← Back to SOP Maker

SOP Maker is an offline, folder-based tool for building, controlling and printing authorised Standard Operating Procedures. Your data stays in a folder you choose on your own computer. There is no server, no account and no internet connection needed once the page has loaded.

It is a controlled-document tool. Every SOP moves through the usual stages, from Draft to Review to Approved, and carries the details an auditor expects to see: who prepared it, who authorised it, the revision number and the dates.

## Before you start

SOP Maker uses a modern browser feature that lets a web page read and write files in one folder that you pick. Because of that, a few things matter before you begin.

- Use a desktop computer running Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. The folder features do not work in Firefox, Safari, or on phones and tablets.
- You can still open, view and print an already-issued SOP on any device. You just cannot author or save from those devices.
- You will connect one folder, named `DATA_TO_CONNECT`, where everything is saved: your SOPs, your settings, your images and your printable files.
- `sopmaker.uk` is a page describing what the tool does. The tool itself is at `sopmaker.uk/app`, so bookmark that address.

## Getting started

When you open SOP Maker you see a welcome screen with three ways in. Pick the one that matches where you are.

The welcome screen, with the three ways to open SOP Maker.

- Connect the SOP folder (recommended). Choose your existing `DATA_TO_CONNECT` folder and pick up where you left off. Everything you save goes here.
- Download the toolkit (first time only). Get the whole folder ready to use. Unzip it somewhere sensible, then come back and connect it.
- Use without a folder. Try the tool out and see how it works. You can build an SOP, but saving and the Library need a connected folder.

There is also a See an example SOP link on the welcome screen if you just want to see what a finished document looks like.

## First-time setup

The first time you connect a fresh folder, a short setup card appears. It asks for a few basics so your SOPs look like your own from the very first one:

- Your company name.
- An optional logo.
- Your brand colours, or one of the ready-made presets.
- A chance to confirm your departments.

None of this is permanent. You can change all of it later in Settings, so it is fine to accept the defaults and move on.

## Branding your SOPs (Settings)

Settings is where you control how every SOP looks. Open it to set your company details and colours.

Settings, where your company name, logo and brand colours live.

- Company name. Shown on every SOP. If you upload a logo, the logo replaces the text.
- Brand colours. Choose a primary and secondary colour, or use one of the quick palettes: Navy & Amber, Black & Green, Charcoal & Blue, or Slate & Teal.
- Default department and default SOP owner. These pre-fill for you each time you start a new SOP.

Good to know: the safety and hazard colours are fixed and never change with your brand, so a Critical hazard always looks Critical. If you pick a very pale brand colour, it is darkened automatically so the text on it stays readable.

## Departments & numbering

Every SOP belongs to a department. The department does two useful jobs for you: it decides the SOP number, and it decides which folder the printable file is saved in.

Manage departments, where codes, names and numbering live.

Numbers are automatic and count up on their own within each department. For example, Hygiene SOPs are numbered `SOP_HY_0001`, `SOP_HY_0002` and so on, while Production SOPs run `SOP_PR_0001` upward. You never have to track the next number by hand.

In Manage departments you can:

- Rename a department code or name. Existing SOPs keep their numbers and their folders.
- Add your own department.
- Untick Active to hide a department you are not using, without deleting anything.

## Creating an SOP

Click + New, choose a department, then pick a starting format or template. You fill in the document on the left, and the finished SOP updates live on the right as you type.

The editor. You type on the left; the finished SOP updates live on the right.

An SOP is made of two parts:

- The document-control header. SOP title, owner, author, dates, revision, version, who it applies to and which sites it covers. This is the part auditors read first.
- The content blocks. Purpose, key points, the golden rule, the steps, PPE and a sign-off area.

Each SOP also carries a hazard class, so anyone reading it can see at a glance how careful they need to be.

When you are ready to give the document a number, click Assign. It fills in the next free number for the department you chose.

## Saving your work

Click Save and SOP Maker writes two things at once:

- The editable source. This is the master copy of your SOP, kept safe in `02_JSON/Library` as one file per SOP.
- The printable page. A finished, print-ready page saved in `04_Exports/<your department>/HTML`.

The source is the master copy and is never overwritten by another SOP, so your work cannot be lost to a numbering clash.

Sign-in required: you enter your name once so every SOP records who wrote it. This is part of keeping the documents controlled and traceable.

### Working on a shared drive

If your folder sits on a shared drive, more than one person can have the same SOP open. Before it writes, SOP Maker re-reads the file on disk and compares it with the version you opened. If a colleague has saved in between, it stops and asks you what to do rather than replacing their work without saying so.

Whenever a save replaces an existing version — whether or not you were asked — the version being replaced is copied into `02_JSON/Library/_bak` first, so an overwrite can be undone by hand. The last few copies of each SOP are kept there. If you answer Cancel, nothing is written at all, so there is no backup to look for and none is needed.

That check has a limit worth knowing, and it is worth knowing precisely. If two people on two different computers press Save in the same instant — close enough that each one's check finishes before the other's write lands — neither save can see the other in time, and the later one is the version left on disk. In that one case the `_bak` copy does not hold the overwritten work either: both computers read the same version before writing, so both back up that same version. What you are left with is the `07_Log` history, which will show you that both saves happened and who made them, but not the lost text. No browser can lock a file on a shared drive, so this is a limit of the platform rather than a fault. Within a single browser profile on one computer it is different: saves are queued and cannot overlap, even with the app open in two tabs. The queue is scoped to the browser profile, not to the machine — two Chrome profiles, or Chrome and Edge side by side, do not share it and behave like two computers. If several people edit the same procedures regularly, agree who owns which department — that, rather than the check, is what actually prevents this.

### Who changed what

Every save also writes a history entry into `07_Log`, in a folder named after the SOP's own id — one small file per save, holding the date and time, the name and role signed in, the action and the save's own revision counter, and the SOP’s id, number, version, revision number, status and title, plus the version of SOP Maker that wrote it — that is the whole record. The title is the only part of the document itself in there — no step content and no images. Entries are only added; an entry already written is never changed or replaced, and none is ever deleted, so the history keeps growing for as long as you keep the folder. When an auditor asks who changed a procedure and when, that folder is the answer.

## The SOP Library

The Library lists every SOP you have saved, grouped by department. It is where you go to find, open and update your documents.

The Library, grouped by department with search, filter and sort. Each card carries a Duplicate button.

- Search by number, title or author.
- Filter by department or status.
- Sort by date, number, title or author.

Click any SOP to open and edit it. Saving overwrites the same files, so you always have one clean master copy per document. If two SOPs ever end up with the same number, the Library flags it so you can renumber one.

## Reusing an SOP as a template

Once you have written one good SOP, the next one in the same shape is mostly the same document. Duplicate, on every Library card, starts a new SOP from an existing one. Your own approved procedures become your best templates, and they beat any starter template because they already use your wording, your departments and your PPE.

Everything that makes the document useful comes across: all the sections and their content, the hazard box, the PPE tiles, the sign-off columns, your custom document-control fields, the department and the format.

Four things are deliberately left behind. The copy arrives as a Draft, with no SOP number, no issue date, and the built-in authorisation cleared — that is the "Authorised by" name and date.

That last one matters more than it looks. The name of whoever authorised a procedure is printed on the document. If a copy kept it, you would hand out a new procedure carrying someone's authorisation for something they have never read. So the copy starts unapproved, and someone has to authorise it properly — which is the whole point of a controlled document.

One thing to watch. Custom fields carry over, because they are usually content worth keeping — "Line: 3", "Shift pattern", and so on. If you use a custom field for an approval of your own, such as "QA approved by" or "Approval reference", the tool does not know that is an approval and will copy it across. Clear it yourself on the copy.

The original is not touched. Nothing is written to your folder until you save the copy, and when you do, it is saved as a new document with its own number. Give it a title, fill in the dates, change what needs changing, and send it for approval as normal.

1. Open the Library.
2. Find the SOP you want to work from and click Duplicate on its card.
3. The copy opens in the editor, titled the same with "(copy)" on the end.
4. Rename it, edit it, then Save. It is given the next free number for its department.

## Printing and saving as PDF

SOP Maker saves a print-ready HTML page for every SOP. To turn that into a PDF, use your browser's own print dialog.

The "How to save as PDF" tip.

1. Click Print / PDF.
2. In the destination box, choose Save as PDF.
3. Set Margins to Default.
4. Turn on Background graphics so the colours print correctly.
5. Save the file into your department's PDFs folder.

Every printed page carries the SOP number, the title and a "Page N of M" footer, so loose pages are easy to put back in order.

## What's in the folder

Your `DATA_TO_CONNECT` folder holds everything SOP Maker uses. You rarely need to open it by hand, but it helps to know what is where:

- `01_Templates` — your departments, sites, equipment lists and starter templates. These are editable files.
- `02_JSON/Library` — the master copy of every SOP.
- `02_JSON/Library/_bak` — a copy of the previous version of a document, written just before it is replaced.
- `02_JSON/Settings` — your company details and branding.
- `03_Images-Icones` — the icon set: 158 SVG drawings covering PPE, cleaning tools, controls, chemicals and chemical-safety symbols, plus any equipment photos you add.
- `04_Exports/<department>/HTML` — the print-ready SOPs.
- `04_Exports/<department>/PDFs` — where you save your own PDFs.
- `07_Log` — the history of who saved which SOP, and when.

## Keeping your data safe

The master copy of every SOP lives in `02_JSON/Library`. That one folder is the thing to protect.

- Back it up: copy it somewhere, or keep the whole `DATA_TO_CONNECT` folder on a drive that is already backed up.
- The printable HTML can always be re-made from the master copy, so the Library folder is what really matters.
- Keep `02_JSON/Library/_bak` and `07_Log` in the backup too. Both are small, and they are what lets you answer "who changed this, and what did it say before?".
- Nothing is sent anywhere. The tool makes no internet calls with your documents.

## Troubleshooting

### Why can't SOP Maker connect to a folder?

You are most likely in a browser or device that does not support the folder feature. Use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on a computer.

### Why does SOP Maker ask for folder permission every time?

This is normal. Click Allow. Your files are not lost; the browser is simply re-connecting to the folder you already chose.

### Can I save an SOP as a template?

There is no separate template file, and you do not need one. Any SOP already in your Library can be the template: click Duplicate on its card and you get a fresh Draft with all the content and none of the numbering or authorisation. See Reusing an SOP as a template.

### What do I do if two SOPs have the same number?

Open one of the two documents and use Assign to give it a fresh number. The Library will stop flagging it once the numbers are unique.

### Can I use SOP Maker on a phone or tablet?

Phones and tablets can view and print an SOP, but they cannot author or save one. Switch to a computer running Chrome or Edge to create and edit documents.