# Folder Structure Create the following folders at the root of your vault. You can make them in Obsidian's file explorer (right-click → New folder) or in Finder/Explorer. ``` Vault/ ├── People/ │ ├── Faculty/ (or "Colleagues" — any people; rename to taste) │ └── Students/ (academic only) ├── Organizations/ │ ├── Universities/ (top-level academic institutions) │ ├── Colleges/ (units within a university) │ ├── Companies/ (businesses) │ └── Departments/ (sub-units of a college or company) ├── Projects/ ├── Classes/ (academic only) ├── Assignments/ (academic only) │ └── <Class Name>/ (optional subfolders per class) ├── Activities/ │ ├── Emails/ │ ├── Tasks/ │ ├── Calls/ │ ├── Meetings/ │ ├── Class Sessions/ (academic only) │ └── Submissions/ (academic only) ├── Daily Notes/ │ └── <Year>/<Month>/ (created automatically by the Daily Note template) └── Templates/ (where the template files go) ``` ## Not teaching? Trim it down The academic pieces are optional. For a personal or business vault, you can skip: - `Classes/`, `Assignments/` - `People/Students/` - `Activities/Class Sessions/`, `Activities/Submissions/` - The `Student`, `Class`, `Assignment`, `Class Session`, and `Submission` templates You'd keep People, Organizations, Projects, and the Email/Task/Call/Meeting activities. The system works the same way with fewer dimensions. ## Why this layout - **`Activities/` is queried as a whole.** Every dimension timeline runs `FROM "Activities"`, which recurses through all subfolders. That means you can freely create subfolders inside any activity type (e.g. `Activities/Emails/Project Apollo/`) for visual tidiness without breaking a single query. - **`Organizations/` separates the four kinds** (Universities, Colleges, Companies, Departments) so the interactive templates can file new notes correctly and so the hierarchy queries can find parents and children. - **`People/` subfolders** are organizational only; queries read `FROM "People"` and recurse, so Faculty/Students/anything-else all get found. - **`Templates/`** must match the **Template folder location** you set in [[02 Installation|Templater's settings]]. ## A note on subfolders and queries Because Dataview's `FROM "Folder"` is recursive, depth never affects results. Use subfolders purely for human browsing. The only folders whose *names* matter to the queries are the top-level ones referenced in template code: `Activities`, `Activities/Tasks`, `Activities/Submissions`, `Activities/Class Sessions`, `People`, `People/Students`, `Organizations`, `Organizations/Departments`, `Assignments`. Keep those names as-is unless you're prepared to edit the queries (see [[10 Adapting and Extending|Adapting & Extending]]). Next: [[04 Frontmatter and Naming|Frontmatter & Naming Conventions]] — the rules that make every query work.