Naming Documents

The official term for this is 'naming conventions'. Having a standard can really help to identify the correct document that you or others are looking for and can help present the documents in the right order. Also, by reducing redundancies (e.g. calling something 'minutes' - when it is in the minutes folder) space can be saved especially on shared Teamsites where the 'breadcrumb' (the full trail of the address) has to be below 250 characters. It can also help you identify out-of-date documents at a glance - see more about this on the data retention documentation. The point is that you have a standard and everyone has to stick to it. Consistency is key!

Suggestions for BCS naming conventions:

Keep file names short, but meaningful.
Avoid unnecessary repetition and redundancy in file names and file paths.
Leave spaces between words or use underscores but don't run them together.
When including a number in a file name always give it as a two-digit number, unless it is a year or another number with more than two digits. If you would like documents to appear in order, give them a name like '01 Document'...
If using a date in the file name always state the date ‘back to front’, and use four digit years, two digit months and two digit days: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM or YYYY or YYYY-YYYY. Example: 2018-01-09 for the 9th of January 2018.
When including a personal name in a file name give the family name first followed by the initials.
Avoid using common words such as ‘draft’ or ‘letter’ at the start of file names.
Order the elements in a file name in the most appropriate way to retrieve the record.
The file names of records relating to recurring events should include the date and a description of the event.
The file names of correspondence should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence.
The file name of an email attachment should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence, ‘attach’, and an indication of the number of attachments sent with the covering email.
The version number of a record should be indicated in its file name by the inclusion of ‘V’ followed by the version number and, where applicable, ‘Draft’ or ‘Final’.
Do not use special characters: * : \ / < | “ ? [ ] ; = + & £ $ ,

Examples:

2018-01-09 SSL huddle notes

2018-01-23 BCS guidance 0.3

2017-11-28 IRH out of hours form

Articles in this section

Keep file names short, but meaningful.

Avoid unnecessary repetition and redundancy in file names and file paths.

Leave spaces between words or use underscores but don't run them together.

When including a number in a file name always give it as a two-digit number, unless it is a year or another number with more than two digits. If you would like documents to appear in order, give them a name like '01 Document'...

If using a date in the file name always state the date ‘back to front’, and use four digit years, two digit months and two digit days: YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM or YYYY or YYYY-YYYY. Example: 2018-01-09 for the 9th of January 2018.

When including a personal name in a file name give the family name first followed by the initials.

Avoid using common words such as ‘draft’ or ‘letter’ at the start of file names.

Order the elements in a file name in the most appropriate way to retrieve the record.

The file names of records relating to recurring events should include the date and a description of the event.

The file names of correspondence should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence and whether it is incoming or outgoing correspondence.

The file name of an email attachment should include the name of the correspondent, an indication of the subject, the date of the correspondence, ‘attach’, and an indication of the number of attachments sent with the covering email.

The version number of a record should be indicated in its file name by the inclusion of ‘V’ followed by the version number and, where applicable, ‘Draft’ or ‘Final’.

Do not use special characters: * : \ / < | “ ? [ ] ; = + & £ $ ,

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