4  Organization

Folders are organized into a hierarchical structure to clearly delineate project components, improve searchability, and support reproducible workflows over time.

4.1 Folder structure

An effective folder structure balances depth and simplicity. Shallow structures can become cluttered and difficult to search, while overly deep structures require excessive clicking to navigate to a specific file. When a folder contains many subfolders, standalone files should be minimized or grouped into clearly labeled subfolders to reduce visual clutter and improve findability.

Y:/NRAS/soil-health-initiative is the parent folder for all WaSHI content.

The SOS folder structure uses a combination of date-based (year-specific subfolders) and categorical-based (datasets and documentation that span multiple years) organization. This structure is well suited for long-term projects that generate data over multiple years. Shorter-term or special projects may instead follow a single-year structure.

Y:/NRAS/soil-health-initiative/state-of-the-soils/
├── _complete-dataset
├── 2019_scbg
├── 2021_sampling
├── 2022_sampling
├── 2023_sampling
├── 2024_sampling
├── data-sharing
├── data-sources
├── maps
├── projects
├── qapp
├── sop
├── training-videos
├── equipment-inventory.xlsx
├── archived-sample-inventory.xlsx
└── sos-impacts.xlsx

Within each year-specific folder, subfolders are used to separate planning materials, forms, data, and workflows, supporting consistent and reproducible processes across sampling years. The 2023_sampling folder below provides an example:

Y:/NRAS/soil-health-initiative/state-of-the-soils/2023_sampling/
├── applications
├── coc
├── equipment
├── field-forms
├── forms
├── gis
├── lab-data
├── labels
├── management-surveys
├── public-docs
├── purchases
├── reports
├── sample-id-assignments
├── scripts
├── 2023-data-tracking.xlsx
└── 2023_post-season-wrap-up.docx

4.2 Archive folders

When too many drafts or versions clutter a subfolder, create a new folder with the naming convention of archive-folder-description. Place the old drafts there. Leave the most current, accurate file in the main folder.

For example, the most recent sample labels for each conservation district are listed in the top level completed-labels folder, and previous working drafts were moved to the archive-labels folder.

Y:/NRAS/soil-health-initiative/state-of-the-soils/2023_sampling/labels/completed-labels
├── archive-labels
│   ├── cowlitz-county_labels.docx
│   ├── ferry-cd_labels.docx
│   ├── lewis-cd_labels.docx
│   └── stevens-cd_labels.docx
├── cowlitz-county_labels_v2.docx
├── ferry-cd_labels_v2.docx
├── ...
├── south-yakima-cd_labels.docx
├── stevens-cd_labels_v2.docx
└── walla-walla-cd_labels.docx

4.3 Code-based project organization

Code-based projects should be organized according to Section 9.1.1 in the code style guide.