Tags: how they work and how you can help

[Second Summer]

Recently I installed a new add-on which allows thread starters to tag their threads with relevant keywords. The idea is that if someone comes across a certain thread while searching for information, they can easily find related threads by clicking on the tags associated with that thread. Also (I suspect), search engine bots love tags, so it might help VV's fortunes with Google and friends.

You can have multiple tags per thread, currently max. 10.

You can also go back to threads you have created in the past and add or remove tags. Which takes us to the "how you can help" part. It would be helpful if everyone took a few minutes out of their busy schedule, dug up all the threads you have started, and then go and add tags to them. One, two or three tags per thread is usually enough.

Super-mods can edit all tags everywhere, forum moderators can edit all tags in their own forum, and regular members can edit their own threads.

Can we agree that all tag nouns should be singular? That way we avoid problems with related threads not linking to each other. (E.g. if one thread is tagged with "parsnips" and another with "parsnip", they won't show up in the same tag search.) Also, all tags should be in all lowercase letters.

 

[ledboots]

...How do we do that? Add the tags, I mean.

 

[Envy]

Why didn't you tag this thread then?

 

[Spang]

I tagged some threads, I think to standard.

 

[Second Summer]

...How do we do that? Add the tags, I mean.

There are two ways to add tags to old threads: Either just go to the thread and scroll down to the bottom of the page. There you will see this:

Click on "Edit Tags" and then enter your tags.

Why didn't you tag this thread then?

Well, I didn't think this thread was so important ... The most important threads (IMO) are those that have to do with veg*ism.

I tagged some threads, I think to standard.

Thanks very much, sir!

 

[Calliegirl]

Do you use a space or comma between tags?

 

[Envy]

Well, I didn't think this thread was so important ... The most important threads (IMO) are those that have to do with veg*ism.

It's instructional, ya know!

 

[Spang]

Do you use a space or comma between tags?

Comma.

 

[Envy]

Or press enter after each one.

 

[beancounter]

Well, I didn't think this thread was so important ... The most important threads (IMO) are those that have to do with veg*ism.

So, we shouldn't bother tagging non-veg*n related threads?

 

[Envy]

Also, what about tags with two words, like "vegan food"? On flickr, you can use tags like this, if you put a semicolon after each tag entry, like so: veganism; vegan food; tofu; seitan; meat subs; ...etc.

"veganism, vegan food, tofu, meat subs" and so on.

 

[Second Summer]

So, we shouldn't bother tagging non-veg*n related threads?

It doesn't hurt to tag them, in fact I think you should in most cases but the most important ones I think are the veg*n-related ones.

I have a question about this. On flickr, when I tag my photos, I use singular and plural, so that searches on either term will yield my photo. I've tested this, and I have found that only using a singular tag noun won't show my photo to people searching with the plural tag noun, for example, if I tag a photo with the term "wildflower", searching on "wildflower" will show my photo, but searching on "wildflowers" won't, not til after I add "wildflowers" to my tag list.

Well, there are a couple of differences between VV and a site like Flickr. First of all we can better control and moderate the tags people use here, so we can better enforce a certain policy. Secondly, when you search the tags here, it will bring up suggestions as you type, so people are likely to see the singular version and use that. But in most search instances, I suspect users will use the search box on the top of the pages which doesn't use the tags anyway. Also, in most tag search cases the users will not actually type in anything when searching, they will just click on the tag link in a thread. And finally, using just the singular is more tidy.

I'm typing this in Tapatalk while on a bumpy bus ride after a very short night's sleep, so I hope the above is comprehensible .. !

 

[Second Summer]

I forgot to mention the tag cloud. There's a list of tags (i.e. a "tag cloud") at the bottom right of the forum front page. Tags that have been used many times are supposed to be bigger than the others...

 

[KLS52]

I think I'm really bad at this tagging stuff. Not very creative. I went and tagged a few of my threads for practice. Then realized I forgot to pay attention and I'm not sure I stuck to the singular vs plural rule. I'll check and fix when I'm on my desktop again.

 

[Alice-Bee]

I tagged a few I started about vegan products...hope i did it right!

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I'm not seeing the tag cloud.

So far, I've tagged the rabbit thread. I'll tag more later.

 

[beancounter]

I posted some receipes a few months back, and I'm wondering what I should tag them with. Should it be something very general like "vegan entree", or more specific, such as the name of the entree?

 

[Second Summer]

I'm not seeing the tag cloud.

So far, I've tagged the rabbit thread. I'll tag more later.

Ah, it's only available in the Xenforo-derived styles yet, not the dark ones ... thanks for bringing that to my attention!

I posted some receipes a few months back, and I'm wondering what I should tag them with. Should it be something very general like "vegan entree", or more specific, such as the name of the entree?

I think more specific is probably better.

 

[RabbitLuvr]

I posted some receipes a few months back, and I'm wondering what I should tag them with. Should it be something very general like "vegan entree", or more specific, such as the name of the entree?

Maybe tag with the major ingredients?

 

[RabbitLuvr]

Ah, it's only available in the Xenforo-derived styles yet, not the dark ones ... thanks for bringing that to my attention!

OK, I can see it if I switch to Xenforo Leafy Greens, but not VeggieViews style.