Criteria
- Avoid folders; root holds most notes
- “If it’s in the root, I wrote it”
- Avoid nested subfolders
- Consistent style collapses decisions
- Properties carry meaning, Bases group
- Single vault
- Avoid non-standard Markdown
- Categories are singular; tags are plural
- Use internal links profusely
- Use YYYY-MM-DD dates everywhere
- Use the 7-point scale for ratings
Reference Folders
See Obsidian Rules - Reference Folders.
Rating
Steph Ango’s 7-point scale, kept verbatim. Anything with a rating uses an integer from 1 to 7 — never stars, never a decimal.
| 7 | Perfect | Must try, life-changing, go out of your way to seek this out |
| 6 | Excellent | Worth repeating |
| 5 | Good | Don’t go out of your way, but enjoyable |
| 4 | Passable | Works in a pinch |
| 3 | Bad | Don’t do this if you can |
| 2 | Atrocious | Actively avoid, repulsive |
| 1 | Evil | Life-changing in a bad way |
Why 7 and not 5 or 10, in his words: “I need more granularity at the top, for the good experiences, and 10 is too granular.” The scale is deliberately lopsided — four of the seven points describe something worth your time, because most of what you finish is at least passable and the interesting distinctions live up there.
rating is carried by article, podcast, video, book and restaurant. Leave the key out rather than empty when a thing is unrated.