Whether you are new to the blogosphere or a veteran, organizing your computer files is an essential part of the blogging process. Naming conventions for your folders and files are particularly important if you want to be able to find your documents quickly, easily, and with little to no effort. Today I'm going to share some examples of good computer file organization.  By the end of this post you will have the tools necessary to put your very own filing system in place.  

ORGANIZING YOUR COMPUTER BLOG FILES

 

Below is a preview of the hierarchical system I'm going to use for describing the various folders you'll need to create. Let's pretend we have a deck of cards, Ace being highest.

 

HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM

 

PRIMARY FOLDER (named after your website) = ACE

PRIMARY SUBFOLDERS (Subfolders within the Primary Folder) = KING

SECONDARY SUBFOLDERS (2nd set of subfolders within the Primary Subfolders) = QUEEN

TERTIARY SUBFOLDERS (3rd set of subfolders within the Secondary Subfolders) = JACK

 

Your primary folder (or the ACE), named after your website (e.g. Cropped Stories), should contain subfolders (KINGS) for all relevant blog content.  Blog content can be saved using various file extensions such as the ones I list below:

 

.doc: a Word document that can be modified

.pdf: an Adobe document that can not be edited/changed without additional software

.jpg, .jpeg, .png, .gif, tiff, etc.: Image files that can be modified (for more information on the differences between these files, feel free to check out: GIF, JPG and PNG – What’s the Difference?

.ai, .psd: an Adobe document (Illustrator or Photoshop) that can be modified

.html: a Page Source that opens a website (almost like creating a shortcut)

 

NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLES FOR YOUR FILES

Now that we've covered folders and file extensions, let's discuss NAMING CONVENTIONS.  First, what is a naming convention?  Glad you asked!  A naming convention is a convention for naming things. The intent is to allow useful information to be deduced from the names based on regularities.  Thank you Wikipedia!  Now that we know what it means, let's pretend we need a naming convention for blog posts.  An example of a good naming convention for these files might be:

CATEGORY/TAGS_POST TITLE_DATE

e.g. BLOGGING TIPS_ORGANIZING YOUR COMPUTER BLOG FILES_061813

Of course this naming convention can be customized to fit your personal preference. Since I always seem to remember the category of a post before anything else, I use the category/tag as the first part of my naming convention.  If you remember the post title before anything else, than I would recommend using the post title as the first part of your naming convention like the example below. 

ORGANIZNG YOUR COMPUTER BLOG FILES_BLOG TIPS_062013

Want more information on Naming Conventions?  A great post to check out is: Folder and File Naming Convention - 10 Rules for Best Practice.

 

EXAMPLES OF GOOD COMPUTER FILE ORGANIZATION

Your Website Name (ACE)

Examples of Primary Subfolders (KINGS) are in Red Font / Secondary Subfolders (QUEENS) are in Blue Font / Tertiary Subfolders (JACKS) are in Green Font:

 

Posts (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR POST FILES: CATEGORY/TAGS_POST TITLE_DATE (e.g. BLOG TIPS_ORGANIZING YOUR COMPUTER BLOG FILES_061813)

• Blog Tips & Tutorials (QUEEN)
• Product Recommendations (QUEEN)
• Social Media (QUEEN)
• Photography Tips & Tutorials (QUEEN)
• Recipes (QUEEN)
• Crafts and DIY (QUEEN)
• Family Updates (QUEEN)

 

Features (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR FEATURE FILES: DATE_POST TITLE_CATEGORY/TAGS (e.g. 060513_9 THINGS YOUR BLOG SITE SHOULD CONTAIN_BLOG TIPS)

• Featured On: for websites you've been featured on (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)
• Have Featured: for websites you feature on your own site (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)

 

Mentions (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR MENTION FILES: DATE_POST TITLE_CATEGORY/TAGS (e.g. 060513_9 THINGS YOUR BLOG SITE SHOULD CONTAIN_BLOG TIPS)

• Mentioned On (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)
• Have Mentioned (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)
    

Guest Bloggers (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR GUEST BLOGGER FILES: DATE_POST TITLE_CATEGORY/TAGS (e.g. 060513_9 THINGS YOUR BLOG SITE SHOULD CONTAIN_BLOG TIPS)

• Guest Bloggers: for your own Blog site (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)
• Guest Blogging: for websites you'll be guest blogging for (QUEEN)
  • Website Name (JACK)
    
    

Blog Hops (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR BLOG HOP FILES: DAY OF THE WEEK_NAME OF BLOG SITE_BLOG HOP TITLE_SOCIAL MEDIA CATEGORY (e.g. THURSDAY_CREATIVE GEEKERY_THE PIN IT PARTY_PINTEREST)

• Monday (QUEEN)
• Tuesday (QUEEN)
• Wednesday (QUEEN)
• Thursday (QUEEN)
• Friday (QUEEN)
• Saturday (QUEEN)
• Sunday (QUEEN)
  
  

Website Design (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR WEBSITE DESIGN FILES: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF IMAGE OR ILLUSTRATION_SOURCE_AMOUNT OF PIXELS WIDE (e.g. SOLID PINK BACKGROUND_PHOTOBUCKET_500PX or BLOG HEADER1_FLICKR_900PX or BLOG BUTTON1_FLICKR_200PX)

• Blog Header (QUEEN)
• Backgrounds (QUEEN)
  • Patterned (JACK)
  • Textured (JACK)
  • Solid (JACK)
• Buttons (QUEEN)
  • My Blog (JACK)
  • Blog Hops (JACK)
  • Photo Challenges (JACK)
  • Link Ups (JACK)
• Pages (QUEEN)
  • About Me (JACK)
  • Tips & Tutorials (JACK)
  • Recipes (JACK)
• Categories (QUEEN)
  • Must Read (JACK)
  • Consumer Info. (JACK)
  • Product Recommendations (JACK)
• Profile (QUEEN)
• Social Media Icons (QUEEN)
• HTML and CSS (QUEEN)
  
  

Blog Tools and/or Resources (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR BLOG TOOL FILES: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TOOL/RESOURCE_DATE (e.g. PRODUCT REVIEW OPPORTUNITY_061813 or WELCOME BAR WIDGET_061813)

• Networks (QUEEN)
  • Better Blogger Network (JACK)
  • Bloggy Moms (JACK)
  • Blogher (JACK)
• Databases (QUEEN)
  • Technorati (JACK)
  • Paper Blog (JACK)
• Widgets (QUEEN)
  • Related Posts (JACK)
  • Popular Posts (JACK)
  • Subscriptions (JACK)
  • Archives (JACK)
    
    

Analytics (KING)

A NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE FOR ANALYTIC FILES: BLOG STATISTIC_DATE OR DURATION OF SPECIFIC STATISTIC (e.g. VISITORS PER WEEK_061213 THRU 061813 or MOST REPINNED IMAGES_053013 THRU 061813 or PAGEVIEWS PER WEEK_061213 THRU 061813)

• Google (QUEEN)
• AddThis (QUEEN)
• SemRush (QUEEN)
• Bing (QUEEN)
• Pinterest (QUEEN)
  
  

So what do you think?  I know it’s a lot of information to process but hopefully you find it helpful!

 

If you missed my previous post, My Summer Bucket List & 10 Outdoor Activities for Kids, feel free to check it out!  Oh and drop me a comment if you feel like letting me in on the items on your bucket list; I’d love to hear!

 

On a final note, if you missed my last post I published on The Blog Hangout, Communities on Google+ (are your reading the guidelines)?, I hope you’ll check it out. 

 

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