Recommended SharePoint Naming Conventions

There are few things to take note of to ensure a smooth transition from your existing structure to new SharePoint Sites. One of key elements to follow is a good naming convention.

General Issue we face file or folder name are too long, URLs have a limit of 256 characters. Folder and File names build the URL, so long names can cause problems.  Characters you cannot use in folder and filenames Invalid characters in folder and file.

Primary Issue you need to look out for -

Specified file or folder name is too long.

1. URLs have a limit of 256 characters in Windows operating System and a limit of 400 characters in SharePoint Online. Folder and File names build the URL, so long names can result cause  problems.
2. Example: here's an example URL that exceeds the 256-character limit in SharePoint:

Root 

└── sites

    └── Marketing Team

         └── Shared Documents

               └── Long Folder Name That Exceeds 256 Characters

└── Limit in SharePoint URLs - Here Is an Example

└── URL That Exceeds

└──   the 256 Character Limit in SharePoint URLs

└── and Demonstrates

└──   How It Can Be Exceeded

└──   Easily for Testing Purposes

└──   or Real-life Scenarios Where

└──   Long Paths Are Needed

└──   for Organizing

└──   Content

└── or Files

This URL is constructed to illustrate a scenario where the folder structure and file name contribute to a URL length that exceeds the 256-character limit in SharePoint.

https://example.sharepoint.com/sites/MarketingTeam/Shared%20Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2Fsites%2FMarketingTeam%2FShared%20Documents%2FLong%20Folder%20Name%20That%20Exceeds%20256%20Characters%20Limit%20in%20SharePoint%20URLs%20-%20Here%20Is%20An%20Example%20URL%20That%20Exceeds%20the%20256%20Character%20Limit%20in%20SharePoint%20URLs%20and%20Demonstrates%20How%20It%20Can%20Be%20Exceeded%20Easily%20for%20Testing%20Purposes%20or%20Real-life%20Scenarios%20Where%20Long%20Paths%20Are%20Needed%20for%20Organizing%20Content%20or%20Files&FolderCTID=0x0120007E8621E0262E894BBDE5B3F685FB4C39&View=%7B8A3E9E4D%2D5BDC%2D4B5D%2DAB1B%2D9DA83D7859F7%7D

Best practices:

Bad Example: Using Predictive Data and Standardised Testing in Tracking and Monitoring.pdf

Suggested Practice: Presentation_Data_Track_monitor.pdf

Folder path:  MHI-Share >   Documents >  Share >  Charity >   Age uk recipes.docx

SharePoint URL: https://mhsf.sharepoint.com/sites/MHI-Share/Shared%20Documents/Share/Charity/age%20uk%20recipes.docx

• Rule Number – 3 – TRY to build no more than 7 levels of Folders is recommended. 

• Rule Number – 4 – For sorting by filename, use consistent naming conventions
  One way to name is ‘YYYYMMDD_Folder_Name’, e.g., 20240207_PM_Galayda – this would save more characters for deeper folder/file names in future.

• Rule Number – 5 (optional) – Don’t change the Name, Change the Title – Title is different than Name of the file/folder. . You can enter longer descriptions in the ‘Title’ field (which do not build the URLs) which you can see in SharePoint Online version when you view ‘Details’ of the file. By filling it out, you are providing additional text and keywords that are searchable by SharePoint search. This will eliminate %20 in the URL and still support a friendly end user experience. 

• Rule Number – 6 – Document Versions in Filenames 
   some people like to insist on placing version numbers in a document name. If you are going to do so, we have some recommendations for you. 1) be consistent, 2) never change the basename of the file, 3) place the version number at the end of the filename, but before the period, and 4) use dashes to separate major version number from minor version number. 

            Example: “basefilename_v0-1.txt” or “base_file_name_v1-0.txt”

• Rule Number – 7 – Document Names – Use Underscores (_)

Do not use illegal web characters ‘.'()’, ‘/’, ‘&’, etc. Note- One of the downsides of the underscore recommendation is that it is difficult to distinguish the underscore from a space in a hyperlink, but this is usually only a problem if someone is trying to copy down your URL by hand. 

Give your documents a “user friendly” name, use the Title column to create an additional name for your documents. In the Title column, spaces are fine. It’s a good idea to alwayshave a non-blank Title because the Title is displayed by default in search results.

How to Sync SharePoint Site to OneDrive:

Step 1: Open SharePoint Site in any browser and click on ‘Documents’.

Step 2: Then click the Sync button on the upper side taskbar. Then the data will be synced to your PC automatically.

Step 3: Next, you will be prompted to launch OneDrive, so you should Open it.

Step 4: After that, you can turn to File Explorer on your computer to see if the data is displayed under OneDrive.

Step 5: Keep computer on for all the data to sync down to local OneDrive. While your data is still syncing you will see OneDrive icon in System Tray like this, 

And when all data is successfully synced, you will see OneDrive icon in System Tray like this,

How to Copy or initiate Data Transfer:

There are two methods you can transfer data from one site to another.

Method 1: Move or copy a synced file in File Explorer

2. Select Ctrl+C (to copy) or Ctrl+X (to cut, so that you can move the file).

3. In File Explorer, navigate to the new SharePoint Site folder where you want to place the file.

4. Select the folder and then press Ctrl+V.

The change is made both in your device's file system and in your synced OneDrive or SharePoint library.

Be sure to keep your system on till you see OneDrive icon is like this ,

Which means all files uploaded successfully to SharePoint Online. 

Method 2: SharePoint Online data transfer 

This will start copy process and you will see new files in local OneDrive too when all files are transfer and local OneDrive is synced. 

OneDrive sync problem icons:

For basic understanding, following icons will tell you type of issues you are having with your OneDrive and SharePoint.