Skip to main content

Creating Your Fonds Structure

The Fonds section of The Archiver is where you build your archival hierarchy — the organisational skeleton of your collection.

note

Fonds require a paid plan (Pro, Team, or Enterprise).

Planning your structure​

Before you start clicking, it helps to sketch out your structure. Ask yourself:

  1. What are my top-level collections? One Fonds per person, family, or organisation that donated or created records.
  2. Does each Fonds need sub-fonds? Only if the collection is large enough to warrant major divisions.
  3. What are the Series? Common series include: Correspondence, Financial Records, Photographs, Legal Documents, Diaries/Journals.
  4. How many levels do I need? Start shallow (Fonds → Series → Accession) and add Sub-fonds/Sub-series only when needed.
tip

Don't over-engineer. A simple, clear structure is better than a complex one. You can always restructure later.

Creating a Fonds​

  1. Click Fonds in the left sidebar
  2. Click New Fonds
  3. Enter:
    • Name — the name of the creator (person, family, or organisation)
    • Description — background on who created these records
    • Dates — the approximate date range of the collection
    • Reference code — your internal reference (optional)
  4. Click Create

Adding a Sub-fonds​

  1. Open a Fonds
  2. Click Add Sub-fonds
  3. Fill in the same fields as a Fonds
  4. Click Create

Adding a Series​

  1. Open a Fonds (or Sub-fonds)
  2. Click Add Series
  3. Enter:
    • Name — e.g. "Correspondence", "Financial Records"
    • Description — what kinds of records this series contains
  4. Click Create

Adding a Sub-series​

Open a Series and click Add Sub-series — the process is the same as adding a Series.

Rearranging your structure​

You can drag and drop items in the Fonds tree to move them:

  • Drag a Series to a different Fonds or Sub-fonds
  • Drag Sub-series within a Series
  • Drag Accessions between Series
tip

Hold Alt while dragging to copy rather than move.

Deleting a Fonds, Series, or Sub-series​

warning

Deleting a Fonds or Series does not delete the Accessions within it — they return to the "unassigned" state. But this action cannot be undone.

Right-click any item in the tree and select Delete.