It seems like markdown YAML frontmatter or some sort of metadata is being talked about. I’d propose a plugin to allow users to reorder notes based on an index stored in the metadata, whatever it ends up being.
I would use this to set up the structure of books generated directly in Obsidian.
An easy version might just be to use the metadata in the obsidian file list. Hardmode might be allowing reordering via drag and drop in the file list explorer.
I feel like this should have been suggested before, but I haven’t been able to find a similar suggestion yet.
for my personal purposes I’ve created a plugin which allows for full control over the order of files and folders in Obsidian File Explorer.
Your idea was:
to allow users to reorder notes based on an index stored in the metadata,
and the plugin which I’ve created supports this method as well, amongst other ordering mechanics
Order is specified in YAML in front matter. Each folder can have its own ordering logic, or can stay with the Obsidian standard sorting. You can use sorting and grouping rules or direct order specification by listing names (wildcard supported). Or mix and match.
I’ve been using this plugin for some weeks already and it looks like it nicely fills the gap of the missing feature of Obsidian.md (which I love at first sight BTW!)