Folders or Tags or Index Pages? They’re Tools, Not a Debate

PTPL 145 · But if you only pick one, make it the index page

The question of folders versus tags doesn’t need to be a debate.

Rather than writing a spiel about it, I’ll simply say that each is a tool, and a good craftsperson picks the right tool for the job at hand. Note that I’m working on the assumption that linking between notes is a given.

Never organise your files again? (Kinda but not really)

Trystan tells us we never need to organise our files again. He advocates for wikilinks, tags, and search in iA Writer.

My thoughts while reading this article:

• The app doesn’t matter; these principles apply to any wikilink-enabled app. (Obsidian, Tangent Notes, Notenik, Logseq, Joplin, Silver Bullet, iA Writer; the list of options is growing and that’s a very good thing)
• Descriptive file names are important
• The no-organising method of working with files requires a good sense of of how you want them structured so that tags don’t get messy
• Every file needs a lifeline before being released into the wilderness. A tag, a mention on an index page, an incoming or outgoing link, a descriptive heading, something
• Not organising files sounds scary! Could I do it?
• Wait — I am doing it!

Hybrid organising systems are often best

My plain text notes are organised in a hybrid fashion, with granular, static folders for things that don’t change (the Johnny Decimal Life Admin system) and one big folder called ALL THE NOTES for everything else.

tags are essentially a way of organizing your files into folders without having to do any of the dragging and dropping yourself — Trystan

And index pages are fabulous thinking-spaces for bringing notes together into structured thought progressions. It’s wise to tag each index page as such. (See this discussion on the Zettelkasten.de forum)

Full transparency: I love the idea of index pages but I’ve yet to put them to real, practical use. Yes, I’m like the person who knows they should exercise but seldom does. Health analogies aside, that’s not a bad thing if my current work doesn’t require it.

Every project I undertake has its own note which becomes a kind of index page, I suppose.

There you go — I fell (again) into the trap of thinking my notes (index or otherwise) don’t stack up if they don’t follow a preconceived form. It’s simply not true!

I’m allowing my needs — and wants — to guide the form and structure of my notes, and I measure success by whether or not I can find what I need to find, when I need to find it.

So far, so good.

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