Templates¶

Templates allow you to save and reuse your renaming configurations. This is especially useful for maintaining consistent naming conventions across projects.

Understanding Templates¶

A template saves all your current settings, including:

• Prefix and suffix
• Find/replace patterns
• Regex option
• Numbering style and leading zeros count
• Case conversion option
• Date stamping settings
• Special character and whitespace options

Saving a Template¶

Steps¶

1. Configure all your desired renaming options in the Main tab
2. Switch to the Templates tab
3. Click Save Current Settings
4. Enter a descriptive name for your template
5. Click OK

Loading a Template¶

Steps¶

1. Go to the Templates tab
2. Select a template from the Saved Templates list
3. Click Load Selected Template
4. Switch back to the Main tab to see the applied settings

Deleting a Template¶

Steps¶

1. Go to the Templates tab
2. Select the template you want to remove
3. Click Delete Template
4. Confirm the deletion

Quick Templates¶

The plugin includes three pre-configured quick templates for common use cases:

Date Prefix¶

Adds the current date as a prefix to layer names.

Settings Applied:

• Date stamp: Enabled
• Date format: YYYYMMDD

Example Result:

Layer_Name  →  20240115_Layer_Name

Clean Names¶

Cleans up messy layer names by removing special characters and extra whitespace.

Settings Applied:

• Remove special characters: Enabled
• Clean extra whitespace: Enabled
• Numbering: None

Example Result:

My   Layer <copy>  →  My Layer copy

Project Standard¶

Applies a professional numbering scheme with clean whitespace.

Settings Applied:

• Numbering: Leading zeros (01, 02...)
• Clean extra whitespace: Enabled

Example Result:

Layer A  →  01_Layer A
Layer B  →  02_Layer B

Template Storage¶

Templates are stored in a JSON file located in the plugin directory:

presets.json

Template File Format¶

{
  "My Template": {
    "prefix": "Project_",
    "suffix": "",
    "find_pattern": "",
    "replace_pattern": "",
    "use_regex": false,
    "numbering_style": "leading_zero",
    "leading_zeros_count": 0,
    "uppercase": false,
    "lowercase": false,
    "title_case": false,
    "capitalized": false,
    "date_stamp": false,
    "date_format": "YYYYMMDD",
    "remove_special_chars": true,
    "clean_whitespace": true
  }
}

Template Workflows¶

Workflow 1: Standardizing Imported Data¶

Scenario: You frequently import data with inconsistent naming.

1. Create a template with:
   • Remove special characters: Enabled
   • Clean whitespace: Enabled
   • Case: Title Case
2. Save as Clean_Imports
3. Use whenever importing new data

Workflow 2: Project Archiving¶

Scenario: You need to archive project layers with dates.

1. Create a template with:
   • Date stamp: Enabled (YYYY-MM-DD format)
   • Prefix: Archive_
   • Leading zeros numbering
2. Save as Archive_Project
3. Use when archiving completed projects

Workflow 3: Team Standards¶

Scenario: Your team has specific naming conventions.

1. Create templates matching your team's standards
2. Share the presets.json file with team members
3. Everyone uses the same naming conventions

Best Practices¶

Do¶

• Use descriptive template names
• Create templates for recurring tasks
• Test templates on a few layers before bulk application
• Back up your presets.json file

Don't¶

• Create too many similar templates
• Use generic names like "Template 1"
• Forget to update templates when conventions change

Troubleshooting¶

Template not saving¶

• Check if you have write permissions to the plugin directory
• Try running QGIS as administrator (Windows)

Template not loading correctly¶

• The template file may be corrupted
• Delete the problematic template and recreate it

Templates missing after update¶

• Plugin updates may reset the presets file
• Always back up your presets.json before updating