# REQUEST: Add (user input) to the beginning of file name **URL:** \ **Category:** Help & Support\ **Created:** [November 12, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541 "2014-11-12T03:04:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheLandYacht](https://resource.dopus.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@TheLandYacht](https://resource.dopus.com/u/TheLandYacht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541/1 "2014-11-12T03:04:28Z")
Here's one that comes up a LOT for me, maybe others. It's easy to do by hand, but I'd like to automate it, as sometimes I'm renaming thousands of files at a time. Got filename like... file title.ext and I wanna add the author name (a couple dozen have the same author-name) to make it look like author name - file title.ext so I go (from the main RENAME window) OLD NAME: _._ NEW NAME: author name - _._ and hit enter. But because the RENAME field comes up with NEW NAME highlighted, the actions necessary to accomplish this are I have to go SHIFT-TAB (kinda awkward finger movement), replace old name with _._, TAB (easy), replace new name with "author name - _._" and hit enter. When you're doing this several thousand times, this repetitive action becomes bothersome. Is there a way to automate it so it just asks for "author name" and plugs it in, to get the results above? ---
**Author:** ![Crash](https://resource.dopus.com/user_avatar/resource.dopus.com/crash/32/23921_2.png) [@Crash](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Crash)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:11am UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541/2 "2014-11-12T07:11:43Z")
You could use [this script](https://resource.dopus.com/t/insert-text-into-the-file-names/9499/1) posted by JohnZeman and modified by Kundal. I personally use Kundal's three-way button. Left-button to start inserting from left. Right-button to start inserting from right. Once you have that script/button, all you would need to do is select the files you want to add text, click the button, and type in: ```auto 1,author name - ``` This would insert the "author name - " (the text you typed in) at the beginning of the file names. If you always want to insert at the beginning of a file name, you could also just use: `Rename PATTERN "*" TO "{dlgstring|Author Name?}*" @nodeselect` If you always want the " - " to be inserted so you don't have to type it, you could use: `Rename PATTERN "*" TO "{dlgstring|Author Name?} - *" @nodeselect` Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![MrC](https://resource.dopus.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@MrC](https://resource.dopus.com/u/MrC)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 6:05pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541/3 "2014-11-12T18:05:04Z")
With Dynamic Renamer, the input would be: ```auto -^/author name -/ ``` ---
**Author:** ![TheLandYacht](https://resource.dopus.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@TheLandYacht](https://resource.dopus.com/u/TheLandYacht)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541/4 "2014-11-12T19:16:33Z")
[quote="ktbcrash"]You could use [this script](https://resource.dopus.com/t/insert-text-into-the-file-names/9499/1) posted by JohnZeman and modified by Kundal. Hope this helps.[/quote] That looks exactly like what I'm after. Thank you! Quick question. The link you provided, is it to the original (JohnZeman) version, or the modified (Kundal) version of the script? ---
**Author:** ![Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/user_avatar/resource.dopus.com/leo/32/69732_2.png) [@Leo](https://resource.dopus.com/u/Leo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://resource.dopus.com/t/request-add-user-input-to-the-beginning-of-file-name/19541/5 "2014-11-12T19:31:37Z")
If you just want to do what was in the first post in this thread, making a button or hotkey which runs ktbcrash's last 2-line command is all you really need. Using a complex script is overkill if you just want to add text to the start of a name, with a prompt for the text. Ktbcrash's command does it all in just two lines. > [@](#): > > Quick question. The link you provided, is it to the original (JohnZeman) version, or the modified (Kundal) version of the script? The link is to a thread with both. You can see who posted what by looking on the right of each post.