In the previous part I highlighted how I managed my notes in folders. In this part I would like to explain a bit more on how make the decision between tags & a linked note.

For people unfamiliar with the difference, this is a #tag and a bi-directional linked notes works like so: [[Note Title]]. At least, that’s how it’s implemented in Obsidian. It might be different in other tools, but the ideas can stay the same.

I use tags in all of my notes, either in the frontmatter or within the content of the note. But what’s my motivation to use a tag instead of a link? The basic rule I apply is this: “Does this piece of information speak for itself?”. If the answer is yes, then I use a tag. If the answer is no, then I’ll use a note. With a maybe I tend to create a tag as well, you always create a note at a later stage and do a search/replace. Since a tag is a low-effort way of creating interlinks I prefer it to a note.

There’s an additional piece of the puzzle that I haven’t explained yet. Since Obsidian allows a user to create nested tags, for example #parent/child you can embed some in the tag itself. For example I’m using nested tags for locations: loc, organisations: org, profession: pro and subject: sub. That way I can categorize the tag I’m using. #loc/utrecht is my hometown for example, and if I’m talking to somebody about Obsidian I’ll reference #sub/obsidian in the note.

Most nested tags are colorized with a CSS snippet, for example, alle locations are colored green, while subjects are blue and organisations might be red.

So I’m using ordered folders for notes & catagorized tags to keep most of my information and data organization. Ofcourse that’s what works for me! If you have a different system I’m always curious on how you solve this!