# I did not understand. I can do it? (nest folders) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Johnny.Decimal system\ **Created:** [October 14, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959 "2023-10-14T12:55:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/francesco)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/1 "2023-10-14T12:55:03Z")
good morning everyone, I apologize for the possibly stupid post. I still haven’t figured out if it’s correct to do this or if it’s an exception. Based on your experiences, can you tell me if folders can be nested in this way or if it is a practice to avoid? ```auto └── 10-19 PERSONAL/ ├── 11 DOCUMENT/ │ ├── 11.01 │ └── 11.02 LEGAL │ ├── 11.02 COMPLAINTS └── AA-MM-DD FILE NAME │ └── 11.02 FINES └── AA-MM-DD FILE NAME 15 SUPPLIERS 15.01 LIGHT 15.01 LIGHT COMPANY NAME AA-MM-DD NOME FILE 15.02 WATERFALL 15.02 WATERFALL COMPANY NAME AA-MM-DD NOME FILE ``` This way the legal documents would have the same JD ac.id but would be detailed within the folder. In your experience it can be done, is it tidy? or is it better not to insert further folders even if they are part of the same category? Obviously this is not the only context in which I would use this method so I want to be sure whether it can or cannot be done. thank you all ---
**Author:** ![Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Roman)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/2 "2023-10-14T19:36:51Z")
You should not do this, because it is not possible to refer e.g. in an e-mail to “11.02”. Because there are 3 folders 11.02 in your system. Every ID should only be used once. ---
**Author:** ![francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/francesco)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/3 "2023-10-14T22:49:02Z")
Thanks for the reply. I thought that for me the legal documents category is very clear and that there would be no problem making the right choice. I am grateful to you for sharing your perspective with me ---
**Author:** ![Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Roman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/4 "2023-10-15T02:12:47Z")
Another reason why you shouldn’t do that is because then you would have more than two levels of structuring. The flat structure is one of J.D.'s strengths. ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/5 "2023-10-15T05:12:25Z")
I am softening slightly on the idea of folders-in-JD-folders, which I need to document properly. I will do that soon. But just quickly: In this particular case I agree with Roman. `11.02` shouldn’t be for \*\*all of your legal complaints.\*\*Now you have no way to refer to a particular complaint. You shouldn’t have more than 100 legal issues in your life. Unless you’re a lawyer! And then you need a different structure. So, give each one its own ID. * * * But here’s where you _might_ create folders in a JD ID. Imagine your JD ID as ‘the job you need to do now’. For example the JD workbook is `42.11` in my system. So when I sit down to work on it, that’s where I go. But creating a 100-page PDF is complicated. I write it, I create review documents that Lucy reviews, we have the final export, there are screenshots … and so in the `42.11` folder, we actually have sub-folders for those things. The alternative doesn’t seem to make sense: `42.11` is the original copy, `42.12` is the review folder, `42.13` is the exports, `42.14` screenshots? That doesn’t feel necessary. That feels like numbers for the sake of numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Roman](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/Roman)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/6 "2023-10-15T06:32:11Z")
> [@johnnydecimal](#): > > … and so in the `42.11` folder, we actually have sub-folders for those things. But without numbers. Right? ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 6:52am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/7 "2023-10-15T06:52:02Z")
![CleanShot 2023-10-15 at 17.51.20@2x](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/uploads/default/original/1X/a81aeb938b7b48b3f2cf3ab61d776e46c413590b.png) Absolutely. Here it is, it needs to be tidied up but nobody’s perfect. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/francesco)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 9:52am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/8 "2023-10-15T09:52:25Z")
Thank you for the time you dedicated to me. Evidently I am the one who still hasn’t fully understood how it works and I apologize for the misunderstandings. I’m not a lawyer 🙂 So according to JD I should use an ID for every legal document. So I will avoid this establishment. I made this reasoning 11.02 - AC.ID to remember that in that folder (or tag in my case because I’m trying to insert this structure into evernote) it is dedicated only to legal documents. So, on the contrary, you are telling me either to insert all types of legal documents in 11.02 or to file 11.02 fines 11.03 report lost documents 11.04 complaints etc… ---
**Author:** ![johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/user_avatar/forum.johnnydecimal.com/johnnydecimal/32/1759_2.png) [@johnnydecimal](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/johnnydecimal)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 10:52am UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/9 "2023-10-15T10:52:15Z")
Francesco, I hope I won’t confuse you with this reply … but maybe you are right! When I read your post the first time I saw it like this in my mind. ```txt 10-19 Documents 11 Legal 11.01 First legal issue 11.02 Second legal issue ... ``` But I was cooking at the time and I read it too quickly. 🙂 Now I see that you have `legal` as an ID, not a category. So I think the system you show should work OK **as long as you do not have too many documents.** If you have perhaps 3 or 4 documents per year — complaints, fines, etc. — then I think the system you show above will work OK. Remember, the main point of this system is to make it so that **you** can find **your** files in the future. If you can do that, then you have succeeded. Always happy to help with further questions. ---
**Author:** ![francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/f/e47c2d/32.png) [@francesco](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/u/francesco)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2023, 2:06pm UTC](https://forum.johnnydecimal.com/t/i-did-not-understand-i-can-do-it-nest-folders/959/10 "2023-10-15T14:06:41Z")
Perfect, that’s exactly what I meant! Hopefully, there are few documents (one fine per year may be enough hahaha)