Update: This article replaces the previous "Adding Placeholder Products to Your Schedules." The feature has been renamed — Placeholder Products are now called Custom Products everywhere in Acelab.

Summary

A Custom Product is any product that is not yet in the Acelab catalog. Use Custom Products as stand-ins when a product hasn't been specified yet, or to track proprietary and non-catalog items alongside your catalog products. You can now add Acelab field values directly to Custom Products, keeping your schedule complete and consistent.

Before You Begin

You must have Admin, Creator, or Editor permissions to add or edit Custom Products. Viewers can see Custom Products but cannot edit field values.
You must have a project open in Schedules.

Add a Custom Product

Open your project schedule and click the Add Product button.
Select Add Custom Product from the dropdown. The Add Custom Product modal will open.
Populate the required fields, which is the Product Category. For fields such as Manufacturer and Product Name, search for a manufacturer and product using the fields. If you cannot find the manufacturer or product, add a new one. Optionally add a description, image, or URL.
Click Add Product. The Custom Product appears in your schedule.

Edit a Custom Product

To update the product's name, description, or URL:

Locate the Custom Product in your schedule.
Click the pencil icon (Edit) on the product cell.
Make your changes in the Edit Custom Product modal and click Save.

Add Acelab Field Values to a Custom Product

Custom Products support all Acelab field types — the same fields you see on catalog products. Values are stored at the project level, so each project can have different values for the same Custom Product.

Supported field types:

List — select from a dropdown of options
Text — type free-form content
Number — enter numeric values
Attachment — upload files or images

To add or edit a field value:

Click on any Acelab field cell in the Custom Product's row.
Enter or select your value using the appropriate input. For list fields, click + to see all available options.
Click outside the cell or press Enter. The value saves automatically.

Note: Values are auto-saved when you click outside the cell or press Enter. There is no separate Save button for individual field values.

Add a Custom Product to Your Firm Library

If you want a Custom Product to be available across all your firm's projects, you can save it to your Firm Library. Once saved to the Firm Library, it becomes a Custom Company Product — see the Custom Company Products article for details.

To add a Custom Product to the Firm Library from a project schedule:

At product's hero image in the schedule, click the + button. A tooltip will confirm Add to Firm Library.
The product is added to the Firm Library. The + icon is replaced by your firm's company logo, indicating the product is now a Custom Company Product.

To learn more about Custom Company Product, click here.

Note: Only Company Admins, Creators, and Editors can add products to the Firm Library. Viewers and external collaborators will see a disabled state with the tooltip "Permission Required – You can't add products to the Firm Library."

Duplicate a Custom Product

Duplicating a Custom Product copies all Acelab field values to the new entry. The duplicate is a fully independent product — it has no link to the original.

Replace a Custom Product with a Catalog Product

If the product becomes available in the Acelab catalog, you can replace the Custom Product with the real listing. A confirmation modal will appear before any changes are made.

When you confirm the replacement, all custom Acelab field values are removed, and the catalog product's fields populate immediately. This action cannot be undone.

Delete a Custom Product

Deleting a Custom Product removes all associated Acelab field values and file attachments. To delete, right-click the product row and select Remove.

Permissions Summary

Admin / Creator / Editor — can add, edit, and delete Custom Products and their field values
Viewer — can view Custom Products and their field values; all fields appear read-only

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