File Naming / Organization / Turning in Projects | Interactive Media

For all of your work in this class you are required to turn in your files in a well organized and concise manner.

Files should be named like so: lastname_keyword_etc.extension (whitmore_final.jpg)

Failure to follow these rules will result in a serious delay in grading and may not be graded until they are turned in appropriately. I will not sort through and spend time to figure out who has or hasn’t followed these rules.

Some additional pointers on file naming.

Never use SPACES, EVER! (my file name.jpg > should be > my_file_name.jpg)
Do not use special characters such as !@#$%^&*.
Version your working files (i.e., image_harvesting_v1.psd, image_harvesting_v2.psd, and so on…)
Turn in the CORRECT, final version (image_harvesting_final.psd) when you are turning in design files.

Page Naming

When creating file names for your HTML documents your “home page” should ALWAYS be “index.html” This is the first thing that browsers look for. Essentially “www.apple.com” is the same as “www.apple.com/index.html”.

Capitalization

Capitalization is extremely important. The operating system on your computer is very flexible and nice about this, however, once you are loading files onto a server for hosting your web site the rules are far more strict.

If your HTML document is named “about.html” then your links and other references to this document must be match. (You cannot use “About.html” or “ABOUT.html“)

Best Practices (or) I don’t care if it “works”…don’t do it…

Go ahead and try it: mismatch filenames, use special characters and so on… it will only lead to trouble.

These guidelines are not just about technical issues they are also about developing good habits and understanding the concept of best practices. Be professional. Period.

Separate Your Content

Keep the files for your web site separate from your design files and your source material.

Your Site Files should NEVER contain Photoshop files, source material or any other documents that are not part of your web site.

File Organization / Turning in Projects

All projects in this class should be organized in clear and concise manner. You should follow the examples I present below or something very similar to avoid mishaps, lose of points or late projects due to last minute technical issues.

Every project for this course must be organized and turned in using the following steps:

1) Organize your materials and site files into folders for that specific project.

2) Select those folders and ‘Compress’ them into a ZIP file.

3) You will get an likely get a file named ‘Archice.zip’

4) Rename this zip file using your LAST NAME and the PROJECT NAME while following ALL of my filing naming rules listed at the start of this page.

All of these guidelines must be followed. Projects may not be graded if you cannot follow these guidelines.