File Management and Website Organization

Wednesday, May 18, 2005 from 08:30 AM to 10:20 AM (Kent Library Little Theatre)

PowerPoint Presentation (PPT or HTML)

·         Goals

o        Organizational

§         Locate documents quickly

§         Keep related files together

§         Copy or move files and groups of files more easily

o        Functional

§         Prevent problems (files with long names may not be backed up properly).

§         Comply with web server requirements (“index.htm” file, “protected” folder, etc.)

·         How to Get There – General Tips

o        Naming Files

§         Choose names that are meaningful to you and easily recognizable by others.

§         The root folder must have a file named “index.htm” or “index.asp”.

§         File and folder names should not contain special characters, such as &, %, #, @, etc.

§         Include dates in time-related document names (“syllabus_fall_2005.htm”).

§         Use numbers for dates, in format yyyy-mm-dd (“test1_2005-05-17.htm”).

§         Name files and folders using all-lowercase text with no spaces or special characters.

o        Placing Files

§         Inverted tree structure.

§         Create a container (folder) for related files.  Subdivide further if needed (nesting).

§         Group files logically.

§         Keep all image files in FrontPage’s built-in “images” folder.  It helps to prevent duplicates and several versions of a same graphic.

o        Maintaining Files

§         Perform regular back ups

§         Keep only essential files on your website.  Move non-essential files to office or home computer, or CD/DVD media.

§         Keep class files inside the “protected” folder.  These files can then be accessed only with a password.

§         Keep web-enabled versions of files online, and original files offline

·         Convert original files to PDF or HTML.  Do not assume students have Microsoft Office to open DOC and XLS files.  Keep original documents offline when possible.

·         If the files are graphics, convert them to GIF or JPEG at lower (screen) resolutions before adding them to a document.  Some formats (TIFF, BMP, etc) are not suitable for the Web.

§         Use FrontPage’s reports to detect broken links after you move/reorganize files.

§         If you must distribute original files, make sure they are as compressed as they can be (Microsoft Office, for example, can compress images to keep file sizes small).

·         Windows Tips

o        Renaming multiple files in Windows XP.

o        Details View – see file details.

o        Rename frequently used files to include an underscore as the first character—the file will display on top.

o        Keep files separate from programs—use the “My Documents” folder for that purpose, but periodically move old files to another location, keeping only current files in this ready-to-access folder.