When you are working, you may not always think about how you name your files. You may end up with a folder that looks like this:

That is why it is essential to establish a naming convention before you begin collecting files or data in order to prevent a backlog of unorganized content that will lead to misplaced or lost data!

https://xkcd.com/1459/

A file naming convention will help you:

  • Easily find your files.
  • Track which version of a file is the most current.
  • Prevents accidental overwrites or deletion.

Tips for Naming your Files

Make it human-useable and –readable

  • Define conventions for your directory structure, folder names and file names.
  • Include a text file (README) describing your naming conventions.
  • Use short, descriptive names. For example: Project name/acronym, Date file created, Sample number, Version number

Make it machine-readable

  • Consider starting with the most general category and ending with the most specific, so that related files will sort together.
  • Dates: yyyymmdd
  • Versions: 01 instead of 1
  • Avoid use terms such as «Final FINAL last version”.
  • Keep file and folder names short (15-20 characters or less).
  • Avoid special characters in your names such as: “/ \ : * ? “ < > [ ] & $.
  • Do not use spaces. It is a better option include underscores.

Suggestions for your files

File Naming Convention: archaeologicalsite + year + type of file +number.jpg

  • Archaeologicalsite: A very short title representing the archaeological site, for exemple: for “Camps de Can Massot” you can use initials CCM.
  • Year: The year of the excavation.
  • Type of file: A very short title of the kind of file.

Number: Three-digit number starting with 001 for every image. If more than one image with a similar filename exists, apply a numerically ordered sequence.

Examples:

  • CCM_2020_ img_001.jpg
  • CCM _2020_plan_001.jpg
  • CCM _2020_report.jpg

File renaming 

If you have many files already named, consider using a file renaming application such as ReNamer (Mac/Windows).

Tracking Changes with Version Control

Keep track of versions of files (manually version control). Use a sequential numbered system: v01, v02…

Use version control software such as Git which can track revisions to files and help you roll back to a previous version of a file.

Useful tools

Renamer for Mac
Go
Renamer for Windows
Go
Tracking Changes with Version Control with Git
Go

Questions?

For more information and assistance, contact Documentation Centre and Library.

Contact

Sources:

File Naming (University of Oregon): https://researchguides.uoregon.edu/data-management/filenaming

File Naming and Versioning (University of Wisconsin–Madison): https://researchdata.wisc.edu/file-naming-and-versioning/

File Naming Conventions (Harvard College): https://datamanagement.hms.harvard.edu/collect/file-naming-conventions

Organización de archivos y carpetas (Universidade da Coruña): https://infoguias.biblioteca.udc.es/gestion_datos/organizacion

Last updated: 19/10/2023