Ask HN: How to Deal with "File Naming Problem"?
1 pointby erelong6 hours ago3 comments
  • eggbrain6 hours ago
    Normally, I separate the download filename (what the server / person chose to call the file) from my own organization system file name.

    So if I download or get sent "Book.pdf", I'll rename it to how I'll remember it -- "Book Title - Author.pdf", etc.

    That being said, I don't think there's any right answer here, it's usually just a matter of time and energy. If I had to enrich every single file I download with a great title / detailed metadata / etc that I'd need to find that file later, that's all I'd do all day.

    • apothegm6 hours ago
      I only bother with files I expect to want to look at again after the next 48 hrs. Which is maybe 5% of what I download. Those usually also get moved from the downloads folder and filed somewhere useful. Or for some stuff like family snapshots they get categorized in a folder and not renamed.
  • apothegm6 hours ago
    Does your operating system not allow you to rename downloaded files?
    • erelong5 hours ago
      I guess I mean more that there doesn't seem to be an agreed upon convention that people actively use so that I don't have to manually rename things

      (otherwise I wouldn't have to ask a question about this topic if files I download had some title you'd easily find in a search through files)

      and I was wondering if we should encourage people to utilize a certain filename convention or if existing lack of a convention has a purpose

      (programming languages for example sometimes have "style conventions" for how code should look; likewise I guess this is a kind of question about a convention about naming files - intuitively I'd think a PDF file of a book on "Geology 101" should be named "Geology101Book.pdf" for example, but frequently I do not encounter this)

  • davydm6 hours ago
    you could enable prompts on download - and set the filename yourself (or just rename after download). Ultimately, naming it yourself is the only way you're going to get names you're happy with.

    eg https://www.technobezz.com/how-to-set-firefox-to-always-ask-...