File Naming Conventions: Best Practices

What is a File Naming Convention?

A File Naming Convention is a framework for naming files that describes what the files are or contain and how the files relate to other files from the same project or institution. A File Naming Convention helps organize digital files, and it also aids in communicating with other team members about what the files are or contain. Therefore, it is important to establish a File Naming Convention that is descriptive and consistent to the needs of the project or institution. This guide will give you reminders and tips on how to create an effective File Naming Convention.

We are here to help! If you have any questions about File Naming Conventions or other data management practices, contact archives@uwstout.edu.

Information to Include

When creating a file naming convention, it is important to first think about what information is important to know about the files. This is decided on a case by case basis and must take into account project or institution needs. 

Here are some examples of information to consider:

• Project Title or Acronym
• Name/Initials of Creator or Team
• Date or Date Range
• Conditions, Quality, or Descriptor for File
• Specimen or sample designation
• Version and Number of File

Formatting Numbers and Dates

• Format dates YYYYMMDD to ensure that files stay in chronological order.
• For sequential numbering use 0001, 0002...1001, etc to keep them in your intended order.

File Name Character Restrictions

• Avoid special characters: ~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) ` ; < > ? , [ ] { } ‘ “. These are commonly restricted characters. It is best to avoid them to ensure that the file naming convention can be used in a variety of software or systems, if necessary.
• Do not use spaces. Utilize underscores (File_Name), dashes (File-Name), no separation (filename), or camel case (FileName). These can cause errors in certain operating systems and software.
• Utilize acronyms to reduce the length of a file name. There may be a character limit for file names. Agreed upon acronyms will provide descriptive information while keeping the file names shorter in length.

Creating a File Naming Convention

Step 1: Gather information about the project, team, or institution that you need to create a file naming convention for.

Step 2: Identify the important descriptive information you will need for each file.

Step 3: Review software and other file name restrictions, such as specific character restrictions or file name length limits.

Step 4: Develop the file naming convention using the information you gathered and taking into account the restrictions.

Step 5: Share the file naming convention with those who need it.

A Stout Example

Step 1: A social media campaign for Homecoming is being created. Multiple departments across campus will be working on it. It is for October 2024. Multiple image files will be used for each post of the campaign.

Step 2: There is a Homecoming Microsoft Team with a Social Media channel. In that channel, folder hierarchies indicate the department in charge of the post and the platform (Instagram, Facebook, etc). Therefore, the important information that will need to be documented at the file level is the following:

• Date
• Version and number of files
• Social media post topic or title

Step 3: Microsoft Teams will be utilized. The following characters will need to be avoided: " * : < > ? / \ |

Step 4: The file naming convention will be the topic or title of the social media post that the image file relates to, the image numeric identifier, the version number, and the date associated with the file.

• File Naming Convention Format: Topic_Img###V###_YYYYMMDD
• Example of File Naming Convention: Parade_Img109V002_20241006

Step 5: There will be a document file in the Social Media channel of the Homecoming Team that will share and describe the folder structure and file naming convention.