I have a friend that is getting her first "little" dog (from Willow here on YT

) she has always had "outside" dogs and she hasn't had a dog in a while. She is now 41 years old, single, and has given up hopes of having anymore children so she is ready for her first house dog. talk about a SPOILED pup!!!!!!!! she hasn't even met the pup yet and she is already obsessed LOL
anyway, she works during the day, so she was asking me about potty training. I mentioned that I have always crate trained...but that maggie didn't really need the crate for more than a few weeks at most...now she just uses it to nap in from time to time. or to hide her toys in LOL. i told her that i have heard of people using playpens if they have to be gone during the day...so that the pup has more room than a crate.
she is leaning toward the playpen idea. but since i have never done that, i have NO advice to give her.
anyone here have a preference? (dumb question....OF COURSE you do LOL) and if you use a playpen, what are some "tips"??? i mean...i know you need to put pee pads in there...but what else?? this is foreign to me so I really need some help here