Folder & File Name Patterns

This page will explain how to use folder and file name patterns.

Dynamic Patterns Overview

When uploading large volumes of website screenshots to your cloud repository, it's important to have a clear and consistent naming convention. This is where dynamic folder and file name patterns can be incredibly useful.

A folder and file name pattern is simply a string that can contain multiple variables that are replaced with actual values when the screenshot is uploaded to your cloud storage account. Variables are indicated by single curly braces around them. For example, a {domain} {YYYY} pattern might render the value of the domain variable (e.g. example.com) and the current year (e.g. 2023) in the current context, resulting in a file name like example.com 2023.png.

Dynamic patterns can help you organize and manage your screenshots more effectively, making it easier to locate and retrieve specific screenshots when needed. They can also save you time and effort by automating the naming process and ensuring that each screenshot is named consistently and accurately.

If you're using a cloud storage service like Azure Blob Storage or an AWS bucket to store your website screenshots, dynamic patterns can be a powerful tool for streamlining your workflow and maximizing the benefits of cloud storage.

There are several variables available as described below.

Pattern Examples

The examples below are based on a pattern with a combination of variables.

The image type such as .png or .jpeg is automatically added to the file path.

Folder Pattern File Pattern Full Path Output
{domain} {id} example.com/23eb2408ed0e4770bc4d53a37ee26357.png
{YYYY-MM-DD} myscreenshot 2020-08-25/myscreenshot.png
{datetime} image {url} 2020-08-25 23-50-45/image https_www.example.com_product.png
{filename} - {search} products_phones - size_large_tab_overview.png

Date Examples

  Variable Output Case Sensitive
Year YY 20 21 ... 29 30 No
YYYY 2020 2021 ... 2029 2030 No
Month M 1 2 ... 11 12 Yes
MM 01 02 ... 11 12 Yes
MMM Jan Feb ... Nov Dec Yes
MMMM January February ... November December Yes
Day of Month D 1 2 ... 30 31 Yes
DD 01 02 ... 30 31 Yes
Day of Week d 0 1 ... 5 6 Yes
ddd Sun Mon ... Fri Sat Yes
dddd Sunday Monday ... Friday Saturday Yes
Hour H 0 1 ... 22 23 No
HH 00 01 ... 22 23 No
Minute m 0 1 ... 58 59 Yes
mm 00 01 ... 58 59 Yes
Second s 0 1 ... 58 59 Yes
ss 00 01 ... 58 59 Yes
Franctional Second S 0 1 ... 8 9 Yes
SSS 000 001 ... 998 999 Yes
Dates date 2020-08-25 (YYYY-MM-DD) No
datetime 2020-08-25 23-50-45 (YYYY-MM-DD HH-mm-ss) No
dateiso 2020-08-25T01-13-09-108Z (see toISOString) No
dateutc Sun 09 Aug 2020 01-13-09 GMT (see toUTCString) No
datelocal 8-9-2020 1-13-09 PM (see toLocaleString) No

All dates are in UTC format.

URL & Unique ID Examples

The variables are case insensitive (e.g. {domain} and {DOMAIN} will be accepted).

The examples below are based on the fictional URL https://www.example.com/products/phones.php?size=large&tab=overview

Variable Output
uuid 23eb2408-ed0e-4770-bc4d-53a37ee26357
id 23eb2408ed0e477...a37ee26357
url https_www.example.com_...overview
protocol https
hostname (or domain) www.example.com
pathname _products_phones_php
filepath products_phones
search size_large_tab_overview

Request Examples

Use the values in the request parameters (query string or body).

Boolean values that are true will be replaced with the name of the property as shown in the examples below.

Sample URL https://api.addscreenshots.com/screenshots?apikey=YOUR_API_KEY&width=1366&height=768&quality=80&fullpage=true&mobile=true&grayscale=false&url=youtube.com

Variable Output
width 1366
height 768
quality 80
fullpage fullpage (name of the boolean parameter when true)
mobile mobile
grayscale   (empty since it is set to false)

Folder & File Pattern Generator

Use the folder and file tester below to see a sample folder and filename output based on dynamic patterns.

Note that the request variables are limited to width, height, quality, fullpage, mobile and grayscale for this demo.

Add one URL per line.

Specify a folder name pattern

Specify a file name pattern