I dont quite like any of the setups ive tried in obsidian, or any other apps for that matter- each approach have its pros and cons, for every thing one mode does well something else is missing- same goes for ‘folder vs tags’, links vs tags or mocs. Ive always wondered if there was some way to get the benefits of all or most aproachs together…
And i feel i realized one- Navigating through all ‘metadata’/organizing classification in a similar way to folders or an site- Tags, MoCs, maybe even queries and actual folders as ‘equals’ in a browsable way. After all theyre all contexts… i feel we could be worrying less about wich and how, all working similarly with way less overhead
In a sense is mixing up navigation and filtering together:
The idea:
A number of plugins bring notes as thumbnails in a grid (a pattern im very fond of over folder-trees) but i only found one that also show folders alongside notes in said grid wich im using here to ilutrate:
image from daledesilva/obsidian_project-browser (github.com)
The idea is allowing folders, tags and even particular notes(such as MOCs or queries) to show alongside notes in the grid as thumbnails- of course with some distinction: could be an icon instead of text for example. In project explorer above the actual vault folders show up top as smaller boxes.
…Then opening said ‘folders’ would be like opening a folder- showing the contents only, with navigation to go back/up to parent, and revealing any sub-‘folders’ alongside the notes as well.
Now imagine any tags(set by user or all of then) could also show up as folders- Or even choosing to show a note as folders- where all links inside would be translated as the ‘contents’ of said pseudo-folder. If possible even queries inside said note populating the contents once its opened in the note explorer
For clarification im only speaking of folders as a paradigm for navigation- opening/going into one, sub-‘folders’- NOT the exclusivity of actual folders. The same note with 2 tags would show up in both ‘folders’ of those tags, and in a ‘folder’ of a MoC that links it and so on
The options/settings:
- Top filters and toggle: filtering options uptop would be ideal, a search bar too, but most important would be a toggle to show current context/folder only or ‘all sub-contexts’ (like all sub-folders)
- Folder options: Settings on showing actual vault folders as contexts ‘folders’ in the explorer or not. All folders +blacklist or none except whitelist
- Tags options: same thing, all+blacklist vs none except whitelist. Like with folder trees tags would treat sub-tags as sub-contexts
- Mocs/Notes as contexts: defining in the settings a tag for particular notes to show as contexts, maybe with a default one (ex: #context or moc)- wich would present then as contexts folder-like as well. Opening then All links inside would render as the ‘folder’ contents. Aditional settings could group/separate headers as ‘sub-folders’ or some other way like groups (similar to how windows explorer can group files, or the titles with separators above thumbnails in the project-explorer’s screenshot above)
- Queries: if possible some way to show queries as ‘folders’ as well- the easiest way i think would be to use the same note-as-folder above, but a toggle wether to identify if theres any queries in the note, if there is showing the results as ‘folder contents’ as well.
- Ideally all notes-as-folders above (MOCs/links or queries inside a note) would show the actual note as part of its contents, always as the first thumbnail before everything else (maybe with aditional distinction from the rest). So if i tag ‘Project-A.md’ to show as folder, and it contains some link1, link2 and a query, opening the ‘folder’ project-a would show ‘project-a.md’ itself as the first file, then link 1, link 2 and finally all results from its query after.
- Bonus: settings for click comands (to open in new tab, new window, etc) and sorting options (title, date created, modified)… i think a random sort would also be great for tought exploration and resurfacing contents
Tought process, musing over pkm paradigms
Im now thinking most of the differences in aproachs come down to filtering vs navigation and where each common pattern solves either one or the other:
- Tags are great for filtering but with no good way to actually navigate through then
- folders are a proven way to organize and navigate but very limited in place(no transclusion, no overlaps)…
- atomic notes links/backlinks can navigate threads of toughts but lack overall navigation
- The graph in theory is the perfect relational big picture navigation but it becomes messy quickly and dont have good out of the box ways to filter or diferentiate neither relations nor its nodes
- Wich leads to users needs to make MOCs or similar, manually making indexes like menus intended for navigation but with no dynamic content; Navigation without filtering
- Databases in tables or thumbnails like Notion and some plugins are good for sorting and therefore filtering but have no aspects of ‘navigation’ in any kind of hierarchy or organizing groups like folders or MOCs
Tags and similars for filtering helps for searching and grouping on the fly but our brains also work with hierarchies and such- i feel the only reasons not enough attention is given to ‘folders’ or hierarchies come from classical computer folders limitations or the hype over the power of backlinks… I cant help but feel like making mocs manually is like reinventing the wheel of what folders or some better paradigm should deliver… im in no way against manually making MOCs, wich i will always do btw- but i feel it should be an option, the power to make a specific content selection (all the way to order) when id feel like it, and in obsidian it feels like a necessitity even when undesired…
Anyway, i think something like this would be great and allow all aproachs to be used together almost seamlessly; Actual vault folders, tags, mocs- not only they would work together they would show in a browsable way together, allowing the power of hierarchies and navigation to be used without conceding anything that comes from natural linking or tagging - and vice-versa, filtering on top of ‘navigation’
With everything from the idea id personally use just a few tags and mocs as folders- the mocs with just a few links +some query (like some tags combination or something like ‘all notes that link to this file’) and call it a day… most Contexts/subjects then auto populating, all the while still having the option to manually include links/files to each - essentially rarely opening the actual notes from MOCs despite still using then, wich in this folder/thumbnail view would also have the benefits from comparing contents right away, filtering from the current ‘moc’ however how long…
Opnions?
I strongly feel Obsidian needs new ui or paradigms to browse notes in the vault beyond the folder tree and graph - as new feature or core plugin - if not this something else. I almost made this a feature request, but the ‘tag note as folder’ idea sounded more like a plugin workaround… I also considered sugesting this to some plugin, but then i also wanted to debate the ideas with the community at large…
Wich btw ironically replicates my difficulties- essentially here at the forums im forced to choose one Category(like oldschool folders) - If i made this a debate someone would say it should be a plugin idea…
Anyway, id like this to also be a debate- what other alternatives could also tackle those aproachs together? Maybe some other pattern instead of ‘folders’? Toughts, suggestions?