Having just re-organized my 9GB Runtime pile (again), I'd like to see a more consistent directory naming scheme (and yes, while not everyone is guilty, the majority are in one portion of this or another.) First off, for the love of Heaven, forget the ego-stroking in your directory packaging ...please. It isn't marketing, it merely means one more tedious step in keeping the pile of directories manageable. Let me lay out some examples here. If you have Vicky 1/2 clothing for sale, put the .cr2's in a universally locateable directory named, say: "...charactersVic1-2_Clothing", and not in some ego-pumped indecipherable name designed to 'grab attention' or 'get to the top of the list', like: "...characters~~|^_^|~~!!!1!aaaMy_Ultimate_Kick_Ass_Vikki_Bondage_Plate-Armor_d00dz!", Or even worse, stop doing something like: "...charactersUberMerchant's__Goodies", which gives me absolutely no freakin' clue as to the contents while scrolling through an already gawdaful-long list of stuff within Poser. If you're hawking a pair of Boots for Mike, wouldn't it make more sense to put the .cr2 files in "...charactersMike_Shoes" or some other universally agreed-upon naming convention? Hell, I'll be more than happy to donate my directory listings if that helps - it's organized into names like "Characters-Vicky" for all my generic Vicky people, "Characters-Anime" for Aiko and other Anime-like folks, and "Closet-PT" to denote that the contents are clothes for the PT Mil Girls. Weird outfits and costumes go into "Closet-V2-Costumes". Hell, you can even create something like "Closet-V2-intimate" for that bondage thingy I made-up earlier in the post, and chuck in lingerie, stockings, underwear, etc in the same place. All it would take is for folks to get together and start up a list of agreed-upon directories... the merchants who use it will get a boost from those of us sick of wranging monster runtime directories, and those that don't had better be real good at making stuff, but at least the buyer knows where he/she can chuck the relevant files to organize thing after downloading. (shrug) - I couldn't care less about the Geometries Directory (rarely see 'em in the first place) or the Textures Directory (I can use search for that then browse to the specific textures when setting up them up anyway.) There are very few merchants I'll buy from more than once anymore and willingly re-organize the Character or Pose files into something readable... I have to scroll like a mofo as it is through the directory list... please stop making it worse. Finally, how about doing something about the README files already? I don't want Yet Another Subdirectory With Some Guy's Name On It packed with a single tiny text file - do what the clueful merchants do and use ...runtimeReadme for that. From now on, I specifically hunt for and obliterate README files that aren't parked in that one spot, and if I buy something that may overwrite someone else's README because the two are named the same, I just let it happen. While you're at fixing the README's, just use the name of the item as the title of the readme - nothing sucks worse than having to find out whether or not I can use something commercially or privately on a lcoal job when I don't know which friggin' "readme.txt" out of thousands will actually contain the relevant information for the one item I want to know about. whew Gad, that sounded rather PMS-y, didn't it? At least I finally got it off my chest... and I suspect I'm not alone here. There will be problems in agreeing on a list of directories and actually getting merchants to stick with it, but a guy can dream, right? :) /me gets off of soapbox now... /P

Hey /P, Just do what I do ... I put it ALL in ONE folder named "Poser." cheers, dr geep ;=] Sorry, couldn't resist .... ... seriously ---> you have some VERY valid points. maybe something productive will come from your rant. I hope so. ;=] ;=]

Nope, you're not alone. Comes up about every 2 months. When y'all figure out what you want and decide on a standard, call me. I'm not going to try to read minds and figure out who to please and who to piss of in the meantime. You can move stuff.

Renderosity has strict guidelines you have to follow....I for one agree with you and I prefer to put the textures in the same folder as the MATS to avoid an extra folder in the Runtime/textures directory and also so if you want to find them you'll always know they are in the same place as the files...but Renderosity terms won't let me do this...it specifies that I have to make a folder with my name on it ( or something to that effect, I can't quote it right now) for the textures.....so don't put all the blame on the vendor...as a result I rarely unzip to the specified folders and just place the files where I want them...usually the textures with the pp2's or cr2's....

I'm afraid there never will be an agreed-upon standard for folder naming conventions. My very organized libraries don't use the same names as yours. BUT the elimination of ! would be a big step in the right direction. If you use PBOOST, it uses # for its special folders WHICH NEED TO BE THE FIRST ONE. The '!' on folder names screws that up bigtime. I always install to my Poser_Install directory first. (0) drag Geometries and Textures folders to my Poser/Runtime (1) run P3do Expolorer to convert rsr to png (2) run Windows search to hunt down rsr and delete 'em (3) run Correct Reference on runtime/libraries in Poser_Install (4) Use a renamer to rename .pz2 to .cm2 where needed (5) rename directores as needed (6) drag and drop files into existing folders in my Poser/Runtime/Libraries if they fit there (7) drag and drop the remaining folders This method has been developed over time and works great!

Heh I just started cleaning up my Poser files, and I feel like crying. SO much to do... Anyways here's how I'm doing my Pose folder- MAT V3 MAT V3 Daz MAT V3 As Shanim MAT LaRoo MAT Koshini etc Pose V3 Pose V3 Digiport Pose Mike Pose Koshini etc As for Characters, I'm starting the same deal V3 Dresses V3 Shoes V3 etc M2 clothes Koshini clothes Don't know yet if I'll keep the new system :)

I have a similar naming convention as Peng and caly, except I'm using the shortest prefixes possible: PV3-Standing (V3 standing poses) MC-V3 Modern (Mats for Modern Clothes, V3) Mil-Fig (mil folks) Helps keep everything together and most of the text is visible within poser's funky scrollable palette. It might require a bit of thought to translate, but nothing is worse than having to start your open all over again because you opened the wrong one (due to the fact that the text was scrolled off beyond visibility) I agree. I tend to let my folders grow for a month or two and then do a big cleanup...but it would be nice if it took less time! Also, some order to the geometries would be nice as well. Ever taken a gander at the mess that folder is in? eric

If you organize AS you install it's much easier than facing it later. Geometries doesn't matter.

Spit ---->>> (1) run P3do Expolorer to convert rsr to png (2) run Windows search to hunt down rsr and delete 'em P3do will delete these (put them into the trash bin) if you check mark that in the little window before converting.

I unzip all my `Rosity files into a folder and go about re-naming before I drop it into the main Runtime. I just can't remember what merchant did what product all the time, so I put them into more manageable locations. I take out all the exclamation points and other irritating characters, too. I feel your pain.

Partial agreement about the funky longnames, but I think vendors should be allowed to park under their NAME (vendor/company)names at least. IF I want to move it to a "logical" location I can do this re-organizing myself. I give over on that one option. All of the vendors are not universal. Let 'em at least use their names. I wholeheartily agree on the readmes and location in this regard. Please do name the README after the product name you put in the marketplace. Ie., "PRODCTname-VENDORname Readme.txt" or even "PRODUCTname Readme.txt"

Lol, at this point, I'm with FyreSpiryt. Everyone wants something different and unless this site sets up a new file structure they want you will not be able to please everyone. Put files in generic "Vicki textures" folders and you'll get complaints about that. Put your name on it and you still get complaints.

Unless someone's file structure is unusually odd, and without a specified structure dictated to merchants, you're just going to have to move stuff around.

I have been trying to insert my sale stuff into the existing areas. the Mat poses I did for my characters textures I put in the "!MAT V3" folder that came with the Daz stuff. I do use my name in the poses soemtims like "Ghost Tone 3" because there was already a "Tone 3" .. Past that I try to keep everything I can to a minimum. The textures will alway be in one folder called "GhostofMacbeth" .... I do really try :) I have the same problem and want to keep it as easy and neat as possible

I worked my way through college: 4 years expeience total with both Dewey Decimal and Library of Congress systems. I was a Reference Librarian. Part of my job was helping people find information... the other part was putting that information where it could be found readily. I don't have the same problems as some of you because: 1) I don't keep everything and its cousin in Runtime (just what is currently useful. A Runtime over 5 GIGs only serves as bragging fodder. My Mac has a nice Poser directory full of categoried folders full of categoried zips. 2) I hate MATs for the most part and prefer to load my textures as needed and wanted. Don't install a gillion MATs for lip and eye colors and you don't have to rename any of them to the camera and lights and faces folder, either. 3) I rename everything when I download it, and include the author's name. This keeps me from overwriting candle01.zip with yet another candle01.zip, and tells me that "candalabra5-wixNwax" is a different file than "candle4nightstand-Wicked1" as well as tells me who made the product since there are a lot of freestuff providers who don't put their names anything in their zips. 4) I don't just let any auto-installer set up 18 sub-million directories and stick things where it feels like it. I made the categories in my Characters Directory, and, by gum, any new file is going where I tell it to go. (I have held off on the purchase of Vicky 3 for this reason among others.) There are times when I want to keep things filed by artist, and times when I want them to be filed according to product. Armor had better be under "armor", no matter who made it or what character it is for. Traveler's Lights are separate from Anton's lights and from Snowsultan's... even if all setups are to simulate daylight, they are quite different in how they go about it and I will look for the one I want by the creator. That last point is the key... place things where you will look for them first, and name them so that you can find them. If you want to organize the underwear in your collection by model (Vicky, Maya, Koshini), by artist (PhilC, BillyT, Sharkey), by type (fetish, romantic, schoolgirl), just choose a method and stick with it. That way, a year from now if you want to find Fred's FetishPack for PTgirl, you will know where to look. Oh, and I don't expect any merchant to read my mind or follow my filing system. Even with my experience as a reference librarian, I won't tell others how to arrange their libraries. That is for THEM to decide. Oh, and I want the readmes WITH their files inside the zip. If the Readme goes anywhere else, I won't bother looking for it. And if it is a doc file, I certainly won't bother carrying it back to the PC for opening! That is what txt is for... reading on any type of machine with any word processor. Carolly

Ghostofmacbeth...drop the '!'. :) Carolly....I'll keep gigs in my runtime if I want. Thank-you-very-much. It's NOT for bragging rights. You may decide beforehand what a scene needs, I like to experiment. You never know when an Egyptian pot in the middle of a forest may create a story. Petunia---you're right. Thanks. But I don't think it will delete 'em unless it converts them. Sometimes there are both rsr and png in a folder and those will be missed.

Spit .. I hate it too but that is the way it comes in and so that is the way I leave it. Believe me I hate the thing there. Don't like any symbols in the names an liek to keep it simple.

Sorry, I misunderstood :(

There is another side, too. Isn't there always, lol! You are a beta tester. You get asked, do you happen to have that particular item... Usually a small one. You, of course, rearranged all folders to something that makes sense to you... in the process, of course again, absolutely forgetting WHO made the %$" piece you now look for... Remember, it can't be a similar one3, your employer wants you to have THAT one you put somewhere else. The readme of the merchant won't help you, either, because those names are off now. So, you dig up your old data base, if you were smart enough to keep one and keep it updated... Before you ask, yes, I keep my own system, and yes, I hunt endlessly for that one piece before I accept beta jobs, lol. Aother solution is to do your main folders and keep merchants as sub-folders. And if you do that WHILE you install or unzip, it's really just a second longer than to use those annoying defaults. Sigh. Long speech, as always. g I guess I am just saying it doesn't take you al THAT much time to unzip into a temp folder first, so I really don't understand where your rant is coming from. Off my soapbox.

Spit ... It is okay :)

Ok, I'm gonna start a new thread...

LOL I've just spent several hours renaming folders, getting rid of +, ! etc from the front of file names, making sure all the folder names have Upper case first letters and basically doing what Penquinisto has done. I've renamed the pose folders to something that's immediately recognisable..so instead of 'Harry's first poses' I've got 'Sword fighting 1' or whatever. I know that organising as you go along is best but...:)

You'll never get a consensus on file locations. If R'osity implemented one, some would complain, a few would threaten to leave and there'd be another useless flap that would solve nothing. I agree that there's no excuse for the generic "readme.txt" dumped in the Poser directory to be overwritten by the next one. Put the product name in the readme file's name and put the folder with the main part of the package.

hmm..I have to agree with some; I have the largest collection of unused Poser stuff going (11,465 and growing..well, probably more like 8,000, since there's some Bryce stuff..never mind..;) I have everything databased, so I can look up on what burned CD I put something, and load it from there. I like the idea of standard directories, which would make batch loading easier (but ain't gonna happen..;) I'd be happy if the readme's just included the artists' name or web site, so they get the credit they deserve..

Let's face it, folks. There won't EVER be a standard that everyone will stick to. But..... there are a few things merchants can do. I have a forthcoming product being beta-tested now. Before packaging it, I made a point of asking several questions in this forum. The folders are all called 'room creator' (the name of the product). Geometries, chars, MATs, cameras and lights all have the product name, with 'MATs' or 'Lights' after it, where necessary. I couln't do anything else, since it's not a vicki or mike product. The number of folders has also been kept to the absolute minimum. There are no ! # * ) or $s in the folder names. The MATs are all in Poses (I had them in Cameras, and moved them back to Poses due to popular demand) MAT paths are textureMap ":runtime:textures:room creator:texturename.jpg" The Help file (33 pages long) is in it's own folder, can be placed ANYWHERE you like, and read from ANY location. In addition, it's one long page with indexed hotlinks, so you don't have to open 20 different pages to find what your looking for. All figures are grouped and numbered in the Libraries, and have color-coded thumbnails. The numbering system extends to the obj files and templates too. All texture names have the prefix 'mac', like 'macwood01.jpg'. This is to avoid confusion with the 'wood01.jpg' you already have (I bet). I don't claim that this will be perfect for everyone, but I've tried to at least make everything logical. Other things, like the DAZ auto-installer, are out of my control, but there are ways round that too. mac Sorry if this sounds like an infomercial, but I am trying to make a point. If in doubt about packaging, ask in the Poser forum. That's what it's there for.

PS And the full Help file will be available for download so you can read all about it without having to buy the product first. mac

I just totally ignore all stored paths and make my own. It's tedious, but at least things make sense to me. Hogsoft's Correctreference is a must-have for this though.