Collections and tags to find the right model
Use one nested collection tree for browsing, tags for repeated properties, and attached documentation for the notes a model grid cannot carry.
A small library can survive with search and decent filenames. Once browsing becomes frustrating, add a shallow collection tree and a short list of reusable tags. Stop before maintaining the taxonomy becomes another hobby.
Collections are folders, but with rules
Collections in PrintStash form one nested hierarchy. A model belongs to one collection, and you can move it by editing the model or dragging its card onto a collection in the grid.
Use collections for projects and durable subjects: Props/Helmets, Workshop/Jigs, or Printers/Voron 2.4. Keep the tree shallow enough that someone else can predict where a model belongs.
Collections also carry view, edit, and admin roles, and PrintStash enforces them in the API rather than only in the interface, so hiding a button is not the only protection. This lets a household or workshop expose an approved library without granting every user edit access.
A collection can also hold documents. Write Markdown in the editor, paste images, upload files such as PDFs, and pin one README at the top of the collection. This works well for assembly order, a bill of materials, or the magnet size shared by several parts.
Tags cut across the hierarchy
Tags cover properties that repeat across collections. A model can carry several, and each tag becomes a filter.
Useful tags describe a decision you make while searching: needs-supports, gift, calibration, or vase-mode. Avoid tags for values already parsed from G-code, such as material or layer height, unless the tag means something different in your workflow. What a library fills in on its own covers which fields arrive without being typed.
Choose names consistently. PrintStash normalizes punctuation variants such as print-in-place and print_in_place to the same tag, but genuinely different terms such as print-in-place and articulated still produce separate filters.
Where structure stops and search takes over
Most retrieval begins with search. Collections make browsing understandable, while tags and structured fields narrow the results.
Imports can preserve useful structure, so some of the tree builds itself. In PrintStash, ZIP and folder uploads map internal folders to nested collections. Accepted files end up in private cloud object storage; PrintStash does not mount or mirror a local or NAS directory inside the cloud service.
A structure that stays manageable
- Create collections for projects or broad purposes.
- Add a tag only after the same property appears on several models.
- Put shared instructions on the collection instead of copying notes to each model.
- Review unused and near-duplicate tags occasionally.
- Prefer search over adding another folder level.
The system is working when another person can find a file without asking where you put it. It does not need to describe every possible property of every model.
The file organization guide covers the source, project, and G-code roles underneath this taxonomy. For shared permissions, continue with the makerspace library guide.