I name things short as possible (files/tags/folders), but have no standard/consistency.
Could someone recommend resources on naming of digital notes.
I assume file names them self are not that important, but tags are.
I follow Andy Matushak’s advice on titles as complete thoughts:
Similar guidance:
- Notes should be atomic
- Title should describe entirety of note
- Make titles positive instead of negative
Tags grow unwieldy very quickly, so you should use them sparingly to create piles of stuff. Tags create inclusive piles. Tagged files can live anywhere and be about anything and still be tagged the same.
Folders also grow unwieldy very quickly and you should use them sparingly to create exclusive piles. Files in folders cannot live on other folders.
Good title and concise content allow search to be the easiest and most effective way to find specific content. Folders and tags are the best ways to browse around when you’re not sure what you’re looking for or you can’t remember words to use to search for it.
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I’m trying to follow similar guidelines with titling my notes, but a problem I keep bumping into is that the title bar truncates my note title, making it difficult for me to see the complete thought. Do you have a workaround for this, or is there a way to get the title to appear in the body of the note as well?
There is a plugin that displays the current note as the window title in the top Obsidian title bar. Called something like Active title to window title or something like that.
There’s also the Andy Mode plugin that allows you to toggle vertical note titles as Andy’s website does when viewed through a desktop browser. (its really slick, take a look)
Note that wording titles positively is a very underrated tip. Doing it allows you to chain notes together in outlines to form a readable series of instructions, principles, etc.
Not every note warrants this of course, some are topic-based or otherwise capture a concept or process rather than a specific principle.
But if you try to do this more often than not then it is a very powerful protip.
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