end printing? Can't you modify the template or use a keyword modifier to output what you want? I guess this may not work if you're outputting all frontend metadata with the one mysource design area.

3

Question; why do you need to change the metadata field name, and value for front end printing? Can't you modify the template or use a keyword modifier to output what you want? I guess this may not work if you're outputting all frontend metadata with the one mysource design area.

 

Because they are Single Calendar Events used all over our site as well as our mobile apps, ical feeds etc. I would be a huge pain to find all the places where I would need the modifier.

4

You can safely change the value but not the key, the key is what matches the metadata value to the possible options in the select list. 

 

You can always test it yourself to confirm, but this is the experience I get. 

 

If you did want to change the key, you could always run a batch trigger afterwards and update all assets that had the old key to use the new one.