Links vs Tags vs Folders in Obsidian: When Should You Use Each?
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- čas přidán 30. 06. 2024
- Obsidian (and similar note taking apps) provide you with a lot of options for organising information. Links, tags and folders. But when should you use each one? In this video I go through some of the characteristics of each, what they lend towards and then my opinions and how I'm using links, tags and folders in my PKM.
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My name is Chris Wilson, I'm a Christian based in Krakow, Poland and I make weekly videos on Bible Study, note taking and Church tech. I also write over at ChurchM.ag, come check us out.
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Great breakdown!
I think of them as follows:
Folders are for setting mutually exclusive categories that group notes in a way that facilitates syncing and hiding as you said. Key thing is that they cannot overlap.
Tags are for adding additional categorical attributes that maybe common across different folders. Key thing here is that a tag won't ever be a note.
Links are for all remaining uses.
I think we’re pretty well aligned here. The “tags won’t ever be a note” insight was a bit of a game changer for me.
What do u mean by "all remaining uses"?
@@busimofrom my understanding, all remaining uses is whatever hasn't been mentioned. Some examples I can give as a person who manages 3 small companies, while learning to code, teach martial arts and jot down my finacial income...
When I speak to friend who has knowledge in the medical field, I take down notes when he talks about what is in his field, such as a history of all the ways people kill or relieve pain. I title it as "Pain Relief from a doctor's study". As time progress, I'm making notes about martial arts and how a fighter trains to withstand pain without using drugs. So I link this new note to the old note about pain relief. It's from a different folder, but it has a small relation that has small links. This is how I'm able to memorize and remember things in detail, by linking things together.
One more thing to consider, links can exist towards non-existing notes; which is useful, when a lot of notes refer a non-existing note it's a clear indicator to create it.
This is a great tip. I am going to start implementing this in my vault.
太有创意了。 空集。 认知过程就是从未知到不确定，从不确定到确定。 赞！
I use links tags and folders, links help you navigate the Notes. It’s like driving along a lovely back road. Turns along the road take you to different places. The places are notes, the roads are the links, and the sign posts at crossroads are the MOC‘s. Follow the back links to go home. Tags are descriptions of the places you visited. So if you wanted to find similar places, you could search for the tags.
Thanks for the informative video! I've just started using obsidian and was trying to figure out a tags/links/folders system. Also saw that you have videos on Bible note taking. Will check those out next! God bless!
Thank you for your thoughts and opinion, it helped me organize my space better.
I'm so glad you found it helpful.
Thanks for this video. Very useful for me to start using the system :)
Yep, that's just the best breakdown of links vs tags vs folders!
Awesome video, I've started using Obsidian a few weeks ago and consciously stopped importing my notes from Notion and Evernote because I was confused as to which was the best way to organize them. So many videos on CZcams about Zettelkasten, PARA, MOCs, but I've struggled to find a concise enough video explaining in detail when to use links, tags and folders. I'm very grateful you made this video as it now allows me to confidently import thousands of notes taken from years of work and reading, and knowing that I won't have to waste days and weeks of my life trying to re-organize notes because I started making connections between notes the wrong way (using tags instead of links because I saw a video showing claiming it was superior).
I think that this tool is very subjective, and can be adapted to fit different personalities and workflows, but the learning curve is quite high and most of the content requires understanding a lot of concepts before knowing which system of organization works for you.
Thanks for your help, and keep up the great work!
I'm so glad you found it useful and I think you are absolutely right: this tool is subjective. You can use it in a totally different way to me and maybe you want to use mostly links, fine. Or maybe you want to only use tags, also fine. I think there are some principles that can make one better for certain functions than another, but that doesn't mean you have to go down that root.
I suspect that's also why you've found the learning curve high... I wonder what the simplest first system for a total beginner could be which they could then adapt into any other system they wanted... I'll have a think and see if I can come up with something.
@@chrisjwilson If you manage to come up with a simple system for total beginners to take notes very simply, with high adaptability when they'll figure out their preferred organization style, you'd solve a big problem in this niche I think. I have a few friends who also know of Obsidian and have shared the same struggles, and I have yet to find a resource online addressing this issue once and for all. Most CZcamsrs show their particular folder or linking style, but it's hard to find someone who says "If you're like this, then you should probably start with this system".
I guess that's the cost of high personalization of the tool: we get easily confused in the beginning, but once we get the hang of it, we can unlock more of its power.
I'm a very new Obsidian user. After watching this I made a rule: a note can't go in a folder unless it has a link both in and out. Otherwise it stays in the inbox.
Interesting rule, why did you set it?
This was so helpful! Thanks!
Clear, concise, to the point
Thanks this was quick and helpful!
Hey, Chris, I am so thankful for all your work about these systems! I am from Brazil and here I can't find Christian Preachers/Scholars which allegedly use these kinds of MOC systems! You explanations are crystal clear and your pace is perfect! Keep up the good work!
Thank you for the kind words and I’m glad you’ve found it useful. Feel free to send me a private message if you have any questions or you’re wondering how to do something. I’d love to see your system when you’ve got it going!
Very helpful thank you!
Great video, thank you
非常感谢，帮助我建立了清晰的认识，也让我产生了使用策略。再次感谢。
Bro!
Thank you for this :)
very valuable thoughts. thank you for sharing!
Glad you found it useful.
I use all three together.....I don't see any reason why I should religiously use only "link" or "Tags"!
I have to admit that I went 100% links for a while but found it cumbersome and realised my error. At the same time, I’ve also tried to over organize with folders. Getting the balance right is certainly tricky but I’m definitely with you. You shouldn’t restrict yourself to just links.
Thank you, this is very helpful
Happy to help!
The Tags bit really helped me understand how powerful it can be, so far Ive only been mostly using Links & Folders with not even knowing that you can have Shared folders haha. Thanks for the tips, cheers!
Glad it was helpful for you. Since I made this video I've realised that tags can be EVEN more useful if you use dataview or if you want to filter your graph view by certain sets of data so you don't just see your whole graph but only your book notes or notes on a certain topic etc.
@@chrisjwilson I’m just getting into Zettelkasten/BASB and figuring out how I want to do it, and the general methodology.
But, I have a history of using database search operators since I was a kid in the 80s to find things, and that’s where I think tags come in most usefully: not just a status as listed in this old video, but also an easy handle for searching categories of thoughts loosely held, made more powerful via the search operators, and nesting. I’ve not fully defined my intended strategy yet.
Part of Building A Second Brain talks about using folders, in PARA definition, which stands for Projects, Areas of Responsibility Reference and Archive. Folders are assumed as the operative model as I’ve heard/read in the book. But, as I see it, for many of the things, things are going great if there is a mixing between status of time/usage, of which the emphasis in the PARA is how quickly are you going to use it, and as I see it, that’s… just a little too strict.
The reality is in my profession (software development) reuse and perhaps you can call it plagiarism isn’t merely encouraged, if you don’t do it, that’s nuts! In practice, when writing code, ideally you’ll create something you can readily, and that’s with smaller parts: do you associate each reusable thing with a single project all by itself, or do you cross-link, or what?
So in that case, using hard folders seems a little too static in nature, but you do want to know quickly how/where/why something is in use. My thoughts are perhaps a project folder would have a hub note that links to all the things it depends on, and the broken down steps for implementation scheduling. But, the ideas/code it depends on (libraries) may exist in-use in other projects. Each bit of useful possible library, you’d want to tag, and nested tags can be of great value here. Perhaps the original creation lives in a particular project it is a part of: #libraryarea/project/projectname where libraryarea is replaced by what it does (I/O, algorithms, whatever) project says it’s used in projects, and as you use them, you add a new nested tag with projectname, so if you query via tags, search for all libraryarea/project and see the deepest level tag as indicating where it is used: if it exists in multiple projects, you have a nice list right there.
I’m thinking keep only as few specific things for a project in a project folder as defines the scope of the project, and have as few things not directly part of the project and only the project actually point to any of the notes in the project folder. As such, libraries as shown above that are intended for possible reuse always exist themselves in the Areas of Responsibility or in Resources. But, I don’t think in most cases, these need to be separate folders: just #area/topic notes or #resource. After all, the point of a second brain is to offload our first brain: why make it too rigid, and force it to need note upkeep if you move them around?
For people you know or resources such as businesses you use, I must agree, that makes more sense to put in separate folders. My objective is to make a system with as little friction as feasible, that is resilient to forgetfulness to perform steps at ideal times,
Towards that end, it makes sense to create a MOC/hub note for each of the areas, as well as creating a master taxonomy of tags used in a single note. I see links best used for all the higher-level ideas in the areas, and back links to notes that augment those notes they point to, like this:
Cats -moc
Siamese cats -pointed to by the Cats moc
Quirks of siamese cats -points back to siamese cats note
Judgements about siamese cats- points back to siamese cats note
Deeper assessments about them, or controversies- points back to judgments…
The objective here with structuring it this way (which I believe the original zettelkasten method did, to a large degree) is to create small atomic notes that once distilled, never need to be modified, but refined, or, as I think it makes more sense to refer to them, as augmenting or augmentation notes. It’s the power of the augmentation at random times in the future (where those notes themselves may point to other areas the original area note did not, or use tags for loose status of “I think this is an area to consider may be connected”) without modifying the original notes that imbues the structure at the time you create it with the power to clarify the intent of the thought process. Each augmentation note is just a further refinement of what it augments, and it augmenting notes can augment other augmenting notes. Note that via keeping atomic notes that are only written once (except… maybe, for tags) this improves stability of using transclusion, since that depends on text not changing in order for it to be found and correctly identified. So, done properly, you could even use augmentation notes to add to structures of even MOCs with the utilization of queries that use back links and collates the results.
Does this make sense to others to think of it this way?
Very nice.
That was very helpful, thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Nice video. I personally see folders and tags as overarching categorization with implicit links which is useful for finding things whereas links are implicit and are more useful when working in notes and actually using the knowledge..
Would I be correct in guessing that you don’t use navigation links in your vault? Your not travelling via a hub note or moc through your PKM but searching?
@@chrisjwilson that's a very good question. Like Danny, I believe, I struggle with atomic notes. As a student of social sciences I keep my notes rather long to give them that important contextual narrative and I still organise them in folders (two hierarchy levels) according to the modules, so that I can see immediately which topics were covered in that module. And yes, I search through my notes. But I can see the point that LYT isn't really happening for me this way. It's quite fascinating to realise how categorical my thinking has become over dozens of years.
Amazing breakdown!
Appreciate it and glad you found it useful.
Well put
Thanks for the informative video. Wanted to get your inputs on what is the best way to use tags & links if let's say i want to have a folder which contain all the articles & blogs i learn from. In this case is "learning" a tag & the individual articles a link or vice verse
Hummm I’m wondering what type of notes you are adding to this folder, or are you saving articles directly?
If it was me, I’d have a tag for the topic I was learning and link to the author / site (you might only want the author). I’d try to trim each article into my own note rather than just have the article. So let’s say i read an article with ten writing tips, I’d want to turn each writing tip into a note (written in my own words, maybe with a before/after example) and then link that note to the original note (as a source of inspiration and reference) and any other areas where it might apply (for example public speaking, other speakers who offer similar advice etc).
It depends a lot on what type of notes you are saving though.
Thanks Chris, this was the best video on links and tags that I've seen. My takeaway from this video is, if you don't want to create a 'central' note then use a tag. I was thinking that links were not very useful to me because I have notes on a series of videos that I'm studying. After watching this I realized that I can create a separate folder for my notes on my notes. In my notes on my notes I create a note instead of a tag and then link it to my base level notes and visa versa. The nice thing about this approach is that my meta-notes can contain summaries or other info.
Great video - very helpful content precisely presented. Please speak a bit louder for the mic next time because I want to hear your helpful Obsidian tips!
Thanks, I think I still have the video file so I can check what I did wrong. I don't know if you've seen any of my other videos but if you have, do you know if this is an exception or the general trend? Sound has been the area where I've had the most issues but really want to get it right as I know it's important.
Thanks
No problem
Makes is super easy for new users like myself, wish I found this earlier
Thanks for the kind words! I’m glad it helped.
Great
Makes sense
Hi Chris. Nice video. I think the content of what you said was very clear. But I think it would have been more useful if you showed what you were explained on an Obsidian itself rather than slides.
While I understand your point, I would argue that should be done in addition rather than instead of. An example would have helped clarify the point, but simply looking at my exact links and tags may not be useful for someone who follows a different approach. (Sidenote: the slides are actually presented from obsidian)
super cogent! shirt and sweet
subscribed
Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you found it useful!
Hello, I am interested in this for the transfer of 1400 .RTF files on windows 10 for a visual of all the cross-reoffences between them, via bolded words as tags....will this be able to do that? Thank you reader
So at 5:40 you said you don't like having your daily notes/people notes to be intermixed with other notes. By this, do you mean you avoid linking them to other notes entirely? Like not one single link? Just tags?
Cause I basically use my daily notes to dump my thoughts, and any I link thoughts that talk about existing notes. If you looked at my graph view, each daily note has like 20 links or something to very disparate topics lol. Is that a bad thing in your view?
Good question and clarification. It’s worth noting that I don’t use day notes like some people, especially those following the sort of Roam system (as I understand it). But what I’m really referring to is where the files are actually kept. I use my notes folder in order since I last accessed them (as those are the most likely that I will edit) and I don’t want my day notes / people notes there. So I have separate folders for those categories of notes so I don't bump into them when I don't want to.
I actually am kind of jealous of the approach to day notes you use and have tried it in the past but it never really stuck for me (I might try it again though.). So I don't think it's wrong at all and there are different approaches for different people.
Hope that helps. Let me know if i was unclear.
I'm trying to document all the servers we have at work because I thought it would be good to see the connection between them all. Not totally sure if I want to use links or tags yet
IMO Links for connections and hierarchy - tags for status, attributes, features or role (e.g. proxy, load balancer, database, master, slave, storage etc.).
I don't like using tags, idk why. The only way I was forced to use tags was when i started making flashcards (Spaced Repetition plugin)
Thanks for sharing! What do you mean by notes on people?
I have some notes for people I meet with regularly with information I should remember. Plus I have some notes on authors or important thinkers. It helps me track notes I have on them or their theories.
@@chrisjwilson Ah cool, thank you for explaining :)
No problem at all. I hope it gives you some ideas for your own system.
I'm so scared to move away from folders for categorising my ideas and moving to a new system without folders and just relying on links and tags. Have you any advice for me.
I'd say, don't move away from folders! Start using links alongside folders and see what works for you. Maybe you use more folders than other PKM people, that's fine. Maybe you drop them completely eventually, that's fine too. You don't have to go all in straight away (or ever!)
I am forced to use folders since several of my notes have the same name and i cant change it. I have made a note in every folder with the same name as the folder that links to every note in the folder. I can then navigate everything with links when i am reading and searching trough stuff while everything is protected inside their folders.
That’s an interesting challenge and solution. I’d love an example of notes with the same name and how they are different in content (if you are able to supply that). I have faced some similar challenges for literature notes and usually add a code to the start of the note to help distinguish it from others that may or may not be similar (i.e. intro to NT [note name] ). I wonder if you could use a code at the front too but then set text in the link as without the code (using | after the link name in your square brackets in obsidian) in your note. Maybe that’s not appropriate in your situation though. Thank you for sharing a different perspective and challenge, it really helps me understand different people’s needs.
@@chrisjwilson I track lakes i have fished in. A lot of those lakes have the same name. The folders is based on location so there is not often i got two with the same name in the same folder. I often want to read my notes when i am at the lake. The links make it easy to navigate on my phone.
It is 30 years of data converted from loose notes on my HD and written in notebooks...
I still use tags for topics, e.g charity, obedience, sin, and then for quotes, stories, etc. than use links for these. I find it most useful especially when I need a combination of 2 or three of them… e.g. a story about obedience, or obedience and charity… it helps me to brainstorm and be creative at the same time, esp when dealing with the word of God, reusing notes is the least authentic way of using the the latter. I am still looking for a kindred soul on this issue in particular while still trying to keep my options OPEN to perhaps go to links, all the way. I follow the linking method in Zettelkasten. So I have those two things.
Could you expand upon what you mean by “reusing notes is the least authentic way of using the later”. Also you seam to imply that you can’t use two links (such as one for obedience and one for charity) or have I misunderstood you there.
@@chrisjwilson just mentioned it in passing. Thank you for listening though.
Hello! Sorry this question isn't to do with the but since this is your latest video, I wanted to ask, The Bible you are using on your Bible studies is Catholic or another one?
Really good video though, the explanation really helped me on my PKM!
No problem at all. I'm currently using the WEB translation without the deuterocanonical books. You could easily generate a catholic version using the biblegateway to obsidian script from Joschua (github.com/selfire1/BibleGateway-to-Obsidian). If, however, you struggle with that, contact me and I'll generate a version for you.
(I'm really glad it helped! I felt confused over how I should approach these tools. I still wonder if I'll completely change my approach in the future but I trust that even if I do, going through my old notes and reorganising them will be rewarding in itself).
@@chrisjwilson oh I didn't in know that Joschua had that version, thanks mate.
Curious, is there a simple way to upload the content of 1400 .rtf files, spread across about 50 folders, on windows 10 without back and forth copy pasting, to have it all in Obsidian??
In obsidian, you can just move files in to the folder on your computer that contains your obsidian vault. You don't need to be able to do copy the content, just the files.
@@chrisjwilson thanks for responding, though I tried that, and all that comes up are the folder titles, but none of the actual RTf files....I even went so far as to rename them from .rtf to .md and still, nothing shows up in Obsidian.....I've also tried to open an rtf file with "select obsidian", and it brings me to the new vault page, and tried every option, but to no avail.....seems copy/paste is the only way :/
Sorry for the delay. I got distracted by life and trying to check things out. My suspicion is that although you renamed the RTF files, it hasn’t changed the file type. I’m sure there are some simple web apps that can mass convert files. Have you managed to solve it yet? If not then I’ll investigate more. I’d love to know your solution.
@@chrisjwilson I'm almost finished with copy/pasting manually...thank you for your feedback.
Hello, can someone please help me? I have a unique use case where I am trying to organize many cross-reffernces in a hour long talk I am trying to give, where there are many call back to previous comments, some get reminded 3,4,5,even 8 times as it goes, and I am trying to use Obsidian to make it easier, but not sure exactly how to go about using its features optimally.
Example: lets say I am 45 mins into my talk, and it's time to remind the audience of particular points made earlier that really round out and send home the bigger point, I dont want to just copy, copy,copy the same blurbs, because then it gets messy. I want to be able to see at a glance, EXACT blocks (paragraphs) from prior moments all in one page.
Not sure I am gauging the value of tags vs links vs block links or how to use blocks links to compliment what my intention is. By the end of the talk, there will be something like over 50 cross-reffernces all tied together in one impressive knot. What do you think would be the best way to achieve this? Thank you
What is a "hub note"? Obsidian can't find the term!!
A hub note is another name for a MOC or Index note, although there may be some minor differences between each term. Basically, it's a note that you use to link to other notes so it acts as a hub. This could be for a topic, or to catalog the contents of a course. Does that help? Let me know if that's unclear or if you see some issues with the description.
@@chrisjwilson Perhaps it would be more communicative not to make up multiple names for the same concept, or any names at all. A description always serves better than a made up AND unexplained name or worse, acronym.
Good but you need to make the tags examples more universal and general or give context to your formatting.
I mean, thanks for the eplanations of what everything is but how about examples of how to actually use by demonstrating in the tool? I didn't find this video particularly helpful.
Obsidian is just your second brain. You cannot count on the second brain to fix your first brain.
awful music, awful sound
Noted.
No need for music. Very difficult to hear you over the music