Customers rarely think in database entities. They remember that a manual belongs to a machine, a delivery note belongs to a shipment, and a contract belongs to their account. A useful Magento 2 document setup follows those expectations instead of putting every PDF in one long list.
Use the product page for shared technical material
Product assignment is right for a document that applies to the product regardless of who buys it. Typical examples include manuals, data sheets, certificates, installation instructions, and safety information.
Decide whether guests may see it. A public manual can help before purchase. A dealer-only service guide may need customer-group access. If the document is updated, replace it at the source rather than uploading a second unexplained version.
Use My Documents for the customer relationship
The account library is the right home for files whose owner is a customer or group: contracts, onboarding packs, individual certificates, project records, and agreed price files. Categories and tags should reflect the words customers use when asking support for a document.
Do not create dozens of near-identical categories. A small, stable set such as Contracts, Certificates, Orders, and Product Information is usually easier to scan.
Link transactional files to the sales document
A delivery note belongs with a shipment. A corrected invoice attachment belongs with the invoice. A return certificate may belong with a credit memo. SoftwareSilo can link customer documents to orders, invoices, shipments, and credit memos so the file appears in context.
Automatic filename-pattern matching can reduce manual work. Design the naming scheme before enabling it, use stable identifiers, and test collisions. A broad pattern that matches the wrong order is worse than a manual link.
Notify without making email the archive
An email should tell the customer that a document is available and provide a route back to the account. Small files can be attached when policy allows it, but attachment-size limits are useful because mail systems reject large messages unpredictably.
The account should remain the durable source. A customer returning six months later should not need to search an old inbox.
Plan imports and integrations around ownership
If an ERP creates invoices or certificates, decide which system is authoritative. A REST/SOAP integration can create documents and assignments, CSV import can handle scheduled batches, and GraphQL can expose eligible files to a headless account. These are separate SoftwareSilo packages, so select only the route that matches the architecture.
For every import, define update behavior. Replacing a document, adding a new version, and withdrawing access are different operations and should not be inferred from a filename accident.
A simple placement rule
- Same file for everyone interested in a product: product page
- File for one customer or business group: My Documents
- File created by an order event: link it to the corresponding sales document
- Public reference material: public link, with server and external-domain rules still in place
The same document may appear in two contexts, but it should have one owner and one update process.
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Last reviewed: August 9, 2026.