In Magento 1.x modules, there’s the potential to have files and folders dispersed all over the Magento file structure. Much of this will be resolved in Magento 2, but we don’t know when that will happen yet, and we will still be supporting and writing for 1.x for a while after 2 is released. Given that, I’d like to suggest some helpful file/folder naming conventions:
Module Name
Modules consist of a 2-part name: Namespace_Modulename. For the purpose of this article (and for all the modules I write for the community) I will be using a module named Prattski_Example, which I would put in app/code/community/Prattski/Example.
Module Blocks, Helpers, and Models
In your module’s config.xml file, you get to define the namespace used when calling blocks, helpers, and models. In many cases, people will only use the module name and exclude the module namespace. If you only use the module name, calling a model for this module would look like this: Mage::getModel(‘example/modelname’). I always suggest making it a convention to always use the namespace and module name. That way in the code, there’s no question as to what module is being used. In that case, calling the model would look like this: Mage::getModel(‘prattski_example/modelname’).
Layout XML Files
If your module introduces a new layout xml file, I always name it the full namespace and module name. As with the rest of these conventions, it makes determining which modules these files belong to really simple. If I needed a layout xml file for my module, I would name it like this: app/design/frontend/base/default/layout/prattski_example.xml
Template Folders
Just like with the above layout xml files, I always name my folders with the full namespace and module name. If I was adding some frontend template files, I would put them here: app/design/frontend/base/default/template/prattski_example/
Conclusion
The whole point here is making the code/files/folders in such a way that it keeps things more organized and clear. If you include the full module namespace and module name, it really doesn’t get much more clear what modules are responsible for your different files/folders.
If you are working on a project and creating a lot of modules for it, you’ll notice some nice benefits of all of this as well. All of your modules layout files and template folders will all be in the same place together, making finding what you are looking for much easier and more organized.