Unable to get product custom attribute value on product page

Question

I introduced an attribute for products from admin, and assigned a value to it for a specific product to get it's value. But the value is not showing up on frontend, I tried all recommended methods but was unable to get it. Then I moved on it's debugging with print_r($_product->debug()). And this debug showed me the following behavior:

Array
(
    [store_id] => 1
    [entity_id] => 339

    [_cache_instance_products] => Array
    (
        [0 (Mage_Catalog_Model_Product)] => Array
        .
        .
        .
        [419 (Mage_Catalog_Model_Product)] => Array
        (
            [entity_id] => 1210
        [entity_type_id] => 4
            [prd_help_tab] => This is testing help for "Mobster US e-liquid"
        )
    )
)

The attribute name is "prd_help_tab" and it's value is there, but it's inside _cache_instance_products => 419 (Mage_Catalog_Model_Product) => prd_help_tab

My question is how to get this value in template file? As the value is only in hierarchy which mentioned above.

After further investigations, I came to know that this problem raises up in "Configurable Products".

Solution

You should be able to

$_product->getPrdHelpTab();

Try adding to the product collection when it's gathered

$_productCollection->addAttributeToSelect("prd_help_tab");

Make sure the attribute in the admin is included in flat tables by setting it to "Used in Product Listing" and then reindexing