When using a content manager of any sort, clients are able to upload PDFs and images at will. This is a great freedom that most small business owners are searching for. Clients want to be able to edit content, add photos, and create links to external sites or PDFs. Any good content manager will allow for this. In the years that I've been working with clients, I've noticed a common problem, however, with filenames. Therefore, we have a recommendation that all of our clients use a simple naming scheme within their uploads to maintain organiziation and to minimize problems with broken images and/or javascript errors due to poor filenames.
The method is called camelbacking. Example of camelback filenames are as follows: nelsonsMarketInterior.jpg, fruitTrees.jpg, appleOrchardsPortlandOr.jpg, and jennieNelson080208.jpg.
There are a few simple rules to follow:
- no spaces
- no punctuation ( . ! # () * ' " )
- minimal dashes and underscores
- first letter lowercase and subsequent first letters Capitalized
- keep it short but descriptive
Oftentimes, programs like Microsoft Word give a default filename that matches the first sentence or title of a document. Please keep a folder on your computer where you can rename these files just for the web using this camelbacking method. Once you get multiple images and files, you'll notice that using this along with a standard naming convention (using Sm for "small" and Bg for "background" for example), will help immensely with file organization.
