When/how to use folders

Help
1

I have only been using Obsidian for a couple of hours, and still feel a bit overwhelmed. I have seen advice that says that I should not create too many folders, but I am worried about file name clashes.

What I’m trying to do

For my first project, I want to put my hardware data into Obsidian. At the moment each piece of hardware (e.g. an Arduino Nano or a Power FET), has a folder. Within the folder I have schematics, datasheets, photos, pinouts, application notes etc.

I hope to have a note in Obsidian, for each piece of hardware, where all these files are linked by internal links. There is a problem though - many of the folders contain files with the same name (e.g. schematic.pdf). If I copy these to Obsidian, won’t there be a name clash ? It seems that I will probably have to maintain the structure of a folder for each device.

Things I have tried

I tried putting schematic files in different folders - the internal link keeps working even if I move the file to another folder.

Am I missing something about how Obsidian notes should be organised ?

Edit: I just discovered that if I drop pdf files of the same name on a note, Obsidian adds the pdf files to the Files folder and appends a number to them to distinguish them. I guess that means I don’t need to worry about name clashes.

2

You don’t have to worry about file name conflicts, adding references will add folder paths if there are notes with the same name

3

While there are many different ways to use obsidian, none of them can be considered correct. Obsidian is, at it’s heart, a note taking app. If the best way for you to organize your notes is with folders, do that. If you prefer to organize exclusively using tags and keep everything at the root, that’s great too.

Try experimenting with different systems of organization to find what feels right for you. There are tons of “tutorials” out there that will say this way or that way is best, but I wouldn’t take them as gospel.

They’re your notes, store them however you want

4

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