Uniquely Name Features

For SharePoint Features deployed into the 12 hive at the root of the feature directory it is necessary to remember that the name of your feature must be unique. The 12 hive feature (12\Templates\Features) directory is a global namespace and your feature directory should not trample another third party feature. I recently had to explain this to a developer who was provisioning “SearchWebPart” a feature with a very generic name.

My recommendation is to use the following naming convention for your feature directory: CompanyApplicaitonFeaturename. By doing this you will avoid colliding with other features deployed by other solutions running in the SharePoint farm.