Zettelkasten/Patterns/Page Organization - Revision history

Unknown user at 00:40, 2 March 2022

2022-03-02T00:40:57Z

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			[[Category:MediaWiki]]
	[[Category:Zettelkasten]]		[[Category:Zettelkasten]]
			[[Category:Zettelkasten Pattern]]

Unknown user: /* Conclusion */

2022-02-04T18:59:06Z

Conclusion

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	Of course, as always, use these patterns as a starting point, and adjust them to suit your own personal needs; there as many ways to maintain a zettelkasten as there are people using a zettelkasten. But these patterns have been battle-tested and will help keep pages well-organized over many years, while also helping each page to serve all of the many purposes pages will inevitably end up serving.		Of course, as always, use these patterns as a starting point, and adjust them to suit your own personal needs; there as many ways to maintain a zettelkasten as there are people using a zettelkasten. But these patterns have been battle-tested and will help keep pages well-organized over many years, while also helping each page to serve all of the many purposes pages will inevitably end up serving.



			[[Category:Zettelkasten]]

Unknown user: /* Conclusion */

2022-02-04T18:58:55Z

Conclusion

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	==Conclusion==		==Conclusion==

	We covered three patterns to ~~help you organize information on~~ pages. ~~This~~ will ~~allow the page to stay~~ organized over many years, while also helping each page to serve ~~multiple~~ purposes ~~well~~.		We covered three patterns for organizing pages when using MediaWiki as a zettelkasten. These three patterns are

			# Reserve top-level section headers for meta-level page organization (different sections for different end uses)
			# Organize notes chronologically in a top-level Notes section
			# Sections that are dense with information or more complicated should be moved to sub-pages

			Of course, as always, use these patterns as a starting point, and adjust them to suit your own personal needs; there as many ways to maintain a zettelkasten as there are people using a zettelkasten. But these patterns have been battle-tested and will help keep pages well-organized over many years, while also helping each page to serve all of the many purposes pages will inevitably end up serving.

Unknown user: /* Is this approach overengineered? */

2022-02-04T18:54:40Z

Is this approach overengineered?

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	==Is this approach overengineered?==		==Is this approach overengineered?==

	We know what you're thinking: ~~this seems~~ overengineered~~. We are only talking about how to organize~~ a page~~, after all~~. But as mentioned at the top of the article, the way articles are organized dictates the way the rest of the wiki is organized. ~~And a~~ page organization system that eliminates the friction of adding notes to the zettelkasten will ultimately pay off by making the zettelkasten more useful.		We know what you're thinking: these patterns all seem overengineered for the simple task of putting information into a page. But as mentioned at the top of the article, the way articles are organized dictates the way the rest of the wiki is organized. A page organization system that eliminates the friction of adding notes to the zettelkasten will ultimately pay off by making the zettelkasten more useful.

	This is also the product of several years of using MediaWiki as a zettelkasten, so each problem addressed here is a real problem we've run into many times before.		This is also the product of several years of using MediaWiki as a zettelkasten, so each problem addressed here is a real problem we've run into many times before.

Unknown user: /* Pattern 3: Subpages */

2022-02-04T18:53:14Z

Pattern 3: Subpages

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	</pre>		</pre>

	And now, the same patterns we used to organize the [[Foobar]] page can be used to organize the [[Foobar/Subject 4]] page!		And now, the same patterns we used to organize the <code><nowiki>[[Foobar]]</nowiki></code> page can be used to organize the <code><nowiki>[[Foobar/Subject 4]]</nowiki></code> page!

	==Is this approach overengineered?==		==Is this approach overengineered?==

Unknown user: /* Subpages */

2022-02-04T18:52:40Z

Subpages

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	That's actually a feature, not a bug, and leads into our next pattern - if you need more section depth for notes on a given subject, it means it's time to move all of the information in that section to its own subpage.		That's actually a feature, not a bug, and leads into our next pattern - if you need more section depth for notes on a given subject, it means it's time to move all of the information in that section to its own subpage.

	==Subpages==		==Pattern 3: Subpages==

	Suppose we're following the pattern covered above, and when we get to the section on Subject 4, it ends up being a much more involved activity than we expected. It involves research, links, tasks, notes, and generally a lot more work than we have room for in the sub-sub-subsection we've allotted.		Suppose we're following the pattern covered above, and when we get to the section on Subject 4, it ends up being a much more involved activity than we expected. It involves research, links, tasks, notes, and generally a lot more work than we have room for in the sub-sub-subsection we've allotted.

Unknown user: /* Taking Notes Chronologically */

2022-02-04T18:52:26Z

Taking Notes Chronologically

@@ Line 111: / Line 111: @@
 Now, the "Overview" section is always at the top of the page, making it easily accessible for reference.
-===Taking Notes Chronologically===
+==Pattern 2: Taking Notes Chronologically==
 We reserve top-level headers for dividing the page based on its different uses. If we wnat to start taking notes, we can add a top-level Notes section to the bottom and start taking notes there.
@@ Line 161: / Line 161: @@
 * Notes on subject 4
 </pre>

Unknown user: /* Overview */

2022-02-04T18:41:36Z

Overview

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	The way that pages are organized on a wiki is central to the way the entire wiki is structured. While it may seem like a trivial topic that anyone can figure out as they go, a zettelkasten is intended to hold notes accumulated over many years, and as pages accumulate more information they can start to become inconsistent, crowded, and messy.		The way that pages are organized on a wiki is central to the way the entire wiki is structured. While it may seem like a trivial topic that anyone can figure out as they go, a zettelkasten is intended to hold notes accumulated over many years, and as pages accumulate more information they can start to become inconsistent, crowded, and messy.

	We use ~~two~~ patterns when creating new pages, to help the pages stay organized over many years and be useful for many purposes. The two patterns are:		We use a couple of patterns when creating new pages, to help the pages stay organized over many years and be useful for many purposes. The two patterns are:

	# Reserving top-level headers for meta-level page organization.		# Reserving top-level headers for meta-level page organization.

Unknown user: /* Overview */

2022-02-04T18:41:29Z

Overview

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	# Reserving top-level headers for meta-level page organization.		# Reserving top-level headers for meta-level page organization.
			# Keeping notes chronological.
	# Moving information to sub-pages when it starts accumulating or requiring multiple levels of subheaders		# Moving information to sub-pages when it starts accumulating or requiring multiple levels of subheaders

Unknown user: /* Pattern 1: Reserve Top Level Sections */

2022-02-04T18:41:06Z

Pattern 1: Reserve Top Level Sections

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 ...
 </pre>
-This page structure is ideal because:
+Now, the "Overview" section is always at the top of the page, making it easily accessible for reference.
-* The "Overview" section is at the top of the page, easily accessible for reference
-* Each time we visit that page, seeing the overview will remind us to update the overview
+===Taking Notes Chronologically===
-* We can add new top-level sections below the Overview section as needed (for new uses of the page)