Decide on a file naming convention to use whenever you create a document. Useful file names:
It is helpful if your department agrees on the following elements of a file name:
Vocabulary – Choose a standard vocabulary for file names so that everyone uses a common language.
Punctuation – Decide on conventions for if and when to use punctuation symbols, capitals, hyphens and spaces.
Dates – Agree on a logical use of dates so that they display chronologically (e.g., YYYYMMDD, the ISO standard date format).
Order – Confirm which element of a file name should go first, so that related files are listed together and sort correctly.
Numbers – Specify the number of digits that will be used in numbering so that files are listed numerically (for example, 01 or 001).
Few documents are drafted by one person in one sitting. More often, there will be several people working in a collaborative environment over an extended period of time. Without proper controls, this can quickly lead to confusion as to which version of a file is the most recent. Some suggested methods of establishing version control include:
Use a "revision” numbering system. Any major changes to a file can be indicated by whole numbers. For example, v01 would be the first version, v02 the second version, and so on. Minor changes can be indicated by increasing the decimal figure for example, v01_01 indicates a minor change has been made to the first version, and v03_01 a minor change has been made to the third version.
When draft documents are sent out for revision, they should return carrying additional information to identify the person who has made the changes. For instance, a file with the name policy_v01_20240716_SJ indicates that a colleague (SJ) has made changes to the first version on July 16, 2024. The lead author would then add those changes to version v01 and rename the file following the revision numbering system, resulting in policy_v02_20240717 (the second version of the policy document, updated on July 17, 2024).
Include a “version control table” with each important document, noting changes and their dates alongside the appropriate version number of the document. If helpful, you can include the file names themselves along with (or instead of) the version number.
Agree who will finish final drafts and mark them as “final.” Final versions can be saved as PDFs so that they are "fixed" and are not changeable. Records Management best practices suggest that only final versions of documents be uploaded to and maintained on a shared drive or work environment; drafts and working papers leading to the final version usually can be deleted once they are no longer useful.