File Naming Conventions
In order to avoid errors when transmitting files, please try to follow the following conventions.
Multimedia files:
When you transfer files like images (.jpg, .gif, .png), sound ( .mp3, .avi, .rm, .wma, .mov), in other
words, files that we will be putting up on the website, using these naming techniques can help avoid
some hard to diagnose problems:
Good Ways to Name Your Files:
- Underscores: your_file_name.jpg
This is our preferred method, and is what we would recommend using.
- Dashes: your-file-name.jpg
- Upper/Lower Case: YourFileName.jpg
Methods to be Avoided:
- Spaces: It's always a good idea to not use spaces in your file names as a general rule.
For example, my_file_name.jpg is a better choice than my file name.jpg.
- Unusual Characters: Make sure that you don't use any unusual characters, like ò, ç, ñ and so on, those can cause trouble when you try transferring them between Windows, Macintosh, and Unix computers. Characters like $, %, @, *, &, !, ~, +, |, ^, and # should also not be used in your file names.
- Dots in the Name: Using dots to separate words in your filename, like my.file.name.jpg
Word Document Change Requests:
You can send these any way you want, as long as they don't have unusual characters in the file name.
Make the Names Descriptive
In general, it helps to have a descriptive file name. For example, if you have a staff member named Jerry, an
name like PIC_100_322.jpg does not tell us very much, whereas a name like jerry_bio.jpg identifies the picture well.
An exception to this is something like a large group of gallery images. In that case, it's easier to work with
them if you do not rename them.