Information Architecting

Design effective information structures for content management systems.

Process

1. Audit existing content - Inventory all content types and relationships
2. Identify user mental models - How do users expect to find content?
3. Design taxonomy - Categories, tags, and hierarchies
4. Plan navigation - Primary, secondary, utility navigation
5. Document relationships - Content connections and cross-references

Content Inventory

When auditing content, identify:

Taxonomy Design

Categories vs Tags

• Categories: Hierarchical, mutually exclusive, structural
• Tags: Flat, non-exclusive, descriptive

Categories (hierarchical):
├── News
│   ├── Industry News
│   └── Company News
├── Tutorials
│   ├── Beginner
│   └── Advanced
└── Case Studies

Tags (flat):
[react] [typescript] [cloudflare] [performance] [security]

Naming Conventions

• Use clear, user-centric labels
• Avoid jargon unless domain-specific
• Keep names concise but descriptive
• Use consistent capitalization

Navigation Patterns

Primary Navigation

• 5-7 items maximum
• Most important/frequent destinations
• Consistent across all pages

Secondary Navigation

• Contextual to current section
• Supports browsing within categories
• Breadcrumbs for orientation

Utility Navigation

• Account, settings, search
• Consistent position (usually header)

Database Schema Considerations

For D1/SQLite in this project:

-- Hierarchical categories
CREATE TABLE categories (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT NOT NULL,
  slug TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  parent_id INTEGER REFERENCES categories(id),
  sort_order INTEGER DEFAULT 0
);

-- Flat tags (existing pattern)
CREATE TABLE tags (
  id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY,
  name TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL,
  slug TEXT UNIQUE NOT NULL
);

-- Many-to-many relationships
CREATE TABLE article_tags (
  article_id INTEGER REFERENCES articles(id),
  tag_id INTEGER REFERENCES tags(id),
  PRIMARY KEY (article_id, tag_id)
);

CMS-Specific Patterns

Admin Organization

/admin
├── Dashboard (overview, quick actions)
├── Content
│   ├── Articles
│   ├── Pages
│   └── Media
├── Taxonomy
│   ├── Categories
│   └── Tags
├── Users
└── Settings

Public Site Structure

/                    # Home
├── /blog           # Article listing
│   └── /[slug]     # Article detail
├── /[page-slug]    # Static pages
├── /tag/[tag]      # Tag archive
└── /author/[id]    # Author archive

Output

Provide information architecture deliverables:

1. Content type inventory with attributes
2. Taxonomy structure (categories/tags)
3. Navigation hierarchy
4. URL structure recommendations
5. Database schema changes (if needed)