File naming best practises
This is a topic which still crops up regularly so here's my take on it. As a very brief summary:
If you're interested in the logic behind the above, here's a bit more detail:
Versioning
If you store your files in a solution like SharePoint (or, if you must, OneDrive) then version control is built in - you should therefore use it to get the benefits.
Your goal should be one version of the truth. This means that, in general, there should only ever be one instance of a document and you let SharePoint track changes made by different people. Copying documents leads to duplication and mistakes as people may refer to, or update, the wrong copy; and there will invariably be time wasted with some poor soul having to collate updates from different places.
So, do NOT:
Keeping a single source of the truth (i.e. one instance of any file) will mean that:
To help with this, a SharePoint document library (or Teams Files tab, which is the same thing!) can be configured in just a few clicks to include simple Publishing functionality between minor (draft) and major (final) versions of a document.
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Naming conventions
So what should we call our files? The filename should simply:
To underscore or not to underscore? - that is the question!
When we regularly had to work with the full URL (web address) of documents stored in SharePoint, replacing spaces in filenames with underscores was useful so we didn't see "%20" all over the place. However, given that we rarely see the document URL with the modern tools (SharePoint Online, Edge, and Office 365), it's best to keep things simple and just add a space between words.
What about dates?
Dates should generally only be added to a filename if the document relates to something on a specific date, such as meeting minutes or an event. When adding a date, it should be added in 'reverse chronological order'. Using a format of 'yyyy mm dd' will always show your files in chronological order. If you use 'd mm yyyy' it wouldn't (see the image at the top of the article!).
Co-authoring
By using a single file, we can also have multiple people work on a document at the same time - and others will see what you're typing almost as you type it! This is so much quicker and easier than different people working on different copies and someone having to collate all the changes into a 'master' document at the end.
Folders
It's important not to forget your folders when thinking about naming conventions. And here you have to consider structure and access as well. When kicking-off a new project, service, department, or anything else which is going to generate documentation, agree the following with key stakeholders before you start:
In summary, this is not rocket science, but setting some standards and helping your whole team to adhere to them will make for a much easier life for everyone!
A great article and I totally agree. Particularly like your reminder about why we didn't use spaces in the early years of SP and why it's ok to do so now. A good, pragmatic approach to something that is notoriously difficult to embed!
Clinical Trial Specialist, USA
1 年Most recently agreed upon, Manasa Survi!
Always eager to learn
1 年Oz Oscroft greay article and I agree with much you stated. But to me as an expert this is clear; however, this implies you force users to use the browser to look at their files properties. In my experience that only works for published or referenced files. If a user repeatedly is working with the same (set) of files they switch to onedrive on the client and only see properties as Windows explorer shows them. How do you handle that scenario I was wondering?
NSE4 | NSE5 | Tripple NSE7 Certified. Networking | Hypervisor | Storage consultant.
1 年Keep that EU Y/M/D to yourselves! Us Americans will continue with M/D/Y ????. Jokes aside, stop using spaces.
Cloud Analyst - M365 Adoption Lead
1 年Every good file name includes the word FINAL at least 3 times ;)