Using This Site

Philosophy of this site

If you’ve ever tried to find something on Sharepoint, you know the struggle. Information is scattered across multiple sites, buried in folders, or hiding in documents you didn’t know existed. Even basic questions like “how do I submit a timesheet?” or “where’s the template for that report?” can turn into a frustrating treasure hunt.

This site is designed to solve that problem. It’s a curated guide covering the 20% of information you need to do 80% of your daily work. Rather than documenting everything, we focus on the practical stuff—the processes you actually use, the templates you actually need, and the answers to questions that come up again and again.

Accessing this site

Unfortunately, this site can only be accessed when you’re on the KBR network, i.e. in the office. We are looking at options to allow people to login from home to access the

Structure of this site

The site is organised into sections based on what you’re trying to do. Here’s a quick overview:

Section	Description
Maritime	Team info, software, resources, and lessons learned specific to maritime projects
Onboarding	Step-by-step guides from before you start through your first six months
Proposals	Bid setup, cost estimates, reviews, and submission process
Project Management	Project setup, running projects, invoicing, variations, and closeout
Technical	Standards, calculations, reports, verification, and training
Admin	Timesheets, leave, travel, templates, emails, and company structure

Searching

The fastest way to find what you need is the search bar in the top right corner. You can also open it with Ctrl+K (Windows) or Cmd+K (Mac). The search uses fuzzy matching, so you don’t need to remember exact page titles—just type a few relevant words and it will find what you’re looking for.

Updating a page

This site depends on contributions from the team to stay current. If you spot something outdated, incorrect, or missing, please help us fix it. There are three options depending on how comfortable you are with technology—pick whichever works best for you.

Email

The simplest option is to send an email to chris.leaman@kbr.com. Include which page needs updating and describe what needs to change. No technical knowledge required—just let me know and I’ll take care of it.

Create an issue on github

An “issue” is a tracked request or suggestion on GitHub. It’s a good option if you want to suggest a change but let someone else handle the editing.

1. Create a GitHub account at github.com if you don’t already have one
2. Email chris.leaman@kbr.com to request access to the repository
3. Go to the Issues page and click “New Issue”
4. Describe what needs to be updated and tag @chrisleaman so I get notified

Editing pages on github

If you’re comfortable with basic text editing, you can make changes directly. Pages are written in Markdown, which is a simple formatting syntax.

1. Create a GitHub account and email chris.leaman@kbr.com to request repository access
2. Navigate to the page you want to edit on this site
3. Click the “Edit page” link at the top of the page — this opens the file in GitHub
4. Make your edits in the GitHub editor (it uses Markdown formatting)
5. Add a brief description of your changes at the bottom and click “Commit changes”
6. Wait a few minutes for the site to rebuild with your updates

Tip

If your changes don’t appear after a few minutes, check the GitHub Actions page to see if there was an error during the build.

Site elements

When updating the site we can use a number of different elements, outlined below. The examples show which elements are available for use, and the code used to generate them.

Collapsible sections

You can use collapsible sections to hide detailed information that users can expand when needed.

Preview

Click to expand - Default (Note)

This is a collapsible section with the default “note” type. It’s collapsed by default.

You can put any markdown content here:

• Lists
• Bold text
• Code snippets

Useful Tip

This collapsible is set to be open by default using the open prop.

It uses the “tip” type which gives it a purple accent.

Important Warning

This uses the “caution” type with an orange accent.

Perfect for warnings or things to watch out for!

Critical Information

This uses the “danger” type with a red accent.

Use this for critical information or dangerous actions.

Code

import Collapsible from '../../components/Collapsible.astro';

<Collapsible title="Click to expand - Default (Note)" type="note">
This is a collapsible section with the default "note" type.
</Collapsible>

<Collapsible title="Useful Tip" type="tip" open>
This collapsible is set to be **open by default** using the `open` prop.
</Collapsible>

<Collapsible title="Important Warning" type="caution">
This uses the "caution" type with an orange accent.
</Collapsible>

<Collapsible title="Critical Information" type="danger">
This uses the "danger" type with a red accent.
</Collapsible>

Steps

Use the <Steps> component to create numbered step-by-step instructions.

Preview

1. Navigate to the page you want to edit
2. Click the “Edit page” link at the bottom
3. Make your changes in the GitHub editor
4. Commit your changes with a descriptive message

Code

import { Steps } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<Steps>
1. Navigate to the page you want to edit
2. Click the "Edit page" link at the bottom
3. Make your changes in the GitHub editor
4. Commit your changes with a descriptive message
</Steps>

Asides

Asides (callouts) highlight important information. There are four types:

Preview

Note

This is a note aside. Use it for general information or tips that are helpful but not critical.

Tip

This is a tip aside. Use it for helpful suggestions or best practices.

Caution

This is a caution aside. Use it for warnings about potential issues or things to watch out for.

Danger

This is a danger aside. Use it for critical warnings about actions that could cause problems.

Code

import { Aside } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<Aside type="note">
This is a **note** aside. Use it for general information.
</Aside>

<Aside type="tip">
This is a **tip** aside. Use it for helpful suggestions.
</Aside>

<Aside type="caution">
This is a **caution** aside. Use it for warnings.
</Aside>

<Aside type="danger">
This is a **danger** aside. Use it for critical warnings.
</Aside>

Tabs

Use tabs to organize content that users might want to compare or choose between.

Preview

Windows

Open Command Prompt and run:

dir

Mac/Linux

Open Terminal and run:

ls -la

Code

import { Tabs, TabItem } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<Tabs>
  <TabItem label="Windows">
    Open Command Prompt and run:
    ```bash
    dir
    ```
  </TabItem>
  <TabItem label="Mac/Linux">
    Open Terminal and run:
    ```bash
    ls -la
    ```
  </TabItem>
</Tabs>

Link cards

LinkCard can provide navigation to related pages.

Preview

Getting Started Learn the basics of using this documentation site.

Code

import { LinkCard } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<LinkCard
  title="Getting Started"
  description="Learn the basics of using this documentation site."
  href="/using-this-site"
/>

Card grid

Use CardGrid to arrange multiple LinkCards.

Preview

Getting Started Learn the basics of using this documentation site.

Report an Issue Found a problem? Let us know on GitHub.

Code

import { LinkCard, CardGrid } from '@astrojs/starlight/components';

<CardGrid>
  <LinkCard
    title="Getting Started"
    description="Learn the basics of using this documentation site."
    href="/using-this-site"
  />
  <LinkCard
    title="Report an Issue"
    description="Found a problem? Let us know on GitHub."
    href="https://github.com/chrisleaman/kbr_manual/issues"
  />
</CardGrid>

Cursed knowledge (custom)

The CursedKnowledge component highlights lessons learned from projects - things that weren’t obvious at the time but are now known.

Preview

Cursed Knowledge

Always check the units in the client’s data. This project had a mix of metric and imperial units that caused significant rework when discovered late in the analysis.

Example Project

2024-01

Data Validation Lesson

You can customize the title. The project field is optional - omit it if the lesson is general rather than project-specific.

2024-03

Code

import CursedKnowledge from '../../components/CursedKnowledge.astro';

<CursedKnowledge project="Example Project" date="2024-01">
Always check the units in the client's data. This project had a mix of metric and imperial units that caused significant rework when discovered late in the analysis.
</CursedKnowledge>

<CursedKnowledge title="Data Validation Lesson" date="2024-03">
You can customize the title. The `project` field is optional - omit it if the lesson is general rather than project-specific.
</CursedKnowledge>