gh-nathanvale-side-quest-marketplace-plugins-para-brain/commands/_shared/naming-convention.md

File Naming Convention

Standard for all para-brain note creation.

Convention: Title Case with Spaces

Format: Title Case with Spaces.md

Rules

1. Use spaces - Not underscores, not hyphens
2. Title Case - Capitalize first letter of each significant word
3. No special characters - Avoid / \ : * ? " < > |
4. Dates in ISO format - Use YYYY-MM-DD when dates are part of title
5. Numbers are fine - 2025 Tassie Holiday.md

Examples

User Input	Filename
"tassie holiday 2025"	Tassie Holiday 2025.md
"react best practices"	React Best Practices.md
"learn piano"	Learn Piano.md
"Q1 2025 goals"	Q1 2025 Goals.md
"nathan's birthday"	Nathans Birthday.md

Title Case Rules

• Capitalize: First word, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
• Lowercase: Articles (a, an, the), prepositions (in, on, at), conjunctions (and, but, or)
• Exception: Always capitalize first and last word

Why This Convention

1. Most readable - Natural language, easy to scan
2. Obsidian-friendly - Handles spaces perfectly in wikilinks [[Title Case]]
3. No cognitive load - Write titles naturally
4. Consistent - Same format across all note types
5. Unique names prevent conflicts - Descriptive names avoid wikilink resolution issues

Conversion Function (Pseudocode)

function toTitleCaseFilename(input):
  1. Trim whitespace
  2. Remove special characters: / \ : * ? " < > |
  3. Replace apostrophes with nothing (nathan's → nathans)
  4. Convert to Title Case
  5. Append .md
  return filename

What NOT to Do

Wrong	Right
tassie_holiday_2025.md	Tassie Holiday 2025.md
tassie-holiday-2025.md	Tassie Holiday 2025.md
TASSIE HOLIDAY 2025.md	Tassie Holiday 2025.md
tassie holiday 2025.md	Tassie Holiday 2025.md

---

Critical: Avoid Duplicate Filenames

Why This Matters

Obsidian wikilinks [[Note Name]] search the entire vault by filename. If two files have the same name in different folders, wikilinks will resolve to the wrong file.

Generic Names to Avoid

❌ Never use these generic names:

• Overview.md
• README.md
• Index.md
• Notes.md
• Project.md
• Ideas.md

✅ Instead, use descriptive, specific names:

• 2025 Tasmania Holiday.md (not Overview.md)
• React Best Practices.md (not Notes.md)
• Levi School Term 1.md (not Project.md)

Example: Project Overview Files

❌ BAD - Causes wikilink conflicts:
/01_Projects/Tassie Holiday/Overview.md
/01_Projects/Home Renovation/Overview.md
/01_Projects/Learn Piano/Overview.md

✅ GOOD - Unique, descriptive names:
/01_Projects/2025 Tassie Holiday/2025 Tasmania Holiday.md
/01_Projects/Home Renovation/Home Renovation Project.md
/01_Projects/Learn Piano/Learn Piano Journey.md

Rule of Thumb

Include the project/area name in the filename:

• Project folder: My Project/
• Main note: My Project.md or My Project Overview.md
• Never just: Overview.md

This ensures wikilinks [[My Project]] work correctly across your entire vault.