A Must-See for Early Implementation! What Folder Structure Is Effective for Organizing Manuals – Help Center | Teachme Biz

Introduction

This article introduces key points to consider when planning your folder structure.
We provide examples by industry type, so feel free to adapt them to suit your organization and workflows.

Things to keep in mind during planning

You do not need to create a complete structure or multiple layers from the start.
The idea is to start small based on your current use cases and scope, then gradually expand and refine as needed.
There is no single correct folder structure, but creating multiple layers without clear intent can reduce searchability, cause information to get buried, and increase the effort required for reorganization.

Start as small as possible!

What are the main roles of folders?

Folders serve two main purposes:

Restricting participating users (viewers and editors)

Folders are the unit at which user permissions are configured.
Only users who have been granted permission can access a folder.

Categorizing manuals

Organize and categorize manuals according to your organization and workflows.
This makes it possible to quickly find the information you need.

Structuring your folders with these two roles in mind will make managing manuals much easier.

※ The pencil icon indicates that the user is an editor.

Folder structure planning process

The folder structure planning process is as follows:

Decide what manuals to create
Decide who should view each manual
Organize manuals and viewing permissions, then plan your top-level (parent) folders
Plan child folders (subfolders)
Decide who will have editing permissions
Create folders
Add users who will be editors to the folder
Create manuals
Add users who will be viewers to the folder

Let's look at each step in detail below.

Decide what manuals to create

Before creating folders, think broadly about what workflows you want to turn into manuals.
List out the workflows and tasks you want to document.
At this stage, you do not need to identify every workflow in detail.

Manual
How to compile sales figures
Customer service basics
Pork processing procedure

Decide who should view each manual

Once you have a general idea of what manuals to create, think about who should be able to view them (viewing scope).
Consider whether each manual should be accessible to all employees, or only to specific departments or staff, and broadly determine the viewing scope for each manual.

Manual	Viewing scope
How to compile sales figures	Store managers
Customer service basics	Floor staff
Pork processing procedure	Meat department staff

Organize manuals and viewing permissions, then plan your top-level (parent) folders

Combine your "workflows to document" with the "viewing scope for each manual" to plan your top-level (first-tier) parent folders.

Using a matrix diagram is a recommended way to organize information.
A matrix diagram is a table organized by rows and columns that lets you arrange information visually.

In this case, set "manuals" as rows and "viewing scope" as columns, and mark the intersection with a ✓ when a specific department or staff member needs to view that manual.

This makes it easy to see at a glance which manuals are needed by whom.

As mentioned above, folders serve the role of linking permissions and access.

It is a good idea to think of your parent folders as being organized around viewing scope.

※ A single manual cannot be saved in multiple folders.

Plan child folders (subfolders)

Viewing and editing permission scopes are determined by the parent folder.

Think of folders at the second level and below purely as a way to organize manuals, and plan your folder structure accordingly.

When creating subfolders, consider whether "the intent and purpose of the subdivision are consistent" and whether "the structure is easy for viewers to navigate."

The deeper the folder hierarchy, the lower the searchability.
The same applies when categories become too granular.

The ideal structure is one where viewers can open the right subfolder on their own, without needing to ask what the difference between them is.

For example, if second-level subfolders are organized by "work procedure," mixing in subfolders divided by a different element (such as timeline or worker) makes it hard to understand the grouping logic, reducing searchability.

Similarly, inconsistent folder naming conventions make it harder to intuitively understand the intent and categorization, which also reduces searchability.

Try to keep the granularity and naming consistent within each folder level.

Decide who will have editing permissions

Based on your planned folder structure, also think about who should have editing permissions.
Common approaches include the following:

The leader of each viewing group holds editing permissions
A person dedicated to manual editing holds editing permissions

Folder	Editing permissions
For store managers	Store manager
Floor	Floor staff leader
Meat department	Meat department leader

Create folders

Use your planned folder structure as a reference and actually create the folders.
Folder structures up to the second level tend to be similar across many industries.

We will walk through examples from several industries.

Find the example that most closely resembles your own environment and use it as a reference.

Create folder (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/4929440

Create, delete or edit sub-folder (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/4929349

General business (small to medium-sized)

General business (large)

Manufacturing

Retail

Food and beverage

Add users who will be editors to the folder

Add the users who will be editing manuals to the folder as editors.

Multiple users can be added as editors to a single folder.
A user can also be an editor in multiple folders.

Add or remove users from folder (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/4929449

If you have a large number of users, consider creating teams.
By creating teams, you can grant permissions at the team level rather than for individual users.

Tell me about teams
https://help.teachme.jp/hc/en-us/articles/28513829929369
Boost efficiency! Effective team organization for user management
https://help.teachme.jp/hc/en-us/articles/60802000258969

Create manuals

Create the manuals you identified in your list.

Create and edit manual (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/4929421

Add users who will be viewers to the folder

For users who should be able to view manuals but should not have editing permissions, add them to the folder as viewers.

Multiple users can be added as viewers to a single folder.
A user can also be a viewer in multiple folders.

Add or remove users from folder (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/4929449

Tips

Recommendations for when you first start

Start by creating a single folder to store manuals that will be shared with all employees.
As manuals arise that need restricted viewing, add folders as needed.
With this approach, you do not need to create many folders or layers from the very beginning.

※ The pencil icon indicates that the user is an editor.

Make use of portal pages

Another option to help users find manuals more easily is to create a portal page.
Think about whether organizing manuals in folders or arranging them on a portal page is the better fit for your environment.

Tell me about the portal page feature
https://help.teachme.jp/hc/en-us/articles/21838465421593

Establish naming conventions

To make folders easier to find, standardize your folder naming conventions.
By adding numbers or symbols to the beginning of folder names, you can control the display order as you prefer.
If using numbers, it is recommended to use increments of 10, such as "00, 10, 20."
This way, when adding new folders, you do not need to renumber existing ones.

How do I display folders in my preferred order?
https://help.teachme.jp/hc/en-us/articles/26816537142169

Appoint a folder administrator

If you want to delegate folder management to someone else, appoint a folder administrator.

Change (add) folder administrator or sub-administrator (Web Browser)
https://teachme.jp/8/manuals/42395373/

Subfolders can be created by folder administrators, but only group administrators and sub-administrators can create parent folders.
Consider the appropriate permission level for the relevant user based on what tasks you want to delegate.

What can each user do based on their permission level?
https://help.teachme.jp/hc/en-us/articles/4403398967961#toc-content-1

Create teams

Once your folder structure is in place, try creating teams.
Teams are a feature that lets you manage multiple users together.

By creating teams, you can grant folder permissions at the team level.