Organization Notes - banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots GitHub Wiki
Organization Notes
Organization Notes allow you to track non-genealogical hierarchies such as noble houses, guilds, corporations, military units, and religious orders. People can be members of organizations with roles and temporal membership data.
Table of Contents
- Overview
- Creating Organization Notes
- Organization Properties
- Built-in Organization Types
- Membership Properties
- Organizations Tab
- Organizations Base Template
- Context Menu Actions
- Related Documentation
Overview
Organizations are a distinct note type separate from person notes. They support:
- Hierarchy: Organizations can have parent organizations, creating nested structures
- Memberships: People can belong to multiple organizations with roles and date ranges
- Types: 8 built-in organization types with distinct colors and icons
- Universe Scoping: Organizations can be scoped to specific fictional universes
Creating Organization Notes
Using the Command
- Open the Command Palette (Ctrl/Cmd + P)
- Search for "Charted Roots: Create organization note"
- Fill in the organization details in the modal
Using the Control Center
- Open the Control Center (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + R)
- Go to the Organizations tab
- Click Create organization
- Fill in the form fields
Manual Creation
Create a note with the following frontmatter:
---
cr_type: organization
cr_id: org-house-stark
name: House Stark
org_type: noble_house
parent_org: "[The North](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/The-North)"
founded: "Age of Heroes"
motto: "Winter is Coming"
seat: "[Winterfell](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Winterfell)"
universe: westeros
roles:
- Lord
- Heir
- Castellan
- Maester
---
Organization Properties
| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
cr_type |
string | Yes | Must be organization |
cr_id |
string | Yes | Unique identifier (auto-generated) |
name |
string | Yes | Organization display name |
org_type |
string | Yes | Category (see types below) |
parent_org |
wikilink | No | Parent organization in hierarchy |
founded |
string | No | Founding date (supports fictional dates) |
dissolved |
string | No | Dissolution date |
motto |
string | No | Organization motto or slogan |
seat |
wikilink | No | Primary location (link to place note) |
roles |
string[] | No | Ordered list of valid role names (controls display order in members block) |
universe |
string | No | Universe scope |
Organization Types
Charted Roots includes 8 built-in organization types:
| Type ID | Display Name | Color | Icon | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
noble_house |
Noble house | Purple | Crown | Feudal houses, dynasties |
guild |
Guild | Orange | Hammer | Trade guilds, craftsmen |
corporation |
Corporation | Blue | Building | Modern companies |
military |
Military unit | Red | Shield | Armies, regiments, navies |
religious |
Religious order | Gold | Church | Churches, monasteries |
political |
Political entity | Green | Landmark | Kingdoms, republics |
educational |
Educational | Teal | Graduation cap | Schools, universities |
custom |
Custom | Gray | Building | User-defined |
Hiding Built-in Types
In the Organizations tab, toggle "Show built-in types" to hide the default types and only show custom organization types you've defined.
Person Memberships
People can have memberships in organizations through the memberships array in their frontmatter.
Membership Properties
| Property | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
org |
wikilink | Yes | Link to organization note |
org_id |
string | No | Organization cr_id for robust linking |
role |
string | No | Role or position within organization |
from |
string | No | Start date of membership |
to |
string | No | End date (leave empty if current) |
notes |
string | No | Additional context |
Example Person Frontmatter
---
name: Eddard Stark
cr_id: person-eddard-stark
memberships:
- org: "[House Stark](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/House-Stark)"
org_id: org-house-stark
role: Lord of Winterfell
from: "283 AC"
to: "298 AC"
- org: "[Small Council](/banisterious/obsidian-charted-roots/wiki/Small-Council)"
org_id: org-small-council
role: Hand of the King
from: "298 AC"
to: "298 AC"
---
Adding Memberships
Via Context Menu
- Right-click a person note in the file explorer
- Select Charted Roots → Add relationship... → Add organization membership...
- Select the organization and fill in details
Via Add Relationship Modal
The Add Membership modal provides:
- Organization dropdown (sorted alphabetically)
- Role field with clickable role chips below the input showing the organization's defined roles (click a chip to fill the input). Freeform entry is also supported for roles not in the predefined list.
- From/To date fields (support fictional date formats)
- Notes field for additional context
Editing or Removing Memberships
The full member-management modal (the same one reachable from the organization side via right-click on the org note → Manage members...) is also reachable from the person side:
- Right-click a person note
- Select Charted Roots → Manage memberships...
- If the person belongs to a single organization, the modal opens directly scoped to that org. If they belong to multiple, a picker lets you choose which to manage. From there you can add new members, edit existing memberships' role / dates / notes, or remove memberships.
Organizations Tab
The Control Center includes a dedicated Organizations tab with:
Organizations Card
- Lists all organizations grouped by type
- Color-coded indicators for each type
- Shows member count and sub-organization count
- Click organization name to open the note
Statistics Card
- Total organizations count
- People with memberships count
- Total memberships count
- Breakdown by organization type
Organization Types Card
- Table of available organization types
- Color swatches and icons
- Toggle to show/hide built-in types
- Default role templates per type (auto-populated when creating new organizations)
Data Tools Card
- Create organizations base template button
Bases Integration
Charted Roots includes a pre-configured Bases template for organizations with 17 views:
Creating the Template
- Open Command Palette
- Run "Charted Roots: Create organizations base template"
- The template creates
organizations.basein your vault
Available Views
| View | Description |
|---|---|
| All Organizations | Every organization sorted by name |
| By Type | Grouped by organization type |
| Noble Houses | Only noble house type |
| Guilds | Only guild type |
| Corporations | Only corporation type |
| Military Units | Only military type |
| Religious Orders | Only religious type |
| Political Entities | Only political type |
| Educational | Only educational type |
| Active Organizations | Organizations without dissolution date |
| Dissolved Organizations | Organizations with dissolution date |
| By Universe | Grouped by universe |
| Top-Level Organizations | Organizations without parent |
| Sub-Organizations | Organizations with parent, grouped by parent |
| By Collection | Grouped by collection tag |
| With Seat | Organizations with seat location defined |
| Missing Seat | Organizations without seat location |
Formulas
The template includes these formulas:
display_name: Showsnameor falls back to filenameis_active: Shows "Yes" or "No" based on dissolution statushierarchy_path: Shows full path like "Parent → Child"
Commands
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| Create organization note | Opens modal to create a new organization |
| Open organizations tab | Opens Control Center to Organizations tab |
| Create organizations base template | Creates the Bases template file |
Context Menu Actions
Person Notes
- Add organization membership...: Add a membership to the selected person
Folder Context Menu
- Bases → New organizations base from template: Create the Bases template in the folder
Use Cases
Tracking Noble Houses
Create organizations for each noble house in your world. Link them hierarchically (vassal houses under liege lords) and add person memberships with roles like "Lord", "Heir", "Castellan".
Corporate Structure
Model companies with departments as sub-organizations. Track employees' positions and tenure with from/to dates.
Military Units
Create organizations for regiments, divisions, and armies. Track soldiers' ranks and service periods.
Religious Orders
Model churches, monasteries, and religious hierarchies. Track clergy positions and affiliations.
Best Practices
Define Roles on Organizations
Add a roles list to organization notes to define valid roles and display order. This enables role autocomplete when adding memberships and automatic role ordering in charted-roots-members blocks. You can also set default role templates per organization type so new organizations inherit a starting set.
Use Consistent Type Assignment
Choose the most appropriate organization type for each organization to enable effective filtering and visualization.
Link Parent Organizations
When creating sub-organizations, always link to the parent organization to build the hierarchy.
Use Universe Scoping
For fictional organizations, set the universe property to enable filtering by fictional world.
Include Membership Dates
When adding memberships, include from/to dates to track temporal changes in affiliations.
Use cr_id for Memberships
Include the org_id in membership entries for robust linking that survives organization renames.
Integration with Other Features
Custom Relationships
Organizations can complement custom relationships. For example, a "liege/vassal" relationship between people might correlate with their house memberships.
Fictional Date Systems
Organization founded/dissolved dates and membership from/to dates fully support fictional date formats from your custom calendar systems.
Places
Organization seats link to place notes, connecting your organizational hierarchy to your geographic data.
Universe Filtering
When filtering by universe, organizations are scoped appropriately to show only those relevant to the selected fictional world.