PDF and Image Filename Best Practices

When you are uploading pdf files or images to the CMS, please try and generically name them so that they don’t have dates. If your pdf or image filenames must have dates that is ok.  However, working in the CMS will be easier for you if you can generically name these files. In other words, if you know that you are going to be overwriting an image or a pdf periodically, you will save yourself some extra steps by using generic filenaming.

Here’s an example – let’s say you have a pdf named “BannerSecurityForm-2019.pdf” that needs to be updated/overwritten every year. When it's time to update the pdf, you would need to upload a new pdf called  “BannerSecurityForm-2020.pdf”, then find all the pages that pdf is linked and update the links. The file might also be linked somewhere in a menu across winthrop.edu.  Using “BannerSecurityForm.pdf” would be a much better filename to use than “BannerSecurityForm-2019.pdf” for these reasons. When a pdf link or an image on a page is already pointing to an existing pdf or image file and that file is overwritten and re-published with the same name, you don't have to update any pages (including menus). 

Unless you have to include dates in your filenames, avoid the trap of adding them to the system like the above example.

You will also cut down on file list clutter in your “uploadedFiles” and/or "uploadedImages" folders. This will prevent you from accumulating numerous old versions in your folder from year to year or semester to semester.