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Guidelines for Naming Files and Folders

In order for your files to traverse platforms successfully, you must name them in accordance with established file naming conventions, and at a lowest common denominator "eight dot suffix". All computers including Macintosh use file extensions to determine what application to associate the file with.

Mac OS or Windows will not be able to use a file if it is named incorrectly, they must have an extension also know as suffix.

• Avoid character spaces in filenames. Although this is perfectly acceptable for local files on a Macintosh or Windows machine, character spaces are not recognized by other systems or web browsers.
  
• Avoid special characters such as * / \ | , ; : + = [ ] < > % #, etc. in filenames. It is best to limit filenames to letters, numbers, underscores (in place of character spaces), hyphens, and periods.
  
• Use proper suffixes. HTML documents require the suffix .html. GIF graphic files take the suffix .gif, and Pegs should be named .jpg or .jpeg. If your files do not have the correct suffix, the browser will not recognize them as web-based files.
  
• Filenames are case-sensitive in HTML. We strongly prefer using all lower case letters because people make fewer mistakes. Web authors (such as yourself) make fewer mistakes when creating links to your pages. Web readers make fewer mistakes when typing in the addresses to access your pages.
  
• Use short names that are indicative of the content of the page. You will be able to see the entire file name in most views and inside of dialog boxes. It will improve searching times, speeds displays of directory views, create smaller disk directories, and improve file recovery.

These file naming conventions should be applied to directories (aka "folders") as well.

This means that in your filenames, folder names, and anchor names there should be: No SPACES or TABS No COMMAS or APOSTROPHES No SLASHES or QUOTES No # & % + * = @ ~ ^ $ No < > ( ) [ ] { } : ; ? ! No Other Unusual Characters All lower case letters

Naming Your Files for the Web

Browsers and servers have their own set of rules when they try to read the files you create for the web. Follow the suggestions below and your pages will speed to your audience without a hitch.

Rule	Do it like this...	and not like this...
1. Never use spaces within, before or after the name of any file that is destined to go on a web server.	howtofish.html  abouttrawlers.html  sand_crab.gif	how to fish.html  abouttrawlers .html  sand crab.gif
2. Never use unusual characters within a file name. Avoid punctuation marks (other than period hyphen and underscore), accented vowels and other special characters.	gmunoz.html  oceanvolcano.gif	gmuñoz.html  ocean/volcano.gif
3. Keep your file names short but meaningful.	howtofish.html  sandcrab.gif	howtofishtutorialpart1.html  picture352.gif
4. All web page files must end in  .html or  .htm  All graphic files must end in .gif or  .jpg or  .jpeg	webquest1.html  jellyfish.jpg	webquest1  jellyfish
5. Some servers are case-sensitive. That is, the file hello.html is regarded as a different file than Hello.html. If you use upper case, you need to be consistent in all your links to that file.  The safest course is to keep everything in lower case.	theend.html	TheEnd.Html

HTML (hypertext or web) filenames should end in the suffix ".html" or ".htm". If you are using a Mac or Windows 95, NT, or 98, please use the suffix. Example:

myhomepage.html

If you are on a DOS or Windows 3.1 PC or think your pages might ever be served from a DOS or Windows 3.1 PC, use the suffix ".htm" for your file because these allow only three characters after the dot in a file name. (Windows 95, 98, and NT allow longer file names (256) and extensions. Window 95+ users should use shorter file names also. Them macintosh can only see 31 characters including the dot plus suffix)

The file name should be no more than 32 characters, including the ".html" or ".htm" file suffix. We recommend that file names follow the convention of eight characters before the suffix even if you are using a Macintosh.

If you are on a DOS or Windows 3.1 PC or think your pages might ever be served from a DOS or Window 3.1 PC, be sure to use a name that has eight or less characters before the dot and three or less characters after the dot. (Windows 95, 98, and NT allow longer file names and extensions.) Examples:

kennedy.html
napernhs.htm

File names and folder names should contain only letters, digits, and underscores--no spaces. This is a "conservative" guideline in order to be on the safe side if you move your files from one type of machine to another.

More notes on the topic including cross platform solutions.

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