Best practices for naming assets and files

A good naming structure can change your organization for the better. All it takes is a little planning when beginning to categorize your assets. If you already have a bunch of assets named by many parties, do not fear. Good naming conventions are accessible to all, and it's never too late to make a positive change. Here are some recommendations based on research done at Princeton and our own experience here at Showpad:

1. Choose a consistent map for naming your files. Categories are useful here. One of our Customer Support Managers recommends this one:
   "Photo - Dog - CockerSpaniel - 032020 - ENG"
   (type of doc - product name - brand - date - language) 
   
   The reason this helps your users is that they see right away the two most important pieces of data for the asset name, followed by other info that is also helpful, but doesn't need to be understood immediately.
   
   
2. Keep it simple: don't use symbols, especially periods and slashes. Lots of filing names won't even accept many naming conventions outside of numbers and letters, so try to keep it to those too. Your users may not see how much easier searching becomes, but they will feel the organization if it is well planned out. 
   
   
3. Track version numbers at the end of your file name for clarity. The more stakeholders working on content, the more important official versions may be. A quick V1, V2, V3 added to the end of your file names can help mark the trail of creation for your team.
   
   For more tips and information, check out Princeton University's Research Data Management article here: https://libguides.princeton.edu/c.php?g=102546&p=930626