Rules for naming files

These are the rules I use. They work.

1. Lowercase. Always.
2. Hyphens between words, never spaces, never underscores.
3. Date prefix if the file is temporal: 2025-07-18-meeting-notes.md
4. No date prefix if the file is reference: naming-conventions.md
5. No abbreviations unless the abbreviation is more recognizable than the full word. pdf is fine. mtg is not.
6. Version numbers go at the end: proposal-v2.pdf. Never FINAL. Never FINAL_v2. Never FINAL_FINAL_USE_THIS.
7. If you need FINAL in a filename, your process is broken. Fix the process.

Most naming problems come from not having rules. The specific rules matter less than having them written down where new people will find them.