July 2024: a library for the paperwork, filed where you will look
Once customers and jobs worked, the paperwork started to pile up: photos, certificates, notes and PDFs. In July 2024 we built a document library that files things where you will look.
Part 10 of 39 of Building TradeYoke, the story of how the platform was built, from January 2024 to today. Previous: July 2024: customers and jobs working end to end for window cleaning. Next: August 2024: a diary that fills itself from the round. See every part on the build timeline.
Quick answer
Quick answer: The TradeYoke document library is a folder tree you can upload to or photograph into, where each document can be filed against a job and the customer at the same time, so it shows on both. It began in July 2024, soon after customers and jobs worked end to end.
Key takeaways
- The library is a normal folder tree: create, rename, move and delete folders.
- A document can be attached to a job and to the customer at once, so it shows in both places.
- On a phone you can photograph straight into the library.
- Sensitive documents can be protected with a password, and anything sent to a customer is recorded.
The paperwork problem
Doing the work is one thing; being able to prove it later is another. By the summer of 2024 customers and jobs worked end to end in TradeYoke, and almost immediately the paperwork began to pile up: a photo of a cracked sill, a PDF from a supplier, an insurance certificate, a note scanned at the kitchen table. A pile of unfiled files is only a slower notebook.
A library, not a dumping ground
We built the document library as an ordinary folder tree, because that is what people already understand. You can create a folder, rename it, move it and delete it, and you can upload files into it. Nothing clever, on purpose. The clever part is where a document can be filed.
Filed against the job and the customer
A document is not just in a folder; it can be attached to the record it is about. File a photo against a job and it shows on that job. Attach it to the customer at the same moment and it shows on the customer's record too. That means it appears in two places, and you find it from whichever end you start: open the job, or open the customer.
From the phone
Most paperwork starts on site, not at a desk. So you can photograph a document or a piece of work and file it straight from the phone, without emailing it to yourself first and filing it later. Later is where paperwork goes to die.
Keeping some things private
Not every document is for everyone in the business. A document can be protected with a password, so the sensitive ones stay behind a gate even when the folder is shared.
Sending it
Paperwork that goes to a customer is sent through the same route as other messages, so it is recorded in their history. You can see what was sent and when, and the copy in the library is stamped as sent. That is the other half of being able to prove it.
What came next
The library was the foundation. Over the following months it spread across the rest of the system: onto every record, then searching inside the files and keeping certificates in date.
Next
August: how a diary fills itself, with recurring visits.
Questions people ask
Where does TradeYoke keep completed documents?
In the document library, a folder tree where each document can be filed against the job and the customer, so it shows on both.
Can I photograph a document straight into TradeYoke?
Yes. On a phone you can capture a photo and file it into the library without emailing it to yourself first.
Try it on your own week
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