--- title: "Build a three-level structure for your Truth vault" description: "Build a three-level docs tree of areas, component groups and collections, so every new page in your Truth vault has the right place." type: "Trust post" docType: "Tutorial" from: "content-system/truth-vault/introduction" tags: ["Truth vault"] entity: "three-level docs structure" --- > Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://cuongthach.com/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Build a three-level structure for your Truth vault By the end of this guide, you have a three-level tree on your plan and your first overview page on the website. Every page you write later for your [Truth vault](/docs/content-system/truth-vault/introduction) already has a place: which area, which component group, which page type. The guide is for people who make docs for their own business and have no team. The frame is simple, enough for one person to do alone, and it applies the same way in every group. ## What to prepare - **A list of what you have done.** It holds facts taken from blog posts that are still true, and long notes that you applied in real life and got results from. Short ideas you have not tried stay off the list. - **A plan.** A separate document in your digital brain, where you draw the tree before you publish anything on the website. - **A website platform for docs.** Entity docs run on a website. A note-taking app cannot do this job. ## Three levels and four parts ![Three levels and four parts](/docs/_astro/illus-docs-cay-ba-cap.en.BuOevg0H_ZTKTiY.svg "Each level splits the one above it") The three levels of the tree, from largest to smallest: | Level | What it holds | Limit | | --- | --- | --- | | Area | One product, or the whole brand asset (formulas, processes, library, your own AI and software) | One area for each product | | Component group | One part of the area | No more than three large components | | Collection | Pages of the same type, with a different subject | No limit on pages | Four parts stand in a fixed order in every area and every group: **opening, concept, component, guide**. The opening of an area is called the introduction, and the opening of a group is called the overview. The guide part has two collections. The getting-started guide goes step by step in detail, for people who do it the first time. The hands-on guide is the do-it-yourself guide, at an advanced level. As for the mix, Cuong's docs for a one-person business lean toward guides: about 60% guides, 20% explanation and 20% reference. This is his own experience, and no one has tested it. ## Build the docs tree ![Build the docs tree](/docs/_astro/illus-docs-dia-chi-trang.en.CAmNHQmi_ZTKTiY.svg "One page, exactly one place in the tree") Do the three steps on your plan first. Then publish each finished page on the website. You can publish from the top down or from the bottom up. 1. **Split the areas** The area is the widest level and every level below it depends on it, so do it first. On your plan, write one area for each product and one shared area for the brand asset. A product that launches later gets its own area. You end up with a row of areas side by side, each matching one thing you own. 2. **Split the groups and set the four parts** Groups help readers narrow down where to look. Each group holds at most three large components. Then give the area and every group all four parts. Keep group names short and use the words your customers use, because the name shows in a narrow navigation bar. You end up with the full frame of the tree on your plan. 3. **Place each page, then publish gradually** Every page needs a place in the tree before you write it. Go through your list, and for each line answer three questions: which area, which component group, which page type. A page that explains belongs to the concept or component part, and a page that shows how to do something belongs to the guide part. The overview page goes on the website first, because the other pages rely on it. You end up with a public overview page, and the other pages wait until they have enough content. :::caution[Do not publish empty pages] A title with no content, or a tree with only section names, does not help the reader. Cuong uses a threshold of about 500 to 600 words. Below that, write more, or merge the page into a collection of the same type. ::: ## Signs the tree is right Read the tree from start to end and check four things: - **Understand first, do later.** The introduction and concepts stand above the guides. The docs stop at the Trust level, and the Love level is only a button that points outside. - **One place for each page.** Every page has exactly one area and one group. - **Collections with many subjects.** The pages are of the same type but have different subjects, so readers see every side of one component. - **Every page has enough to say.** The website has no page with only a title. ## Fix common docs tree problems Most tree problems come from unclear borders between groups, and settling the tree on your plan saves you from moving pages after you publish. ### A page belongs to two groups A page that belongs to two groups is a sign that the two groups have no clear border. To fix it, merge the two groups, or take the overlap out as a third group. Keep each group to its own job. For example, selling and marketing are two different groups. ### A page holds too much A page of a few thousand words often holds several topics. If a guide covers many tasks, split it into several guide pages. If a concept is too broad, split it into two concepts. If a group is about to get a fourth large component, fold that component into one of the three it already has. ### You have to rearrange the tree Each time you move a page to another group, its URL changes and the old URL needs a 301 redirect. According to Google's documentation, search positions can rise and fall while Google crawls the new URLs again ([Site moves and migrations](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-with-url-changes)). Settling the tree on your plan before you publish avoids this. ## Example from cuongthach.com The docs of cuongthach.com have two areas. The Content system area splits into three component groups: | Level | In the docs of cuongthach.com | | --- | --- | | Area | Write to Sell (the product), Content system (the brand asset) | | Component group | Truth vault, Content funnel, Publishing process | | Collection | Concepts, getting-started guides and hands-on guides of each group | Three rules of the tree came from three fixes to the structure: - **The reason lives in the overview.** A separate "why" page was merged back into the overview page. - **One content type for each page.** Explanations do not creep into guides, and guides do not creep into explanations. - **Settle the group before you publish.** One group once had to move, which meant 301 redirects for pages already on Google. ## What can wait at first - **A frequently asked questions page.** You only need it once you have customers who repeat the same questions. - **Things you are still testing.** Add them when you have results, because Entity docs hold only what has been verified. - **Extra pages nobody needs.** Look them over yourself and drop the ones that do not serve the reader, so your time goes to the main pages. ## Related pages - It does not build the first pages of the vault: see [Start your Truth vault](/docs/content-system/truth-vault/guides/tutorials/build-the-first-vault). - It does not explain the four page types: see [Source of evidence](/docs/content-system/truth-vault/concepts/evidence-source). - It does not turn a customer question into a page: see [Customer questions](/docs/content-system/truth-vault/guides/how-to/question-to-page). - The steps, with the mistakes Cuong made, are in [How to structure the docs of a one-person business](https://cuongthach.com/structure-docs-for-a-solo-business/). Source: https://cuongthach.com/docs/content-system/truth-vault/guides/tutorials/docs-structure/index.mdx