Documentation for Local Nodes

Documentation for Local Nodes

How to capture and share knowledge so your community learns and grows

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Why Documentation Matters

Your community generates knowledge constantly. Decisions get made. Lessons get learned. Processes get created. Then people move on.

Without documentation, this knowledge walks out the door when people leave. When someone asks “how do I do that?” you explain it again from scratch. When history is needed, for resolving disputes, planning ahead, or onboarding new members, it is simply gone.

With documentation, your community builds something durable: an institutional memory that survives personnel changes. New members can catch up quickly. Contributors can build on past work instead of repeating it. Your node becomes more than the sum of its current members, it becomes a living system that carries its own history forward.

The Greenpill Local Regen Guide emphasizes that communities need to “remember what they have learned”, documentation is how you make that happen.

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Types of Documentation Your Node Needs

Governance Documents

These are your rules and agreements, the foundation of how your community operates.

Include:

• Community agreements and values
• Decision-making processes and who is responsible for what
• Role descriptions and responsibilities
• Records of decisions made and how voting went
• Constitutional documents or founding agreements

Purpose: Know how decisions get made, who does what, and what rules everyone agreed to.

Process Documents

These explain how things actually work, the step-by-step of getting things done.

Include:

• How to join the community
• How to contribute and what paths exist
• Event planning process from idea to completion
• Onboarding steps for new members
• How to propose new initiatives

Purpose: Enable people to actually do things, without needing to ask a specific person every time.

Historical Documents

These record what happened, your community’s memory.

Include:

• Meeting notes with decisions and commitments recorded
• Event recaps and outcomes
• Milestone achievements and what you learned from them
• Membership changes over time
• Lessons learned from things that did not go well

Purpose: Build institutional memory, avoid repeating mistakes, and give new members context for why things are the way they are.

Knowledge Base

This is your reference library, answers to questions people ask regularly.

Include:

• FAQs about common questions
• Tool guides and tutorials for platforms you use
• Resource lists, who to contact, where to find things
• Best practices developed from experience
• External references that your community has found useful

Purpose: Answer questions quickly and share expertise so it does not sit in only one person’s head.

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Tools for Documentation

Free and Accessible

Google Docs and Google Drive

• Almost everyone knows how to use them
• Real-time collaboration without version conflicts
• Easy sharing and access control
• Good for: Meeting notes, drafts, working documents

Google Drive works well for file storage and folder organization, and its search function helps you find things later. For communities in East Africa, these tools are accessible on basic smartphones with data or WiFi.

Structured and Powerful

Notion

• Databases and templates built in
• Good for building wikis and knowledge bases
• Works on mobile and desktop
• Good for: Knowledge bases, process docs, project tracking

Coda

• Combines tables and documents
• Integrated and flexible
• Good for: Project management, collaborative documentation

Technical and Durable

GitHub / GitBook

• Version control means you can see every change ever made
• Markdown-based so writing is clean and simple
• Long-term durability, these platforms are built to persist
• Good for: Technical guides, developer documentation, permanent records

For communities that want their documentation to survive platform changes, GitBook offers a good balance of durability and ease of use.

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What to Document: Priority Guide

Must-Have (Do This First)

If you document nothing else, document these four things:

1. How to join, Clear steps to become part of the community
2. Community agreements, Rules and expectations everyone agreed to
3. Contact information, Who is who and how to reach them
4. Key resources, Where to find important things

Should-Have (Important)

These make your community run much better:

1. Meeting notes, What was decided, who committed to what, by when
2. Event archives, What worked, what did not, and what to change next time
3. Decision history, Why important choices were made
4. Role definitions, What is expected of each position or person
5. Financial transparency, How money is raised, spent, and accounted for

Nice-to-Have (Helpful Over Time)

These add depth and make your documentation more useful:

1. Detailed step-by-step processes for complex tasks
2. Templates for recurring documents like proposals or reports
3. Training materials for specific tools or responsibilities
4. Glossary of terms your community uses
5. Onboarding guides for welcoming and integrating new members

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Maintaining Documentation Over Time

Documentation is only valuable if it stays current. Outdated documentation can actually cause harm, people make decisions based on wrong information. Here is how to keep it alive.

Assign Ownership

Someone needs to be responsible for:

• Keeping docs current after changes happen
• Organizing new information as it comes in
• Reviewing documents periodically for accuracy
• Archiving or removing content that is no longer relevant

This does not mean one person does all the writing. It means one person makes sure the system works.

Review on a Schedule

• Monthly: Check whether major updates are needed
• Quarterly: Full review of accuracy across all key documents
• Annually: Restructure and consolidate, remove what is outdated, improve what is unclear

Make It Easy to Update

The easier documentation is to update, the more it actually gets updated.

• Use tools people already know
• Keep templates simple and clear
• Make it obvious who has permission to edit
• Recognize and celebrate people who contribute to documentation

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Documentation Workflow

When Something Happens (A Decision, an Event, a Lesson)

1. Capture, Take notes while it is fresh, even rough ones
2. Process, Summarize and organize the key points
3. Store, Put it in the right place with a clear, searchable name
4. Share, Let relevant people know the information is available

For Ongoing Knowledge (Building Your Knowledge Base Over Time)

1. Identify, What does the community consistently need to know?
2. Create, Write clear, accessible documentation
3. Review, Check for accuracy with someone who knows the topic
4. Publish, Make it available in the right channels
5. Update, Keep it current as things change

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Best Practices

Be Clear

Write so someone new can understand:

• Define acronyms and local terms
• Explain the context behind decisions
• Use concrete examples instead of abstract descriptions

Be Concise

Respect people’s time:

• Get to the point quickly
• Use clear headers so people can scan
• Break long documents into sections

Be Current

Outdated documentation causes real problems:

• Date everything you write
• Note when a document should be reviewed
• Clearly mark or remove information that is no longer accurate

Be Accessible

Make documentation easy to find:

• Use clear, descriptive filenames
• Organize folders logically
• Invest time in good search, it pays off long-term

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Common Mistakes to Avoid

Over-Documentation

Do not try to document everything. Focus on what people actually need to know and do. A small set of well-maintained documents is more valuable than a large set of outdated ones.

Nobody Owns It

If everyone is responsible for documentation, no one is responsible. Assign specific ownership for specific documents or categories.

Perfect Is the Enemy of Good

Done and imperfect beats perfect and never finished. Write it, share it, improve it later. Your community needs documentation now, not a perfect version in six months.

Assuming Everyone Knows the Context

Write for someone who has never been to your community before. What is obvious to you is not obvious to a new member. Include the context that makes your community’s history and culture legible to newcomers.

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Try This

1. Audit your current documentation. What do you have? What is outdated or missing? What would you need to recreate from memory if your key person left tomorrow?
2. Document one governance document this week. Start with your community agreements or decision-making process. Write it as if explaining it to someone who just joined.
3. Set up a shared folder. Use Google Drive or a similar tool. Create folders for: Governance, Processes, History, and Knowledge Base. Start putting things in the right folders.
4. Assign one owner. Pick one person responsible for documentation health. Make it part of their role, not an extra thing on top of everything else.
5. Create a meeting notes template. A simple template with fields for date, attendees, decisions made, and action items will make your notes consistent and useful.

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References

• Greenpill Local, Community Building and Knowledge Management https://greenpill.network/
• Notion, Getting Started with Documentation https://www.notion.so/
• GitBook, Documentation Best Practices https://www.gitbook.com/
• Ethereum Foundation, DAO Governance Documentation https://ethereum.org/en/dao/