Best Practices for Designing a Folder Structure
The folder structure forms the backbone of where documents are stored in a Laserfiche repository. Like the Windows file system, it consists of folders, subfolders, documents, and shortcuts, which can be arranged in whatever ways are most useful for accessing and securing your content. The best way to organize your folder structure will depend primarily on what content you have and how users are likely to access it.
Interacting with the Repository
There are three basic ways that users may find content in your repository: browsing; searching; and using shortcuts and URLs. Each one is suited for different kinds of repositories and different ways users interact with the repository. While all three methods of navigating the repository will be used in most cases, it is useful to determine which is most relevant for your content and to plan accordingly.
Browse
In a repository optimized for browsing, users primarily locate content by navigating the folder structure directly, selecting folders and subfolders until they reach their desired documents. Repositories where users are working with files in a limited number of file locations, where folder structures and naming are intuitive, and where the folder nesting is not too deep and folders do not contain an overwhelming number of documents, are good for browsing. For example, if members of the HR team will be working with documents in a handful of folders clearly organized under an HR parent folder, and they do not need to frequently click through many parent folders to get to the documents they need, browsing may be a good solution.
If you want to optimize your repository for browsing, you will want to emphasize a folder structure with clearly-named folders organized in a fashion that can be intuitively grasped by users. You should also minimize the use of deeply-nested folder sand the number of folders that contain hundreds or thousands of documents, as those can be difficult for a user to work with. If this is not possible due to the number of documents in your repository, or security or compliance needs requiring an unituitive folder structure, you may want to look into a repository that emphasizes searching or shortcuts and URLs.
Search
Optimization for searching is especially useful in repositories where users will be working with documents in many possible locations, in locations that are not necessarily intuitive to find, where folders are deeply nested, or where browsing is otherwise inefficient. For example, if a team will be referencing and working with documents across dozens or hundreds of folders, searching may be more effective than browsing. Similarly, if your security or compliance needs require you to organize your documents in a way that is not intuitive, you may want to emphasize searching.
If you want to optimize your repository for searching, it's important to emphasize searchability when storing information. Documents containing text should be OCRed or have text generated from them, and any important search keywords should be stored in metadata or annotations. Search may also require additional training for users who are not familiar with the search interface.
Shortcuts and URLs
Shortcuts and URLs are direct links to entries in the repository, allowing users to go directly to a document or folder. They are very useful in repositories where users are working with a limited number of documents and folders, but those documents and folders are not easy to browse to, either because they're deeply nested in the folder structure or because the folder structure is not intuitive. Shortcuts make it easy to provide multiple ways to access documents without duplicating them. They can also be helpful for users who have difficulty finding documents, as you can organize sets of shortcuts in user folders to allow them to quickly find relevant documents. Similarly, linking to documents directly via a URL allows users to easily send one another documents for review or collaboration.
If you want to optimize your repository for the use of shortcuts and URLs, you will need to plan how to create the shortcuts or URLs in advance. In general, process automation tools are useful for automatically creating user folders with shortcuts, or for sending links to users in email.
Security
Entry access rights in Laserfiche control who can view, modify, and otherwise work with documents and folders. Because entry access rights are set on folders and inherited in the folder tree, the folder structure should be designed with security in mind. In general, it's possible to make a repository that's both easy to use and easy to secure, but if you must make a trade-off between ease of use and security, you should prioritize security. For more information, see Security Principles and Best Practices.
Further Information
The following pages provide more information on repository design considerations: