Within Magento, you might want to change the setting on Product Attributes. For instance, you might want to remove them from the filter lists within a category. Alternatively, you might want to add/remove the attributes from the "Compare" function, or make an attribute searchable by the search function. All of these options are configurable in the administrator area.
First, go to "Catalog --> Attributes --> Manage Attributes" which looks like the following screen shot:
Once you click "Manage Attributes," you will see a list of the attributes similar to the list below:
Click on the attribute that you want to edit, and then look for the section called "Frontend Parameters" where you'll be able to edit all of the attributes characteristics.