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As your notes grow from dozens to hundreds, the organization method will directly determine how quickly you can find the information you need. This chapter introduces folder structure design, tag systems, templates, and search techniques—helping you build a scalable note-taking system. * * * ## Folder Structure Design: Two Main Schools of Thought There are two main schools of thought regarding folder organization in the Obsidian community, each with its own advantages. ### PARA Method PARA is an information organization method proposed by Tiago Forte, categorizing content by **actionability** into four categories: | Folder | Meaning | What to Store | | --- | --- | --- | | Projects | Projects | Task series with clear deadlines, like "Python Course Assignment" "Q2 Work Report" | | Areas | Areas | Continuously maintained areas of responsibility, like "Health" "Finance" "Programming Skills" | | Resources | Resources | Topics of interest but not active, like "Design Pattern References" "Paper Excerpts" | | Archives | Archives | Completed or inactive content, moved from the other three folders | The core idea of PARA is: sort by actionability, not by subject. Different content on the same topic may be scattered across different folders—"Python" can appear in both Projects (course in progress) and Resources (tutorials saved). ### Zettelkasten Card Note Method Zettelkasten is a note-taking method from German sociologist Niklas Luhmann, with core principles: * Atomic: Each note expresses only one idea or concept * Link-first: Notes are connected through links, not folder hierarchy * Write in your own words: Not copying, but restating after understanding When practicing Zettelkasten in Obsidian, the folder structure is usually very simple, even just one folder to store all atomic notes, relying on bi-directional links and tags to discover content. ### Comparison of the Two Approaches | Dimension | PARA | Zettelkasten | | --- | --- | --- | | Organization Core | Folder Hierarchy | Links and Tags | | Best For | People with clear work projects,Habit of finding files by directory | Researchers, writers, who like bottom-up accumulation | | Maintenance Cost | Regular archiving and folder organization needed | Need to continuously build links between notes | | Migration Difficulty | Lower, folder structure is independent | Very low, almost no dependency on specific structure | > You don't have to strictly follow either one. Many people use a hybrid strategy—using PARA's four main folders at the top level, but allowing notes to freely connect using Zettelkasten-style bi-directional links. Choose what feels most comfortable to you; sticking to one system is more important than which system you choose. * * * ## Tag System Tags are an important way to organize content across folders. In Obsidian, tags are written in the body or Front Matter, using the #tagname format. ### Basic Usage ## Example #python #obsidian #Note-taking Methods ### Nested Tags Use / to create hierarchical tags, which will be displayed as a tree structure in the tag panel. ## Example #programming/Python #programming/JavaScript #programming/Go #Reading/Tech #Reading/Literature #Status/Draft #Status/Completed ### Tags vs Folders: When to Use What | Scenario | Recommended | Reason | | --- | --- | --- | | Unique ownership of a note | Folder | A note can only be in one folder, suitable for "what type of content is it" | | Multiple classification dimensions for a note | Tags | A note can have multiple tags, suitable for cross-domain attribute tagging | | Status marking | Tags | Status like "Draft" "Completed" "Pending Review" are more flexible with tags | | Project archiving | Folder | After a project ends, moving the entire folder to Archives is the simplest operation | > A common misconception is using tags to replace folders. Best practice for tags is: tags represent "what attributes" (language, status, type), folders represent "which project or domain". The two complement each other, not mutually exclusive. * * * ## Aliases: One Note, Multiple Entry Points The same note can have multiple name entry points, set aliases in Front Matter. --- aliases: - OOP - Object-Oriented Programming - Object-Oriented Programming - Object model tags: - programming/Concept--- Effects after setting aliases: * In Quick Switcher (Cmd+O), entering an alias will directly find this note * When writing [] in other notes, Obsidian will automatically suggest this note * Unlinked Mentions will recognize aliases, reminding you to add links * * * ## Templates Templates is a core plugin in Obsidian (built-in but needs manual enablement), allowing you to define templates for common types of notes. ### Enable and Configure Enable "Templates" in Settings → Core Plugins. Then specify a template folder (like Templates), and put all template files in this folder. ### Create Note Templates ## Example: Concept Note Template --- tags: - Concept created: {{date}} --- # {{title}} ## Definition One-sentence summary: what it is. ## Key Points - Point one - Point two - Point three ## Relationship with Other Concepts - Related to [] - Different from [] ## References - ### Insert Template After creating a new note, click the "Insert Template" button in the left sidebar (or use Cmd+P to search "Templates: Insert Template"), and select the corresponding