How personalized products work in Alva
When a Shopify order is paid for a product flagged as personalized, Alva skips the usual immediate-delivery flow. The purchase enters a Pending upload state and waits for the merchant to attach a file. Personalized products use the PurchaseFile table — never the regular ProductFileMap — so each upload reaches exactly one customer and is excluded from pack ZIPs. The customer is emailed their download link the moment the file lands.
Mark a product as personalized
1. Open the product in Alva
In the Alva admin, click Products and choose the Shopify product you want to mark as personalized. The product mapping page shows file, pack, and link slots.
Alva Products page → product detail. Highlight the personalized toggle near the top of the mapping form. No real customer data visible.
2. Toggle on the personalized flag
Tick This is a custom product / personalized product. The file, pack, and link mapping fields collapse — personalized products do not need pre-mapped files.
3. Set expected delivery and pending message
Enter Expected Delivery in days (default 3) and an optional Pending message. Customers see both on the order confirmation page while they wait for the file.
Personalized fields panel — Expected Delivery numeric input set to 3 and a Pending message textarea with example copy. No real customer data visible.
4. Save the product mapping
Click Save. From this point on, paid orders for this product land in Orders → Personalized with status Pending upload instead of triggering an immediate download email.
Upload the customer-specific file
1. Find the order
Open Orders in the Alva admin and switch to the Personalized tab. Pending orders are listed with the customer name and the time elapsed since purchase.
2. Upload the file
Click the order and drag the finished file into the upload zone. Alva creates a PurchaseFile record linking the file to that single purchase.
Personalized order detail page with the file drop-zone in focus and a sample filename ready to upload. No real customer data visible.
3. Customer is notified
The order moves to Completed and Alva sends the delivery email automatically. No second click is required.
What customers see
The Shopify order confirmation says the file will be ready within the Expected Delivery window — for example, Your custom file will be ready within 3 days. The thank-you page shows the pending message instead of a download button. When you upload the file, the customer receives the standard Alva delivery email with their download link.
Limitations
Personalized products ship one file per order. To deliver multiple assets, zip them together before uploading. Personalized files are deliberately excluded from regular pack ZIPs so a custom deliverable cannot leak to other customers buying the same SKU.
Frequently asked questions
The personalized flow ships one file per order. If a customer needs multiple deliverables, zip them together and upload the single archive.
No. Personalized files use the PurchaseFile table and are excluded from regular pack ZIPs so they only reach the customer they were created for.
Alva sends the delivery email the moment you upload the file. Order confirmation tells the customer to expect it within the Expected Delivery window you set.
See also
Was this helpful?
Last updated 2026-05-06