Insane that I have been involved in blog trains for years and never had a consistent naming convention. I finally organized my blog train files.
A good naming convention is the backbone of effective digital organization. Save times and reduce stress.
Getting Organized
Sun, 11/03/2024 - 06:01
#1
Getting Organized
I do something similar Robin. Altho I don't have a blog train specific folder, since so many times my bundles coordinate with the blog train, I just have a list of design projects for each year.
Mine are formatted as follows for example: (In a yearly folder i.e. 2024) 01-Jan-18-Name-of-Kit
Translated: 01 is so it will sort correctly via months, Jan being the month in short form, 18 being the day my kit is scheduled to release and then of course the name of kit.
I use dashes since I'm a Windows user and for some reason it just feels tidier lol.
I've been using this format for many years now and I agree it does make things so much easier.
I'm determined to get more organized. I create a kit for a challenge then forget to upload. How crazy is that?
I divided my kits by year then by Class Bundle kits and Mini Kits.
I use set of abbreviations for themes (e.g., "P31" for Proverbs 31, "BW" for "Bible Women"). I don't put by date except the main folders. But I can see where it can be useful.
Include the folders I have "Kit Name Assets," "Kit Name Elements," "Kit Name Papers," "Kit Name Layouts"
I'm revising kits I made for the commons or challenges by expanding, renaming, and putting into my store.
I organize all my design folders by month and year. The only real reason I can find anything is because I can search for it on here and then find the date in my archives.
what naming convention do you use Marisa?
For the DS blog trains, I do have a specific folder for them in my "DigitalScrapbook dot com" folder. Blog Trains > Year > Month. That way the entire blog train is all together.
For my own kits... I don't have any organization for them at all, not really. I have a sub-folder in the DS folder labeled "CC" for my stuff. The kits and other things I'm working on are in that folder within their own folders, then I have a "Posted" folder for kits I uploaded to either my freebie thread or the Commons. The kit preview PSPImages/PSDs (blog train, Commons, and my personal one) are in the CC folder, along with my TOU and for the Commons.
I don't have a blog, because then I would feel compelled and obligated to constantly post new designs separate from what I upload to the Commons and post in my freebie thread on here, and I don't want to "trap" myself into all that. That would be A LOT of work for me, someone who is not a professional and/or selling anything I create. So, I suppose I feel I don't really need a serious organizational set up, especially since I don't plan out kits months in advance. If I ever get to that professional point (I don't feel I'm currently anywhere near that point), I'm sure my thinking and practices would change and adapt to fit.
For my design folders it's just year-month, kit --> 2024-10, FN10 .
I usually only have two or three folders per month, and then I move everything to the glacier for long term storage when I'm done with it and that's sorted into folders by year. So it's actually pretty quick to find stuff.
And I date by publish date, not creation date, because then I can search on here, find the publication date and then easily find it in my archives.
Neat! I have a similar system to Robin’s for the Blogtrains. I just add the btName to the folder name is all. As for designs: by date and kit name, purpose, client. That way I easily get the stuff I made for the Color Xi design challenges for example. Or for the tennis club down the street. Haven’t bought any digi scrapkits in quite a bit of a while… and stopped organising those altogether once I found this site. Organising design tools is enough fun, ☺️🔬, for me at least, and something that I try to keep up.