Organise your Notes in Obsidian with Folders, Tags and Links
- 24/10/2024
Description
This video provides a comprehensive guide on how to effectively organize notes in Obsidian by leveraging its three core organizational methods: Folders, Tags, and Links. The presenter explains the distinct purpose of each method, showcases a practical vault structure, demonstrates how to combine them for a powerful knowledge network, and includes a tutorial for new users. The main purpose is to help users transform their note-taking experience and manage their knowledge more efficiently within Obsidian.
Best Ideas
1. The “Note Lab” for Quick Capture: Utilize a dedicated folder (`Note Lab`) for quickly capturing information without the immediate need for organization. This prevents friction during information intake and allows for later processing.
2. Folders for Structure, Tags for Cross-Cutting: Folders provide the primary, large-area structure (e.g., `Spaces`, `Vault`), while tags offer flexible, cross-cutting categorization that can span multiple folders or solve “conflict of interest” situations where a note belongs conceptually in several places.
3. Distilled Notes vs. Literature Notes: Maintain a distinction between original source material notes (literature notes, often captured in a `Vault` folder) and your own refined, summarized, or elaborated “distilled notes” (potentially in a `Spaces` folder) that link back to the source.
4. Automate Note Creation and Placement with QuickAdd: Use community plugins like QuickAdd to automate the creation of new notes based on templates and automatically place them into specific folders, reducing manual effort and ensuring consistency.
5. Leverage Global and Local Graph Views: The Obsidian Graph View (both global and local) is a powerful tool for visualizing relationships between notes, discovering connections, and navigating your knowledge network, especially when filtering by tags.
6. The “Seedling” Tag for Follow-Up: Implement a `#seedling` tag for new notes that require further development or distillation. This allows for easy identification of unfinished work within your vault.
7. Map of Contents (MOCs) and Indexing: Use a `MAPA contents` (Map and Pan-African Contents) or similar index note to query and list all notes, build wikis, or provide a simple overview of your vault’s structure and contents.
Tools and Resources
- Obsidian: The primary note-taking application.
- Folders: Obsidian’s built-in file system for hierarchical organization.
- Tags: Obsidian’s hashtag system (`#tag`) for flexible, non-hierarchical categorization. Nested tags (`#my/learning`) are also demonstrated.
- Links: Obsidian’s double-bracket syntax (`[[Note Name]]`) for creating bidirectional connections between notes.
- QuickAdd (Community Plugin): A powerful plugin for automating note creation, template application, and folder placement.
- Templates (Obsidian feature): Used in conjunction with QuickAdd to pre-populate notes with metadata and structure.
- Obsidian Graph View (Global & Local): Visual tools for exploring connections within your vault.
- YAML Properties: Frontmatter at the top of a note (enclosed by `—`) for structured metadata, including tags.
- Hotkeys: For efficient navigation and command execution (e.g., `Ctrl+P` for command palette, custom hotkeys for graph views).
Key Learning Points
- Combined Power: The true strength of Obsidian lies in intelligently combining folders, tags, and links, as each serves a distinct purpose but becomes more powerful when used together.
- Strategic Folder Structure: Design your folder structure to cater to different stages of note processing (e.g., `Note Lab` for capture, `Vault` for literature, `Spaces` for distilled ideas, `Journal` for private notes).
- Tags for Flexibility: Use tags to create cross-cutting categories and solve the dilemma of notes belonging to multiple conceptual “folders” without duplicating content.
- Linking for Interconnectedness: Actively link related notes to build a rich, interconnected knowledge network, which enhances recall and exploration through the graph view.
- Automate Workflows: Leverage plugins like QuickAdd and templates to streamline note creation and organization, ensuring consistency and saving time.
- Visual Exploration: Utilize Obsidian’s Graph View to visually navigate and discover relationships between your ideas, helping you see the bigger picture of your knowledge base.
- Clear Purpose for Each Note Type: Understand the different roles your notes might play (e.g., literature notes vs. distilled notes) and organize them accordingly to facilitate different workflows.