10 min read

Organize your Coda workspace

A well-organized, clutter-free workspace makes folders, docs, and content easily discoverable. For you. And your team.

There are many different ways to organize your workspace in Coda. In this guide, we will walk through how to utilize folders and workspace settings to create a system that is best suited to your company’s needs. By following these best practices, you will create a clutter free workspace that makes docs and content easily discoverable. We are going to walk through each organizational tier, starting at the top with the workspace itself and then working our way through folders and then docs.

What’s in here

What you’ll get

Best practices for structuring your workspace
Tips to reduce time looking for information
Eliminate clutter and duplicate of resources

What you’ll use

Workspace
Folders
Doc sharing settings
Doc locking

1. Understanding the organization of a Coda workspace.

Think of a Coda Workspace as your company’s digital hard drive within Coda that contains your organization’s folders and docs. People in the same workspace can easily collaborate with each other via doc sharing, real-time shared editing space, and commenting within docs. Docs can be connected within the same workspace using features such as, but not limited to: cross-doc, hyperlink cards, and page embeds. Tip: Check out our help articles about Cross-doc and embeds.

While you have the ability to create multiple workspaces in Coda, we recommend keeping the number of workspaces to a minimum (ideally one.) An organization may have multiple workspaces in Coda for various reasons such as:

Business segmentation: If a company is composed of multiple entities that operate independently of each other with no possibility of communication/collaboration (think separate brands or subsidiaries operating in different countries)
Mergers and Acquisitions: Acquired companies may already have their own Coda workspaces that would initially remain independent but possibly consolidated post-merger.

People can belong to multiple workspaces in Coda and can freely navigate between them. It is worth noting that plans are tied to a specific workspace. This means that if a company has 2 workspaces—Workspace A and Workspace B—and Workspace A is on the Team plan but Workspace B is on the free plan, people will only have access to team plan features in Workspace A. When they are in Workspace B, they will only have access to features on the free plan.

2. Find your schema.

Nothing like some good old self reflection! Just like Coda docs, your Coda Workspace is flexible and designed to flex to the needs of your specific organization. There is no “one size fits all.” The first step in setting up a scalable and easy way to navigate your workspace is determining how your company is structured and adopting this in Coda via folders. Tip: you can learn more about folders in our help article here. The best way of thinking about how to organize folders is by asking which group of people (department, product line, team, etc.) at your company owns this information? If your company is primarily segmented in departments and then further divided into teams within those departments, you should create a folder system that replicates this. People can belong to multiple folders, and docs can easily be moved from one folder to another. Here are two examples of how you might organize your workspace. Take note of the naming conventions and structure.

3. Choosing the right folder type.

Note that private folders and doc locking are Team and Enterprise features. Incorporating public, private, and my docs folders into your workspace allows you to have control over who can see what. When deciding if a doc should live in a public, private or a my docs folder, here are a few factors to always consider:

Is there anyone who should not have access to this information?
Is there any group of people who should have access to this by default?
Will access to this information be decided on a case by case basis?

When to use a public folder.

If access to a doc does not need to be limited, it should live in a public folder. Public folders and their content are discoverable in the workspace search and can be browsed freely by all members of your workspace. These folders do not need an invite to join, and docs that live in public folders are set to be editable by all members. Folder members can remove and add users as they please. Doc locking can be used to control how users interact with docs living in a public folder and is a great way to ensure that edits are only being made by the appropriate users. Some example content that would live in a public folder would be a company roadmap or OKR tracker. Tip: learn more about Doc locking here.

When to use a private folder.

If a doc contains sensitive information, but should only be accessible to a default group of people, it should be housed in a private folder. Private folders are invite only and both the folder and contents will not appear in the workspace search. All members of a private folder are given edit access to all of the docs inside. Just like in public folders, doc locking can be used in private folders to further limit how users interact with a doc. Private folders are perfect for housing account plans that contain confidential customer information.

When to use the my docs folder.

The my docs folder is the ideal folder for docs that will be shared on a case by case basis. This folder is the default folder for all of the docs that you have created. Like a private folder, docs that live in the my docs folder are not discoverable in the workspace search. Editing and viewing permissions are set per user and vary on a doc by doc basis (doc locking can also be used on docs in the my docs folder.) The my docs folder is perfect for 1:1 docs and performance reviews. If you are on a pro or free plan, the my docs folder should be used in place of a private folder.

4. Create a uniform naming convention.

An additional layer of organization that you can bring to your workspace is creating a uniform naming convention for your docs. Setting a company standard for naming your docs (Ex: Department-Use Case-Date created or Team-Use Case) will only help make your docs more discoverable when others are searching within your company workspace. To make the most of your Coda workspace, we recommend creating a folder system that reflects how your company is segmented. Access to docs in your workspace is controlled by setting different folder types (public, private, and My Docs) depending on who should have access to the contents of a doc. Although members of a folder are given edit access by default, doc locking allows you to control how users can interact with docs. Creating a standard naming convention for docs is an extra layer of organization that allows users even more visibility when searching for information.

Now what?

You have the foundation you need to set-up a killer workspace. But maybe you're the type that organizes your junk drawer...if that's you, check out the below links to dive even deeper!