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Working with Product Descriptions in WSM

Product descriptions are one of the most important parts of your product pages, but they can sometimes behave unexpectedly—stray code appearing as text, edits not showing on the live site, or the same boilerplate repeating across many products. This guide covers the most common description challenges and how to resolve them.

Related article: For a general overview, see "Managing and Troubleshooting Product Descriptions in WSM."

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1. Removing Stray HTML or Custom Code from Descriptions

Bits of HTML or custom code sometimes appear as visible text in a description, or push page elements out of alignment. This usually happens when code was pasted into a description field.

    • Open the affected product in your store admin.
    • Locate the Description field (and any secondary description fields).
    • Switch the editor to its source/HTML view to see the underlying code.
    • Carefully remove the stray tags or fragments that don't belong.
    • Save and preview the live product page.
Note: Stray code can also interfere with third-party review widgets; cleaning up the description often fixes those display problems too. If the same broken code appears on many products, it likely came from a bulk import or copied template—fix the source to prevent it recurring.

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2. Adding Images and Videos Inside a Description

You can enrich a description with images and video, but placing them incorrectly can throw the layout off.

    • In the description editor, place your cursor where you want the media to appear.
    • Use the editor's image/media insert tool rather than pasting raw code.
    • To position an image beside text, apply alignment through the editor. If the layout breaks, remove the image and re-insert it, checking for leftover styling.
    • Preview on desktop and mobile before saving.
Warning: Trial-and-error edits can leave behind conflicting code. If an image keeps disrupting the layout, clear the section entirely and start fresh, or reach out to Support.

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3. When a Description Edit Doesn't Appear on the Live Page

You've updated a description in the admin, but the live page still shows the old text.

    • Confirm you saved the change in the admin.
    • Refresh the live product page in your browser to rule out a stale page view.
    • View the live product page again to check whether it now matches the admin.
Note: If the live page still doesn't match after saving and refreshing, this isn't something to keep re-editing on your own—it may involve front-end customization or styling on the product page. Escalate it to Support and include the affected product page URLs so they can investigate.

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4. Adding, Removing, or Mass-Updating a Prop 65 Compliance Warning

Many stores need to display a California Prop 65 warning (or similar notice) across many or all product pages. Because it typically needs to appear consistently in the same spot on every page (for example, at the bottom), it's usually best handled as a store-wide setting or template addition rather than editing each description.

    • For all product pages, request a store-wide implementation so it displays uniformly and is easy to update later.
    • For only a subset, or to remove it from many at once, a bulk/data update is most efficient.
Tip: Contact Support to have this applied. Provide details on where you want it to appear and which products it applies to.

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5. Cleaning Up Repeated or Duplicate Description Content

Sometimes the same text repeats across many products—like "Leave quantity as 1 when ordering a pair."—or content appears twice on one product (for example, a word like "Each" showing up twice).

    • On the live product page, use Ctrl + F (Cmd + F on Mac) to search for the exact phrase and confirm where it appears.
    • Check whether the text lives in a product's description field or not.
    • If it's in a description field, consolidate your content into the correct field and clear out any redundant ones, then save and preview.
    • If it's not in any description field, it's likely coming from a shared template and must be removed at the template level so it disappears from every affected product at once.
Warning: Editing templates affects your entire store. If you're not comfortable working in template files, or the duplicate persists after editing, contact Support and share the exact phrase plus an example product URL.

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Bulk-Checking Descriptions and Metadata

If you need to identify products that are missing descriptions, meta keywords, or meta descriptions, checking them one at a time isn't practical. Instead of reviewing individual products, contact Support to help you review this information across your catalog so you can find and fill the gaps efficiently.