# Meta-Principles 1. **Never diverge from standard Markdown** - the content of a note must not contain anything that's not part of the Markdown specification in order to keep the files universally accessible 2. **Use few folders** - The primary way of navigation is via searching and following relations 3. **AI** is not used to write any of the contents ## Exceptions The following exceptions are considered to be acceptable, as they add more value to the workflow than it is to work around them or are easily revertible. ### Principle #1 - diverging from plaintext - [Wikilinks](https://obsidian.md/help/links) are essential for navigation in this vault. Using Markdown-links would be cleaner, but also much more maintenance overhead. As most tools handle these fine, it is safe to use them - A [[t1a1 metadata-general|YAML frontmatter block]] - Usage of callouts in a note, to highlight important information. The style and colors adhere to the GitHub callout specification and are described in the [[s2b Using callouts|callout SOP]] #continue ***Add the SOP (or change to reference)*** - [[Meta-Templates|Templates]] contain syntax to be processed by [[Obsidian-Templater]]. Templates must be recreated for the writing tool in use - [[Meta-Bases|Bases]] are (currently) bound to [[Obsidian]] only - they are only helpers for navigating the vault, but not essential. Also, they are either kept as separate files or integrated into specialized notes (e.g. Index notes) only built for this purpose. These can be rebuild in plain text if needed. Never integrate them tightly into notes that would then depend on them ### Principle #2 - Use few folders Folders provide value in some cases: 1. Make the vault compatible with multiple applications (e.g. separation of template directories or configuration directories like `.obsidian`) 2. Group special files like `.base`, templates and attachments 3. Group Project files — Projects are to be completed and must be able to be easily archived as a whole 4. Separation of chronological logs — these are time based and grouped by year. Also logs are never to be published, so separation makes it easy to ignore these ### Principle #3 - AI AI is not used for creating any of the **written** content, but is used as research tool and for doing the "dirty work" e.g. - Creating Bases for the metadata - Creating scripts for the [[Obsidian-QuickAdd]] plugin - Creating CSS snippets --- ## Related - **previous** [[Meta]] - **see** [[t1a1 metadata-general]] for the general metadata template - **see** [[Meta-Templates]] for on an overview of the templates in use - **see** [[Obsidian-Templater]] for more information about the plugin - **see** [[Meta-Bases]] on how Bases are used - **see** [[Obsidian]] for more information about the software - **see** [[Obsidian-QuickAdd]] for more information about the plugin ## Sources - **references** [Obsidian Help](https://obsidian.md/help/links) for available link-formats in Obsidian - **references** [markdowguide.org](https://www.markdownguide.org/basic-syntax/) for the Markdown standard - **references** [Steh Ango's](https://stephango.com/vault#personal-rules) as the personal rules presented here align closely - **references** [File over app by Steph Ango](https://stephango.com/file-over-app) as Steph provides a great summary why a creation should never be bound to specialized software - **references** #continue ***Add the GitHub markdown specification*** ## Usage - **used in** none --- ## Changelog - [[2026-06-07]]: Initial creation