How Merj creates, stores, publishes, and maintains every internal SOP — and how the team finds them. This is the operating manual for the knowledge system itself.
One source of truth for each thing. Every SOP file lives in exactly one place (the repo). The catalog of all SOPs lives in exactly one place (the Dashboard). Basecamp only ever links — it never stores a second copy or a second list. If you ever find yourself pasting a SOP into two places, stop: link instead. This single rule is what keeps the whole library from rotting into stale duplicates.
Three jobs, kept separate, each with one home. That separation is the whole design.
A knowledge system dies when the same information lives in two places and quietly drifts apart. We avoid that by splitting the library into three distinct jobs and giving each exactly one home. Nothing is ever duplicated — everything else is a link.
| Layer | Its one job | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | Hold the master copy of every SOP, with full version history | The Git repo (source of truth) |
| Index & search | The searchable map of every SOP — title, owner, version, link | The Dashboard |
| Workflow | Where the work actually happens; surfaces SOPs in context | Basecamp |
The file lives once. The catalog lives once. Basecamp links. Get those three straight and everything else in this SOP follows.
Six pieces, each with a clear owner. Most of it runs itself once set up.
| Piece | Tool | What it does | Owner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoring | Claude (Cowork) | Creates & edits the SOP as branded HTML from the master template | Claude + the SOP's DRI |
| Source of record | Git repository (merj-sops) | Holds every master file with dated, reversible version history | Karina |
| Publishing | Netlify (CI/CD) | Watches the repo and auto-deploys every change in seconds | Automatic |
| The site | team.merj.marketing | The password-gated home of the live SOPs + the Dashboard | Karina |
| Index / search | The Dashboard | Searchable catalog + new-hire onboarding tracks — the front door | Karina |
| Workflow | Basecamp | Where work happens; links out to the SOPs it needs | Whole team |
The live SOPs sit on their own subdomain (team.merj.marketing) served by Netlify — not on the WordPress marketing site and not stored inside Basecamp. That keeps the public site untouched, lets Claude-authored HTML publish the instant it's saved, and keeps one clean, searchable home for the team. WordPress stays at www; Basecamp stays the place work happens.
Because publishing is automatic, the whole loop collapses to "Claude edits the file and saves it."
| Step | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Create | Claude drafts the SOP from the master template; the DRI reviews the content | Claude (Cowork) |
| 2 · Store | The finished HTML is committed to the repo — this is the versioned master | Git repo |
| 3 · Publish | Netlify sees the commit and deploys automatically — live in ~20 seconds at a stable URL | Netlify → team.merj.marketing |
| 4 · Index | The SOP's entry (title, owner, version, link) is added to the Dashboard catalog | Dashboard |
| 5 · Link | Basecamp tasks that use the SOP link to its URL; HQ pins the Dashboard | Basecamp |
| Update | Edit the HTML → commit → auto-republishes at the same URL, new version | Claude → Git → Netlify |
The single front door: one page where the team searches, filters, and self-serves — including new hires.
The Dashboard is the only catalog of Merj SOPs. It doesn't store the documents — it maps them. Open it and you can:
The Dashboard carries role-based "Start Here" tracks — New Strategist, New Account Manager, New Content Producer — each an ordered path through the SOPs that role needs in its first two weeks, plus the brand assets and this system SOP. A new hire lands on one page and runs their own onboarding.
Basecamp is where work happens — not a second catalog. It links; it never copies.
The temptation is to rebuild the SOP list inside Basecamp. Don't — that's the exact duplication this system avoids. Basecamp connects to the library in just two ways:
The Merj HQ project pins a single link to the Dashboard, front and center. That's the team's one shortcut into the whole library.
Inside the specific task that needs a SOP, link straight to that SOP's URL — e.g., the onboarding to-do "Build the strategy deck" links to the Strategy Deck Build SOP.
A full catalog in two places is duplication you have to keep in sync. A link inside the exact task that uses a SOP belongs there — and it's a pointer, not a copy. Update the file once and every link still resolves, because the URL never changes.
The repeatable checklist. Claude handles the technical steps; the DRI owns the content.
The reason the whole system is safe to change often: updates never break links.
Because a SOP keeps the same URL across every update, every Basecamp link and every reference stays valid forever. The version tag inside the file and the Git history are the record of what changed — you never re-share a new link.
Stable identifiers so links last and every SOP is unambiguous.
| Convention | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| SOP ID | SOP-[AREA]-[###] | SOP-ONB-001 |
| Area codes | ONB, SALES, SYS, PLAN, BRAND, SVC | SYS = systems |
| Filename | stable slug — never changes | onboarding-playbook.html |
| Version | lives inside the file, not the filename | v3.7 in the footer |
| URL | team.merj.marketing/[area]/[slug] | …/onboarding/onboarding-playbook |
Putting "v2" in a filename changes the URL every update and breaks every link. Instead the filename (and URL) stay fixed forever; the version tag inside the file and Git history track the changes.
Internal by default. The library is not public.
A little discipline keeps the library trustworthy. These are the standing rules.
The Chief of Operations (Karina) owns the repo, the Dashboard catalog, and the review cadence. One throat to choke keeps it coherent.
Beyond the library owner, each individual SOP has a named subject-matter owner responsible for its accuracy.
Once a quarter the owner runs the catalog: still accurate? still owned? Update the "last reviewed" date on each. Because there's one catalog and one file store, it's a 30-minute pass.
The file lives once, the catalog lives once, Basecamp links. Any time content is copied instead of linked, it's a bug in the system — fix it by replacing the copy with a link.
This SOP pairs with the Merj SOP Master Template (what every SOP is built on), the Brand System spec, and the Companion SOP Roadmap (what's built and what's next). Together they define how Merj's knowledge is authored, stored, and found.