In our Content Management System (CMS), we house a vast repository of image files. It's imperative to follow proper naming conventions to ensure that you and your colleagues can easily locate and reuse these files.
Understanding the two naming conventions
When managing your files, it's important to distinguish between two key naming conventions:
1. Filename
The filename is what an image Thoughtful naming practices will help you to find and manage your media items.
There are two naming considerations:
File name - what your image or document is saved as on your computer
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2. Media Item Name
The media item name is the name you assign to an image when uploading it to the CMS media library. An example is 'Shrine profiles John Lui.'
Filename guidelines
When naming your filename, adhere to these guidelines:
Descriptive: Make your filename descriptive. It should clearly convey the content of the image.
No spaces: Avoid including spaces in the filename. Instead, use hyphens to separate words, enhancing readability and compatibility with various systems.
Avoid generic names: Steer clear of generic names like 'IMG_001.jpg.' Create unique and informative filenames.
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(e.g. premier-headshot12345.jpg or annual-report-2024-final-version.docx). Users will see this name when they download a PDF, Word doc or Zip file onto their device. Ideally the file name gives a clear indication of the content and version or date.
Media item name - what you assign to the CMS ‘item’. Media items contain a file as well as other information, such as the alt text, copyright and what site and department the file belongs to.
Media item name guidelines
When naming adding an image item in the CMS's Media Library, follow these guidelinesmedia library:
Use spaces: Unlike filenamesfile names, use spaces between words in the media item name. This enhances readability.
Be meaningful and descriptivedetailed but concise: Ensure that the name is meaningful and descriptive enough to facilitate for easy searching when requiredyou need to locate items. Your items will be tagged to site sections and departments, and thus you can use these filters on the Media screen, but additional owner or project information can be helpful.
Include important specifics:
If
an image features a specific person, include their name and relevance position in the media item name
For example:
Hon Linda Dessau, Governor of Victoria
Alana Johnson, member of the Ministerial Council on Women's Equality
Example
In the example above, the image's filename is "girl-laughing.jpg," so the name you should give it in the Media Library is "Girl laughing."
Please note that the content you enter in the "Name" field will only appear if it's part of an Image gallery component.
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(e.g. 'Associate Professor Jun Yang - Women's Honour Roll 2024').
If your images belong together in a series, such as council members or honor roll inductees,
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give consistent names to all items in the series.
Note on media item naming for images
The only place a media item name is visible to the public is when an image is used in an image gallery.
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