How do you organize your D&D computer files?

[rrealm]

I have a folders for each campaign (one which I run, two in which I play).]

The ones in which I play have folders like "character sheet", "character development & background", "e-mails with the DM", "character journal", "e-mails with other party members", and "Adventure Log from DM". Both games I play in share the same DM so its easy to organize the folders the same way.

For the campaign I run, there are gazillions of folders (I'm folder happy).
* Adventures (with sub-folders for notes on each individual adventure/module I have run)
* "The Company" (with subfolders for each individual player in the campaign)
* Religion (with subfolders for each major religion)
* Character Builder (with subfolders for classes, prestige classes, and cultural/regional modifications)
* Races (with subfolders for each race)
* Countries (separate subfolders for each country with notes)
* History (timelines, etc.)
* Maps (any computer-generated maps, unless they go with an adventure, in which case they're in the adventure folder)
* Player Handbouts (including pictures of monsters I have downloaded from the WotC site)
* World Introduction/Summary
* Website Images (things I make or download for my campaign's website)
* Magic (notes in the different types of magic in the world)

I think I have more folders but I can't think of them right now.

Then I have my PDF folders (organized by company/publisher and I separate from 3E stuff from my 1E, 2E, and Basic/Expert D&D purchases, and I also have a "campaign settings" folder of old campaign settings I downloaded from SVGames or RPGNow).

Then I have my "d20 Writing" folders - one for each book I've written or am currently writing which includes not only my notes or manuscripts in Word but also any stuff I've downloaded for research and also bookmarks/favorites for websites that are helpful.

For each of these, I also have a burned CD for back-up.

For paper files... for the campaign I run I have a three-ring binder with tabs organized relatively similar to my computer files but I tend not to update it because it's so huge I hardly ever take it off the shelf any more.

I have a notebook for both PCs I run and that has tabs similar to the folders on my computer.

I also have a file box in storage with file folders with tabs for all of the old campaign settings I worked on and old characters I played, going back to Jr. High.

What can I say... I'm a Virgo. They are, uh, well. "Meticulously organized" is a polite way of putting it, I guess.

I too am folder happy. I somehow feel organized when it required twenty double-clicks to get what I want. It just my catagories are too specific and yet too broad.


How about web page links that you got your content from? How do you know what type of content was at "The Official Black Tavern Website" and "The Official Blue Tavern Website"? (Creative arn't I? And yes, I am a DM. ) I was thinking about making a webpage (or more for organization) with the site name, URL, a brief description and some thumbnail screen shots so I could look and read the site "to jog my memory" before having to click and wade through the site. Some stuff, like good house rules for instance, I like to download the content to my hard drive (in case the server goes down or the content changes) but I still like a link so I can check back once in a while for new stuff.

If you have better suggestions for this idea, I'm open ears. Messing with custom webpages, merging the My Favorates folder, visiting the site, blah, blah could get overwhelming, tedious, and distracting (as I'm sure I'll find new content and have to download it and bookmark it too) in minutes. Any programs that do this already?

 

[Davek]

Randomly

 

[BOZ]

How do you organize your D&D computer files?

not very well, unfortunately.

"oh, there's that file i couldn't find two years ago when i needed it!"

 

[Terwox]

I just started using MS OneNote for a campaign... it's actually helped a lot, in a way it forces you to organize.
Character sheets, reference sheets, pdfs and like all just go in a folder in my desktop called "gaming schtuff" and if I want to find something, I just use a search function.
MS OneNote is worth checking out, although it's pay... but there's a 60 day free trial.
And I know some places will actually give it away, but I passed it up when I saw it. Oh well.

 

[rrealm]

I just started using MS OneNote for a campaign... it's actually helped a lot, in a way it forces you to organize.
Character sheets, reference sheets, pdfs and like all just go in a folder in my desktop called "gaming schtuff" and if I want to find something, I just use a search function.
MS OneNote is worth checking out, although it's pay... but there's a 60 day free trial.
And I know some places will actually give it away, but I passed it up when I saw it. Oh well.

Sweet. I have access to this program. I'll install it today. (Our company is on the Microsoft [Yuk!] Affiliate Program and they send us free MS software.)

 

[VirgilCaine]

not very well, unfortunately.

"oh, there's that file i couldn't find two years ago when i needed it!"

It's called the Search function of your operating system, BOZ. Learn it, know it, love it.

 

[RuminDange]

Hum let me see....Folder happy here as well
I've got base folders for the following:
Characters
Adventures
Monster Info
Player files to send out
Item Creation
PC files (where players keep thier journals, notes, etc.. but not character sheets).
Rules and Information
Spells
Various Tables and Charts I use
World Informtion
Informantion
EBooks
Pictures
Maps

Each of these base folders are broken down into another grouping...for example:
Characters is broken down into:
PC sheets for the main group
PC sheets for two other groups I'm running as side venture (taking break from main)
Class Tables and Prestige Classes
Template
NPC Sheets (which is then broken down into Allies, Allies Support, Cohort&Followers, Enemy Groups, Nuetral Groups, Towns and Cities, and In work. Each of these are broken down by continent, by region or kingdom, then by group or town.

Very orgranised. Problem is I either keep adding or changing layouts or moving stuff around.



RD

 

[Samothdm]

How about web page links that you got your content from? How do you know what type of content was at "The Official Black Tavern Website" and "The Official Blue Tavern Website"? (Creative arn't I? And yes, I am a DM. ) I was thinking about making a webpage (or more for organization) with the site name, URL, a brief description and some thumbnail screen shots so I could look and read the site "to jog my memory" before having to click and wade through the site. Some stuff, like good house rules for instance, I like to download the content to my hard drive (in case the server goes down or the content changes) but I still like a link so I can check back once in a while for new stuff.

If you have better suggestions for this idea, I'm open ears. Messing with custom webpages, merging the My Favorates folder, visiting the site, blah, blah could get overwhelming, tedious, and distracting (as I'm sure I'll find new content and have to download it and bookmark it too) in minutes. Any programs that do this already?

I do a few things:

1) I have very specific folders in my bookmarks area. So, when I was writing The Quintessential Aristocrat, I had a folder within "d20 Writing" called, cleverly enough, "Quintessential Aristocrat". Then, within that, I had folders for class ideas, feat ideas, background, prestige class ideas, equipment, etc. When I found something online that would be helpful, I would bookmark it into the appropriate folder.

If something seems like it covers more than one category, I bookmark it in both.

If, for my campaign stuff, I find a site that has great feats, PrCs, or core classes that I want to use, I go to the specific page of that site and bookmark that page in a specific folder.

2) I right-click on the links once they're in my bookmarks and rename them. So, when I bookmark ENWorld threads, instead of that really long name that says, "EN World - Morrus' D&D/d20 News & Review Site - How Do You Store Your Gaming Files", I right-click and change the name to "Storing Gaming Files". Sometimes I might leave the ENWorld notation if I want to remember that it's a message board thread and not a regular web page.

 

[Talath]

My RPG folder is full of crap ... 1.45 gigabytes worth of RPG documents. Not just D&D, but generally anything I find on the net worth downloading. I'm a packrat of sorts.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

It's in abt 3 folders on my "D" drive. One folder has subfolders for some of my characters and stuff I've found on the web/wotc board worth saving.

That's not including the folder for the stuff that I added to my etools database.