I recently wrapped up a fairly complex client project that involved quite a few moving parts—custom logic, non-standard content structures, and multiple user roles in CloudCannon. Usually, we’d meet with the client’s in-house developer and walk them through how to maintain and update the content. But in this case, there was simply too much to cover in a single meeting, and too much to reasonably retain from a one-time walkthrough.
The next standard approach would have been to write up a traditional documentation file—likely a shared Google Doc. That approach works, but it has some limitations:
- It can become long and unwieldy, especially when the site is complex.
- It’s often harder to navigate—developers might need to scroll/search through the whole doc to find what they need.
- You might need multiple docs to account for different user types.
- It can feel disconnected from the site itself, especially if it’s stored outside the CloudCannon environment.
Because of these limitations, I decided to go a different route: I built a full documentation site using the Alto template, hosted within the client’s CloudCannon organization.
This approach had a few major benefits:
- Structured and searchable: I could organize documentation into logical categories using structured navigation and an on-site search.
- Rich content: I embedded short videos walking through more complex processes, with step-by-step instructions written below.
- Easily updatable: Since it’s built on the same stack as their main site, their team can update it like any other CloudCannon project.
- Fully integrated: The doc site lives alongside their main site in CloudCannon. No permissions issues, no switching platforms.
It ended up being a clean, scalable solution—and one that future developers working on the project can benefit from, not just the current team.
Has anyone else taken the approach of building out a separate documentation site for client handoff? I’d love to hear how others structure it or whether you’ve used other templates or tooling that’s worked well. I’m always striving to make handoffs smoother and more useful for clients!
Brilliant idea and a much slicker approach than Notion! Thanks for sharing.