Notion Master Tag Database | The BEST Way To Organize Your Notes

This video covers the best way to organize your notes with a Notion master tag database. Click on my Notion Tutorial playlist link to learn more about Notion: • Notion Tutorial Series
Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
1:05 Why a Master Tag Database?
2:29 Creating a Master Tag Database
5:16 Connecting to Master Notes Database
8:08 View Individual Tag Page
11:37 Closing
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[@MyMMTV]

Big help! I was able to manage my review notes in a manner I want to. This saved me from spending extra money for now. :D

[@rayflanagan9970]

Been using Notion for a few weeks and came across your video here. Took me a few days to figure out how I can make a Master Tag Database work for how I'm using Notion, but it finally clicked, thanks to how you showed how to create a filtered table view list (around 8:54 in video). This is what I needed to explain to me why I will use a Master Tag Gallery. Perfect! Thank you. Can't wait to check out your other videos on Notion.

[@daniellangewisch]

Glad it helped you out, Ray! 😃

[@TheAmazinRaven]

I just binged a few of your videos and you are such a great speaker + you explain everything so well. I can tell you really care about using Notion for it's best capabilities and that is reflected in how you present/explain. Thank you.

[@daniellangewisch]

Thank you so much for the kind words, Raven! Glad you enjoyed the video. Let me know if there are any topics you’d like me to cover in the future! 😃

[@martina_meyer]

This video was so helpful. Thanks for sharing! I'm currently applying the PARA method to my digital life and I realised that the "master tag database" is the "resources" folder Tiago Forte talks abou on his book "building a second brain". :)

[@antonkaufmann9848]

Daniel, thank you for sharing all your Notion knowledge. It is a real joy learning from you. You explain in everyday words what one can learn from and do with Notion. You are not only a Notion expert but a great teacher too! I don't know if you ever thought about a "parent/children" master tag database? In some cases, that would be extremely helpful. Example: Master Tag: Agriculture 1. Child: Machines 2. Child: Trees 3. Child: Harvesting Each Child Tag could have several tags The idea is that for a specific Master Tag, only those 1. Child Tags would show up that share the same Master Tag and so on: Only those 2. Child Tags would show up that share the same 1. Child Tag. And, those 3. Child Tags would show up that share the same 2. Child Tag. I watched nearly all KZbin videos that explain the Notion Master Tag Database issues and I found only 1 video which introduced the Parent/Child Master Tag Database issue. Jordan D. Parker - Optimize your Notion productivity: Global Tags Database | Advanced Tutorial - 8:56 minutes kzbin.info/www/bejne/e5q2mZWwhcusZ5I Do you have any idea of how to solve this problem, or can you create a full video to teach of how to do it? Thanks again!

[@signatuscrafts]

Thanks! Just what I needed. 👍

[@funkadellic7]

Solid video with great content. Definitely subscribed!

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey, Darren! Thanks so much for the kind words. I’m glad this video could help you out. Let me know if you have any other Notion questions or videos you’d want me to put out! 😃

[@shekhar]

Hey Daniel. This was very helpful. Thank you so much. Extra brownie points for the time stamps in your video. Cheers!

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey! Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it 😃

[@briancastroTI]

Great video!!!! Awesome! Thanks!

[@daniellangewisch]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching 😃

[@julia_dreamer]

It's the best video about tags in notion. Thanks a lot!

[@daniellangewisch]

Wow. Thanks! That means a lot 😃

[@sergiog2930]

Thank you very much! creating a company requires lots of info and yes, this is a nice tool to use in notion! best regards from Spain and happy new year

[@daniellangewisch]

Thank you for the kind words. Cheers!

[@alfiebayfieldfarrell4078]

So useful! Thanks man

[@workaccountforjon1596]

thank you Daniel. this video has been of great help! i think everyone should watch it and take better notes for posterity. :)

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks, jon koh! I am so glad that it was helpful! 😃

[@martymasar]

Great, exactly the information I was looking for

[@daniellangewisch]

Awesome, Marty! Glad to hear it was helpful 😃

[@manosprotonotarios5187]

what about nested tags, e.g. Science/Math/Linear Algebra, Science/Biology/Cell Biology? Is this possible to build using related dbases?

[@ChotuBunny]

I am wondering the same!

[@IftkharAhmed]

Great tips and instruction dude. Thanks so much for the advice. :)

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks so much for the kinda comment, Iftkhar! Glad it helped! 😃

[@w0mblemania]

This was very helpful, thank you.

[@daniellangewisch]

Awesome! Glad it helped you out 😃

[@javiermelendez1253]

this was helpful, thank you!

[@daniellangewisch]

Awesome! Glad it was useful 😃

[@TientjeTill]

Very useful. Thanks!

[@daniellangewisch]

You are SO welcome, Tina! Thanks for checking out the video! 😃

[@ermitanya91]

Thank you!!

[@daniellangewisch]

You’re welcome! Thanks for checking out the video 😃

[@nfan883]

Thanks, Daniel. Your intro is clear, simple and to the point. I have subscribed already. Keep going . Currently, I am struggling with Obsidian and Notion when I want to summarize books I read. Backlinking is a strong suit in Obsidian but which lacks Notion flexbility. I like how Notion looks but I need the power of Obsidian.

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it. I have tried Obsidian, and while it does have strong backlinking, the customization of Notion to exactly what I want was the tipping point. I feel like Notion is taking steps towards improving their backlinking, but they are still a ways behind something like Obsidian or Roam.

[@nfan883]

@@daniellangewisch I thing I will go to Notion eventually, Have a good one.

[@wesleyramirez9818]

This is the best tag video I've seen

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks so much, Wesley! I appreciate it 😃

[@shashi_kamal_chakraborty]

Indeed, it was helpful. Following your path, I extended this idea to create nested tags. Simply I put my dbs like this: Tags->Sub-tags. Then related the Sub-tags db to my Notes db. From now onwards, I collect my notes using "Notion Saver" arbitrarily into my Notes db, while they get automatically organized into my respective sub-tags db. Happy happy!! Thank you so much.

[@daniellangewisch]

That is so awesome to hear! Glad it is working well for you 😃

[@fabiolemos1750]

Nice work, Ty

[@daniellangewisch]

You are welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! 😃

[@bhavanishankar1068]

Cleared my confusions .. Thanks

[@daniellangewisch]

Glad it was helpful, Bhavani! 😃

[@bhavanishankar1068]

@@daniellangewisch I created my own master tag database using your video. Worked like a charm..

[@daniellangewisch]

@@bhavanishankar1068 that’s so great to hear!!

[@matthieub3973]

Hi Daniel! Awesome video. I’m not too familiar with Notion (I use WorkFlowy). Are tags inheritables from parent noses to child nodes?

[@carltiox5115]

Thanks! One question, how many sub classes can you create and how would you do that. Some of us want to access [Project name] / [Workstream] / [Finance] / [Other].

[@karenlara3788]

Great video thank you

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks so much, Karen! Glad it was helpful for you 😃

[@karenlara3788]

@@daniellangewisch honestly I don’t know how to thank you, I’ve already binged on all your videos, such great content! Keep it up 🙌🏻

[@daniellangewisch]

@@karenlara3788 that means so much! Glad to create helpful content!

[@bobdoto9980]

Hey, Daniel. Great video. The first in this sea of Notion note organization vids that makes sense to me! Also, had a question: Not sure if I missed it, but when I implemented what you did in the video, I started to wonder if linking the articles was redundant once you created the individual folders on the master tag database and then created a linked database within each one filtered down to the tag. In other words, once you filtered it down, the links seem obsolete to me. Am I missing the function of those links?

[@GWolff7]

I just thought the same thing, and I was hoping to find an explanation in the comment section. 😆

[@TedMattos]

Hi Daniel, I realize this is an older video. I love this idea of ONE central place for my tags. Question - can tags be in categories? For example, can I have a tag category "Christianity" and in it the tags "Bible", "Salvation", "Proverbs" etc? So if I tag a note with "Proverbs" it will ALSO be tagged with its parent category "Christianity". Or are tags all individual and can't have "parents" or "children"? Thank you!

[@jeffreylee6878]

thx for the video, I would like to ask if i can apply multiple tags on a page by using this system?

[@daniellangewisch]

Absolutely! I use multiple tags all the time! 😃

[@stranger1111]

u deserve million subs

[@daniellangewisch]

You are too kind! 😃

[@robertogejman5311]

I believe that much better will be that Notion creates a new property type called “Global tag”, that only can use tags from a list curated by each user.

[@homeappliance4360]

Is there any way to mention or embed a tag somewhere where I can I just click it and it sends me to the database containing the tagged items

[@ar.aldali]

Thanks for the video. All the work that has to be done in this video because Notion does not support tagging out of the box (like Evernote). I hope in future releases Notion includes this feature by default rather than manual work around.

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey, Abdul! Thanks for checking out the video. I agree with you! Hopefully future updates can add this by default and make it easier to do. 😃

[@suvn89]

I've created a Master Tags Database and I have several tables that I move items between (GTD). So I have an Inbox table and a Next table for example; If I tag an item in my Inbox table and then move it to the Next table, the tag doesn't follow--I need to retag it. What am I doing wrong here?

[@lfam6]

Nice video clearly explained. Thanks! What if I'm reading an article and the article relates to more than one idea I want to tag. I don't think I can use more than one master tag per note, right? Does that mean I'd be better off using a local tag for my master notes database?

[@RyanLangewisch]

Since the tag(s) property is a relation, you can add as many tags to that field as you want! Think of it like a multi-select, but referencing the rows in another database (in this case, your master tag database).

[@BarryOGorman]

@@RyanLangewisch thanks - was my initial issue also; in fact som notion tidying up to do now!!

[@HarvestrX]

How do you have tags from multiple databases show up in the master tags database?

[@justscrollthru84]

Hi Daniel, I have a question about this. I am building a client database based on this tutorial. I have a trouble that I hope you can offer a solution to my issue. For tags, I use (current2022) (past2022)(potential2022) and the reason is that I am planning to use this system for the following year. I was thinking if I need to sort out the information for next year it won't be confusing. If I were to use only tags: (current) (past) (potential), it will just show up all the tasks from previous years. I hope this makes sense. Thank you for your work! Please keep it up. For your next video, can you please help guide us to build a system where I can share with clients the actions and things that were executed? But I don't want them to see all other projects of other clients. Cheers,

[@lovelettar]

I love this database but got one question after using it: my note list gets really long and I have to scroll down to add a new one, any work around?

[@magdalenasztajnmec6193]

Daniel, Thank you for this video. Thanks to you I finally understood how the tagging works. I do have a question however, what if you use tags for different purposes/areas. Let say that I want to have Master Tag Database that includes my extensive work tags, personal tags, school tags and business tags. Is there a way to still have just one Master Tag Database based on the Top category tag, such that if I tag something with work tag, the lower level tags that show up are only the ones relating to the work area and do not include tags from other areas, like personal, school or business? Creating all tags for each of the areas together is overwhelming when each of the top areas have a lot of tags by itself.

[@daniellangewisch]

Magdalena, thanks for checking out the video! Just to clarify, are you asking if there is a way to quickly apply tags from a certain category rather than having to search through all the tags you have?

[@magdalenasztajnmec6193]

@@daniellangewisch Hi, I was not expecting such a quick reply. I guess my answer is yes (I'm new to NOTION and a bit overwhelmed :) )Thank you very much for being willing to help. :)

[@brendalg4]

Is it possible to have a sub tag database?

[@mattchapman5941]

Very helpful video. I'm new to notion and trying to get things set up. I've seen some great things, but this whole lack of master tag database is frustrating. In evernote, it's so easy to just click on a tag and see every note w/ that tag. This is a great work around that you present, but if you have hundreds of tags, it's a lot of work to set up a new page/database for every tag. Not criticizing your video, it was great. Just frustrated with this lack of something that should be pretty easy. I have played around with both the filter and the search and both of those seem to be viable options. The search function actually seems to be very fast.

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey! Thanks for checking out my video 😃 yea there is definitely still a lot of work involved with setting it all up. The search option does work fairly well. I find that setting up each page is worth it in the long run, but it may not be for every user.

[@DannyHatcherTech]

Nice, I know Marie Poulin is a fan of the master tag database. I personally use areas as a tag so that I can review my notes. I am curious what your process is to review notes as that is what you mentioned you struggled with without the tag database?

[@daniellangewisch]

It is less of a specific system of reviewing my notes, and more that these tags allow me to easily see everything I have ever come across in a certain category when necessary. Without tags, I may take notes on a certain topic in a certain class, but have no easy way to find those notes when I come across that topic again and want to reference them.

[@DannyHatcherTech]

@@daniellangewisch ah ok so more for discovery rather than review. I like using meta data I already have like date, task, event or area relation just to reduce my workspace size but that is personal preference. Nice video 😁

[@daniellangewisch]

Thank you!

[@alzibaba]

Really helpful, thank you! Do you know if there's a way to assign more than one tag from a master tag database? So far I can only hook other content up to one master tag, but typically I need around 3. Many thanks ;-)

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks for watching! You should be able to type another tag in after hitting enter for your first tag. I’ve used multiple tags in my system many times. If you have all your tags in one database, then you should be able to choose multiple. I hope that helps!

[@alzibaba]

@@daniellangewisch Thanks so much, what a dim wit I am, I just wasn't pressing enter. Yes, that works fine. I have many other programmes where you can select multiple at the same time, so I guess I just got into that habit.

[@daniellangewisch]

@@alzibaba that is completely understandable! I have had many times myself where I couldn’t figure something out, only to find it was a simple solution. Glad it worked for you! 😃

[@brendalg4]

Now it is different. You click the plus. If you have already entered the item, it won't show up. You have to click the search bar. Took me a while to figure out

[@caidenbond1988]

There a backlinks now! Yay! Plus you could just use the @ references or use a database with loads of relations

[@daniellangewisch]

I am about to release a video talking about this exact feature! Such an awesome addition!

[@caidenbond1988]

Daniel Langewisch I know I loveeee it! Almost as innovative as when relations were introduced.

[@zp7026]

I am now unsure to when it is ideally better to use the “old” database workaround and when the new backlinking feature

[@caidenbond1988]

@@zp7026 I guess the backlinking _could_ be for normal pages you want to link together and a database could be for more specific data relations.

[@ksprashutv]

This is great, except that I don't want to create a Master Notes Database. I don't want to record what I am making notes of and I just want to go and create a sub-page somewhere and add some tags. Do you know of a good way in which I can use a Master Tag Database and the Link Table idea, but without using a Master Notes Database?

[@daniellangewisch]

I am not sure of a great substitution to a Master Notes Database for you. Sorry about that! 🙁

[@meganotofthisworld]

But can you put more than one tag for any note?

[@igorschimidt1985]

Hey, I'm trying to create some system in notion to categorize all of my quotes. This is how I would want to do it, ideally: have one single page full of random quotes, add tags to each quote(adding the tag then to each block, since each quote is in its own block),and I then be able to filter any of those tags in that page. I just wouldn't want to have one page created for each quote. Is there any way I could this or something similar?

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey, Igor! Cool idea with organizing quotes. Are you thinking of storing all your quotes in a database on 1 page, and then you can add a tag to that database, allowing you to filter the quotes however you like?

[@igorschimidt1985]

​@@daniellangewisch Yeah, I guess it is something like that. I tried using a table for example, putting a quote for each line in one column, and have another column for the tags, to filter them when I want, but that would create a page for each quote I guess, from what I understand. What I would like is to use only one page for all the quotes, one quote per block. Then, somehow add tags to each quote/block, and when I'm on that page with all the quotes, filter them out through the tags. Is this possible? Or anything close to this... Thanks!!

[@brendalg4]

@@igorschimidt1985 Would a toggle block work? Put all the ones you want to have to same "tag" under the toggle. the toggle has the name of the "tag"

[@ChibiKeruchan]

can you create a tutorial on how we who uses tags can be able to convert that property into relation without messing everything in out current database? converting tags to single select or status can be done easily. but converting tags to relation (Specially if you have already so much in there) is somewhat dangerous.

[@vitalis]

I would use a master tag database if the linked database could auto populate the same tag in another selection column so that it shows the colour and also be able to group by that tag, which is not possible with global tags.

[@brendalg4]

I am able to group by the tag. I didn't try to put it in another column. I couldn't get it to change color. When you wrote this, the Group function didn't exist

[@saeb]

Why not just use parent pages as "folders" for categorisation?

[@minicotexx]

What’s wrong with filter? Sorry I’m trying to appreciate the value of linked database?

[@daniellangewisch]

Tan Hong Jie I would say the benefit is that each category has its own distinct page that you can customize the way you want. In addition, with a filter, you have to keep changing which filter you want, where as with tags, you can just click on the page that you want. Hope that helps!

[@caidenbond1988]

Linked databases are for viewing databases in different ways i.e let’s you have a tasks database and you only want to see today’s tasks in your homepage

[@RandallNewman]

Thanks for this! One request would be for you to get on tik tok and create 1 minute tips. My attention span is too short. I had to watch this on 2x to get through it. Good stuff though keep going!!

[@canongap8163]

Work on your focus!

[@TheAmazinRaven]

"What's the point of taking good notes if you aren't going to use them." Boom. 😭

[@lennylow99]

不错的教材，就是废话多了点。

[@shriefallam8866]

You could achieve the same result via filtering by class and choosing whatever tag you want, it seems like you multiplied your effort, I don't get it...

[@daniellangewisch]

Hey, Shrief! Thanks for checking out the video. The benefit of a master tag database over using filters is that each class could then have its own customized page. However, if you don’t care about each class having a page, then a filter could do a similar thing!

[@shriefallam8866]

@@daniellangewisch I usually do have a lot of tags, so when I want to make a page for any, I put a linked database filtering via the specified tag. Thanks for the video anyway.

[@Boulevardfree]

Metal health? Freudian typo lol

[@daniellangewisch]

Nice catch! 😂

[@ivancarlson953]

Video is good. Frequent vocal fry, not so good.

[@daniellangewisch]

Thanks for checking out the video, Ivan! That video was quit a while ago when I had worse equipment so hopefully my latest videos don't have that problem 😃

[@justtere]

The first person I followed said a Master Tag database wasnʼt necessary. I realized as I went along I do.