Approach for major Obsidian folder structure changes
The idea for this post came from my recent switch to using Hardcover; it's important to know this for context before I describe my most recent folder structure change in Obsidian.
Hardcover
A few days ago I mentioned on Mastodon that I wanted to add more books to my "to read" list in Obsidian but didn't have access to my book shelf (where my to-read books reside), so I was resorting to making tweaks to my bases - things like sorting by series, creating a titleSort property so that books like The Buffalo Hunter Hunter sorts under "B" instead of "T", and so on.
At that point Alexandra asked, "Why don't you try using Hardcover?" (paraphrased). My reply initially was that I gave up public book tracking, but I was at least interested in the platform. To my delight there are options to keep your collection and updates private so that it's not really social media - you don't need to follow anyone either. No one needs to know you exist there1. So I signed up, and foolishly imported my Goodreads books2 and made sure my 2025 read books were all there, as well as what I've read in 2026, currently reading, and my "to read" books.
I'm satisfied with the UI, and how the books are organized, so it's now rendered my Obsidian tracking obsolete.
Obsidian folder structure change
Now I'm at a point where I need to make changes to my Obsidian folders. I'm not doing a major change like I did a short while back (implementing a PARA method), but I'm going to take my books OUT of my main vault, where it will sit as a form of archive should I want to refer to it later.
The bookshelf folder with bases was more of an experiment, and an excuse to show off my book covers (to myself, I guess). It was a way to keep track of what I've read through the year, without using online platforms and making my reading "performative"3.
But I don't want to lose everything, which is why my "bookshelf" folder is being saved, just moved outside of the vault. My current backup method is monthly, with these steps:
- Save Obsidian folder from my Android device to a USB drive
a. Compress to a zip file with filename
Obsidian MM-DD-YY.zip - Copy zip file to OneDrive
Simple process, but it's missing a third backup location that I'll address at some point in the future.
But every time I make some form of change to the folder structure I'll add an extra backup. So today, once I move the books folder out of the vault, I'll follow the backup method.
Uh...that's it I guess.
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Woops! I guess you know, now. But I'm not sharing my profile link.↩
I spent too much time updating read dates for old books (going back to the late 2000s) before I realized I was only interested in books from the last two years; I deleted the old stuff.↩
I have zero issues with people who want to share their reading in this way. I just don't want to do it. But, somewhat hypocritically, I have a book / reading podcast, so...↩