Software Development:
Individual Programming

Symptom

Modern operating systems support file and folder names that are very long, contain umlauts, special characters, spaces and punctuation marks, but many programs have difficulties in processing such files. For example some web browsers cannot display files that have a space in their file name. Some programs cannot process files with a question mark or asterisk (*) in their names because these are also used as wildcards for different character sequences. Very long file may not work with compact disc file systems and could therefore cause trouble in backups.

Solution

If you follow these recommendations, your website files and folders will work perfectly with any major operating system and any major software:

• The file name must not be longer than 63 characters.
• It may only contain letters, digits, periods, dashes and underlines. No spaces.
• Use small letters only.
• Umlauts are taboo. No ä, ö, ü, no ß, no other diacritics meaning no accents, too. Limit the characters to a to z.
• The file name must start with a letter.

If several versions of the same file shall be saved, add a date, but write it backwards: year month day. This will sort the files chronologically.

Examples for problematic file names that will not work everywhere:

Overview of laster summer camp (Camp Crocket), auberge l'etrège.html
Notes 31/01.PHP
Letter to Monica, Sybil and Alexander.html

Examples for good, trouble-free file names:

index.php
john-doe_20150131.html
rivers_in_great_britain.html

Overview of frequently asked questions