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Intranet Architecture

Reference doc — not in nav. Captures the why behind the structure so future changes stay coherent. Decided 2026-05-05.

Design principle

Arrange by the question being asked, not by document type. A barista at 6am isn't thinking "I need an SOP" — they're thinking "how do I open?" Top-level nav mirrors modes of use, not folder types.

Top-level structure

Five sections. Each maps to a distinct mode of use.

Section Question it answers Examples
Daily Operations "I'm working a shift." Opening/closing checklists, espresso cleaning, troubleshooting, ask-Harrison
Recipes "What's in this drink?" Drink cards, syrups, bakery, coffee program
Events "I'm running an event." Proposal form, ops plan, packing/teardown, past events
Handbook "How does this place work?" Welcome, schedule, pay, conduct, safety, training
Reference "Who do I call? Where's the thing?" Suppliers, equipment list, phone system, brand guide, useful links

Home page

Three things, in order:

  1. Search bar (prominent).
  2. Quick-links grid — the 6 highest-frequency destinations.
  3. Small callout: working docs live in Google Drive → with one link.

What does NOT go on the intranet

  • Schedules — live in the scheduling tool; intranet links out.
  • Financials — stay in Drive sheets, manager-only.
  • Employee personal info — Drive, with proper access control.
  • Photos & marketing assets — Drive (too big, too churny).
  • Anything still in active editing — Drive until it stabilizes.

The intranet is canonical reference. Drive is the working surface.

Companion: Drive structure

Shared drive should mirror the intranet's logic — one mental model, not two. Numbered prefixes keep order predictable.

Sips & Souls (shared drive)
├── 01 Operations    working schedules, daily logs, count sheets, shift notes
├── 02 Events        per-event folders, contracts, photos, vendor comms
├── 03 Finance       financials sheet, statements, invoices, tax docs
├── 04 People        HR files, applications, employee records, time-off
├── 05 Suppliers     invoices, current order docs, contracts
├── 06 Marketing     social posts, photos, promo creative
└── 07 Archive       finalized / rarely accessed

Each Drive folder is the working surface for the corresponding intranet section. The intranet's "Useful Links" page deep-links into specific Drive folders managers actually need.

Editing workflow (current)

Billy edits; others request changes. Decision deferred on adding a CMS (Decap) until content stabilizes and we see real edit volume from Mike/Harrison. Markdown + GitHub is too techy for them long-term but fine short-term given the current rate of change.

Adding new content — where does it go?

When something new shows up, ask: what question does opening this answer?

  • Mid-shift job aid → Daily Operations
  • Drink/food spec → Recipes
  • Event-specific → Events
  • People/policy → Handbook
  • Static lookup table → Reference
  • Currently being edited / actively churning → Drive (not intranet yet)

If it doesn't fit any of these, the section list is probably wrong — push back rather than inventing a new top-level.