You may receive an error message when uploading a file to Brightspace, for example because you have used certain characters or because the file name is too long. With the tips below you can avoid such error messages and give your file a clear name.
The file name consists of two parts, the name you gave your file and the extension, linked by a period. Examples of names with extensions are Textfile.doc, Presentation.ppt, Sheet.xlsx, and Image.jpg. The extension tells the computer how to read a file, so make sure you don't change it! Adjusting the extension may cause problems when reading the file. You can be creative with the name of your file, but there are a number of guidelines you can take into account, which you can find below.
Technical guidelines
- Use letters and numbers in combination with hyphens or underscores in the file name. For example S123456_Essay
- Do not use spaces. The use of spaces can be interpreted differently during uploading and downloading and therefore generate an error message.
- Do not use punctuation or special characters other than hyphens and underscores. Symbols such as !, &, @, #, etc. often have special meanings within applications.
- Don't make the file name too long! You can give a descriptive name in a maximum of 12-18 characters.
If you do not adhere to these guidelines, the following message will appear:
Other tips
- Make your file name easy to read by using capital letters at the beginning of words and hyphens, as spaces are best avoided.
- Using the initials of your name allows the teacher to quickly see that this is your file and it is shorter than your full name.
- If you want to use a date in your file name, YYYY-MM-DD is the most commonly used format.
- Don't use "final version" or something similar in your file name; After all, you never know!