Guidelines for Naming HTML Files and Folders

These tips are intended to save you time as you create and edit your Web pages.

HTML file names should end in the suffix ".html" or ".htm". Whichever suffix you decide to use, please talk to your team members and use the same suffix on all your project html pages. Otherwise it is hard to remember which is which and your project will likely have more broken links in it. Example:

myhomepage.html

kennedy.html
shakespeare.htm

lightbulb.gif
book.jpg
bluebullet.gif
redline.jpg
stopsign.gif

This means that in your file names, folder names, and anchor names there should be:

No SPACES or TABS

No COMMAS or APOSTROPHES

No SLASHES or QUOTES

No Other Unusual Characters

Are these HTML file names OK? If not, why?

1. district123_home_page
2. my homepage.html
3. linc_home.html
4. 1_4_all.html
5. a:b.htm
6. Joe'sReview.html
7. earthquakes.HTML
8. socrates.html
9. buy/sell.html
10. "alpine"skiing.html
11. exercise#1.html
12. costs>10bucks.html
13. editor.htm
14. rnfrst.htm
15. image6.JPEG
16. why_problem_based?.html

Authors: Laura Mengel, Meg Bingham and Mary Clifford
Collaborators: LInC Leaders
Created: August 1, 1997 - Updated: July 17, 2006
URL: /lincon/tech_web_naming.shtml