Filename standards

This page offers guidelines for naming files (e.g. PDFs, Word documents, Excel documents, etc.) that will be made available for download by end-users. Filenames for code can be found in the appropriate code standards.

Naming convention

Files must be named in a consistent way according to the guidelines below. This will ensure they are web safe.

• Use only lowercase letters (a to z), numerals (0 to 9), and hyphens (-).
• Do not use special characters (e.g. á, ê, ï, õ, ù) or other punctuation marks, including underscores (_).
• Do not use spaces. Instead, use hyphens in place of spaces to delimit words.
• Do not include dates or version numbers in filenames.

Filenames must be short, meaningful and descriptive.

Correct

• guidance-notes-for-direct-applicants.pdf
• visiting-day-programme.pdf
• william-and-mary.docx
• ug-prospectus.pdf

Incorrect

• Guidance notes for direct applicants.pdf
• VDprog.pdf
• william-&-mary-version-2.1.docx
• ug-prospectus-2016-2017.pdf

The Digital Communications team may change (or request changes to) filenames if they do not meet digital best practice.