Filter Naming Conventions?

Here are some off the top of my head:

1. A filter name is not a file name, so it doesn't have to use any file naming conventions, such as NoSpaces, hyphens-instead-of-spaces, underscores_instead_of_spaces etc. It must be a normal, human-readable string.

2. It doesn't have to be unique. Our system is perfectly capable of handling identically-named filters -- we distinguish them by their author.

3. Don't include the author name in the filter name. It's already displayed near the filter name both on the website and within the program, so appending it to the filter name just adds unnecessary clutter. Some authors do it, but we don't think it's a good practice.

4. Title Case is a preferred way of capitalization (as opposed to ALL UPPERCASE and all lowercase). "My Cool Filter" is a good name, while "my cool filter" and "MY COOL FILTER" are not.

5. Tags are discouraged -- because most users won't know what they mean anyway.

6. Please, please, I beg of you, use spellcheckers before submitting! It just hurts my non-native-English-speaker eyes when I read some of the submitted names.

Nobody expects the Spanish inquisition!

here's a couple other suggestions on title names:

1. put your 'rls' at the end, not the beginning. works better for searches.

2. put the main theme of the filter first. remember, version one doesnt have a search feature within the program.

3. a good convention is to think of how you would categorize the physical universe. by that, i mean something like 'rock(or stone)- granite - small v1'. 'rock' is more generic than 'granite', so it comes first. a person looking for rock filters is most likely going to look in the 'stone' category first. you want him/her to be able to find your filter easily. cutely named filters get lost in the massive library very easily, e.g. 'my cute pet rock' as opposed to 'rock - granite - small v1'. in other words, go from very broad and general down to more and more specific and that includes colors and other identifiers.

4. name the filter what the filter is about. that's really already covered above, but it bears repeating.

5. do not fall into the trap of putting non-alpha numeric characters at the beginning of the filter name to get it bumped up to the top of the category by ascii ordering. nobody searches for their filters by going to the top of the list (well, usually not, anyways). we tend to look for what the filter is about. "i want a filter about rocks. i'll look in the stone category under 'rock'".

6. this isnt actually about the filter name, but is close enough to be put here: use lots of keywords in your filter and keep them appropriate. FF1 doesnt have a search feature in the program, but you can search for filters in the library from the website and keywords put in by the author help greatly with finding a given filter. so, for our granite filter, keywords like granite, rock, stone, inorganic, solid, quarry, pebble, gravel, greystone, building, material, mountain, crag and so on would all pretty much be ok (in my book, anyways).

basically, you want your filter to be found, so think like a user. folks that use textures and effects like produced in FF can range from 3d artists, game makers, game map makers, photo artists, web page designers, scrapbookers, craftsfolk, artists of other types (like composite artists), and so on. so, ask yourself how they're going to come looking for a filter. what makes it easier for them to find your filter? and that's really the bottom line.