Just starting tagging: best practices?

Help
1

What I’m trying to do

After being dismissive of them relative to linking, I’ve come to think tagging might be more intuitive for me. I’ve stuck tags in a few notes, but I imagine I might profit from the experience of others. I’d like to keep my practice as simple as while maximizing utility.

Things I have tried

I’ve checked what Obsidian help has to say about tagging. And I searched her for best practices. Most of what came up was tangential to my interest in the basics of tagging.

2

#obsidianapp #howto

I like to compare Obsidian’s tags with hashtags in social media. #hashtags #socialmedia I put them where I like them.

Note how this forum uses the following two tags. tags pkm I use a similar approach in Obsidian. Tags are visually distinct from the text. You click on them and get a list of all mentions of the same tag.

I would use tags only, if you find them obvious. Don’t try to force it. Many users never use any tags at all.

1 Like
3

Tagging notes in Obsidian is a powerful way to organize, retrieve, and connect information. However, the “best” way depends on your workflow, note-taking style, and use case. Here are some practical recommendations and tips:

1. Define Your Purpose

Ask yourself:

  • Is tagging for finding notes quickly?
  • For projects or areas of life?
  • For status tracking (e.g., #todo, #draft)?
  • For themes or topics?

2. Tagging Approaches

a. Broad Categories

Use tags as big buckets (e.g., #project, #meeting, #idea).

  • Pros: Simple, easy to remember.
  • Cons: Not as granular for complex retrieval.

b. Status or Process

For workflow: #todo, #inprogress, #review, #done.

c. Topic-based

Use descriptive tags for subjects: #python, #philosophy, #book, #productivity.

d. Time-based

For time-specific notes: #2024, #Q1, #weekly.

e. Nested Tags

Obsidian supports nested tags: #project/personal, #project/work, #meeting/clientA.

  • Pros: Visual hierarchy.
  • Tip: Use for grouping similar tags and reducing clutter.

3. Best Practices

  • Be Consistent: Decide on naming conventions (e.g., lowercase vs CamelCase), plural vs singular, dash/underscore use.
  • Limit the Number of Tags: Too many unique tags can reduce their usefulness.
  • Avoid Over-tagging: Don’t tag everything with every possible term; use links and folders for some organization.
  • Review Periodically: Prune unused or redundant tags occasionally.

4. Sample Tagging Schemes

Example 1: Project Note

#project/work #client/AcmeCorp #status/inprogress

Example 2: Book Summary

#book #readinglist #philosophy

Example 3: Task Note

#todo #personal #priority/high

5. Mix with Links and Folders

Tags are great for grouping across folders (e.g., all #meeting notes, regardless of location).
Use them in combination with links ([[notes]]) and folders for the best effect.

6. Helpful Plugins

  • Tag Wrangler helps with tag management, renaming, merging, etc.

7. Start Simple

You can always add or refine your tagging system as your vault grows—don’t overengineer at first.

Summary Table

Tag Type Example Use Case
Topic #productivity Finding related themes
Status #todo, #draft Workflow tracking
Project #project/website Group project notes
Person #alice, #client/Bob People-related notes
Time/Context #2025, #workshop Temporal/context grouping

Remember: The best tagging system is the one you’ll actually use! Start with the minimum needed, then refine as you discover what works for you.

2 Likes
4

I have a different advice for beginners: don’t worry about creating or optimizing “systems”.

Be playful!

Hashtag are fun because you can sprinkle them anywhere. They are easy to add and easy to remove.

Of course you could build immensely complex systems with nested tags and controlled vocabularies and tags in frontmatter and tag pages and links as tags and tags as links and what not.

But you don’t have to.

You can also take a lighthearted and playful approach.

2 Likes