Searching Folder Name

Help
1

I found this thread;

So when searching for a folder name i type in path:FolderName

What I get back is all over the board.

  1. Seems like I need exact name so if I want a folder called Folder and its labeled “F.1 - Folder” - it will not show. So I delete all the number indexing references. Now when I search Folder it comes up.

  2. If I have Folder/Research/ and type Research I get Folder/Research/R.6 even though Folder/Research/ consists of R.1, R.2 R.3, R.4, R.5, R.6. But wait, we just determined in step 1 that index number won;t appear right?

  3. If I remove all indexing in this folder so I have only Folder/Research/Estate and type in Estate I get zero hits.

If someone knows how I can learn basic point and click user functions here without spending 8o hours doing so please let me know. I am ready to cut my losses on this and go back to my old programs. I understand the value of linking but many programs today are in search of problems to fix instead of the other way around and create needless complexity in the process. Thanks.

Edit: I have also noted that some folders will show in the search only if they have notes within that folder. There are no “folder notes” created. I have deleted folders and re added and still ambiguous search results.

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2

I was just going to say this. Empty folder doesn’t seem to show up on search.

Given non-empty folders, I’d think all 3 cases would work, wouldn’t it? Although the search really only does files. There probably good reasons why you want to find a specific folder.

I think these days a lot of the “PKMS” softwares do linking. And you can always do older personal wiki programs like Zim or even hosting your own personal wiki. Mediawiki, etc.

3

I’m having trouble following your examples.

The search syntax is:
path:(foldername/foldername/foldername)

It shouldn’t need to be the full path as long as the search terms for the final folder in that list are totally unique.

You must also beware of spaces. path:someFolder name will search for any notes with the query “name” and “someFolder” in the filepath. To query “someFolder name”, wrap the search in parentheses after the path: operator.

Try the Vantage plugin, which provides a GUI for these advanced search features.

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5

The issue with with the - empty folder vs folder with note - is it is not consistent. That is why I made sure to disable the note in folder add-on and delete various folders and re-add them to make sure that option is not interfering.

6

Thanks for Vantage looks interesting I will give a try.

1 Like
7

The search function within Obsidian is to search the NOTEs and the contents within the NOTEs(i.e. md files) based on the searching conditions.

By providing a searching term with keyword path:, one can get a searching result about the NOTE whose path fulfill the search condition. But not the content within the path.

If you want to navigate to the path, i.e. the folders, you may enable: Settings->Core plugins->File explorer.

p.s. for a starter, it is a good idea to check the core plugins. Those core plugins, maybe not all of them, I think are essential components for Obsidian.
Also, the Help Vault is good source for reading and https://help.obsidian.md has some information about some up-to-date new functions.

8

That helps thanks. As far as the File Explorer. I would not have made it past day 1 without having that turned on. I Went to the Help vault as well as the LYT vault and made my core plug-in setting the same as those.

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9

I might ad the one plugin that seems to help is the - AidenLx’s Folder Note. Set options to Inside Folder, With Same Name and it wil create the note with the folder name therefore the folder can be found with our without the path. Thanks,

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