Distinguishing between similar files in plain folder structure

I am evaluating a plain folder structure without any subfolders and am currently running into the following problem:

  • I have several IT projects running for work. Each project has some constraints i need to consider for accessing it (SSH tunnels, proxy settings, etc).
  • I have one file per project as a Map of Contents
  • I want to create a note per project with some hints how to access it.

Now, if i go and create a file called “Access” for the first project, link it from the first MoC, all is fine.

But now i want to create a second file with the access hints for the second project. I can not name it “Access”, since in the folder there is already a file called access. What now?

  • I could name the files “Project 1 Access” and “Project 2 Access”. But if i do that, i could put them into subfolders as well, which is something i do not want to do. I know myself and will try to sort these subfolders in a “Work” subfolder, and so on.
  • I could use some kind of UID structure, so that i will have two files called “$uid-access”, for example with the Zettelkasten prefixer plugin. But for consistency, every other file will need a UID then as well. That is not the problem, i even have a Templater template so that the UID is only in the filename and not in the {{title}} inside the file. But then i will be unable to generate links on the fly with just putting [[links]] into the originating note, because i do not know the UID of the newly created note yet. See How to create Links to new Notes with Zettelkasten Prefixer Addon? for an example what i mean.

The biggest advantage which Obsidian has for me is that i can just write stuff down, add a few references to other files, done. Other systems, like dokuwiki or notion are too strict when it comes to organizing notes. Now i fear that if i need to follow a certain framework (first possible solution) or need to jump back and forth between notes to create reference links, this will make my workflow harder than i thought, and then the “No need to write it down, i can remember it” comes back.

How do you solve this certain problem?

I simply use the first solution you mentioned. Each of my projects have an identifier. Therefore if name clash happens, I prepend the file with the project ID. If there’s no name clash, then I don’t. Anyway, one of the beauties of Obsidian is that file renames are propagated into all of its links, so I usually don’t put too much brain in “correct” file naming anyway since I know that I can change it afterward in case of problem.

  • PRJ123_Access
  • PRJ456_Access
  • etc.

seems all fine for me.

Have you looked at https://johnnydecimal.com/? You can use the PRO.AC.ID approach or the classic AC.ID one in a flat folder structure.

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