Dewey Navigator

https://community.obsidian.md/plugins/dewey-navigator

Dewey Navigator organizes Obsidian notes using decimal numbers stored in YAML frontmatter.

Add a dwno property to a note, and Dewey Navigator uses it to build the sidebar hierarchy, chapter indexes, topic navigation, and note outlines.

Features

• Decimal Hierarchy: Organize notes using hierarchical decimal identifiers (a.b.c.d...). Supports any number of levels, from top-level indexes to individual concepts.
• Note Outline: Displays the headings of the current note and highlights the section corresponding to your current reading position.
• Previous / Next Navigation: Navigate between notes using their sequential decimal numbers.
• Book Presets: Generate chapter and subtopic rollups, as well as subject-level chapter indexes.
• Custom Sections: Create sidebar sections by specifying a decimal prefix and hierarchy depth. Assign custom icons to each section.
• Prefix Suppression: Hide notes belonging to specified decimal prefixes from the sidebar, such as 01 or 99.
• Configuration Backup: Export and restore plugin configuration using JSON files.

Quick Start

Add dwno and optional title properties to your note's YAML frontmatter:

---
title: "Relational Data Model"
dwno: "00.01.03.01"
---

• dwno: The dot-separated decimal number that determines the note's position in the knowledge hierarchy.
• title: The display title shown across the Dewey Navigator sidebar, breadcrumbs, outlines, and step navigation. If omitted, Dewey Navigator cleanly falls back to the note file's basename.
• Fallback behavior: When dwno is not present in a note, Dewey Navigator still renders the "This Note Outline" section, while showing a polite notice indicating that decimal sequencing requires a dwno property.

The filename does not matter. For example, the note can be named:

A simple note.md

Dewey Navigator uses dwno to organize it and title to display it, regardless of its filename.

How It Works

Decimal Segments

Dewey Navigator interprets dot-separated decimal segments as hierarchy levels:

• 00 — Level 1 (e.g. Master Knowledge Index)
• 00.01 — Level 2 (e.g. Computer Science Domain)
• 00.01.03 — Level 3 (e.g. Databases Subject)
• 00.01.03.01 — Level 4 (e.g. Relational Model Chapter)
• 00.01.03.01.02 — Level 5 (e.g. Normalization Topic)
• 00.01.03.01.02.01 — Level 6+ (e.g. BCNF Decomposition Note)

There is no hard limit on depth; add as many levels as needed.

Sidebar Overview

When a note with dwno is opened, the Dewey Navigator sidebar automatically updates:

1. This Page (In-Note Outline): Displays all headings with real-time viewport highlight indicating your reading position.
2. Topic Step Navigation: Instant Previous (←) and Next (→) buttons computed from decimal sequencing.
3. Chapter & Subject Rollups (Book Preset): Scans notes sharing the same chapter or subject prefix.
4. Custom Sections: Define filtered views based on custom prefixes and display depths with custom icons.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.