Forum tags - confusion (janet_rose)

There was a discussion about this in this thread. From that thread:

rwbeagles

As to what's appropriate? No there isn't/will not be a list, members here who want to use tags can use them...and as long as the tags they use are RELEVANT to the post/thread...and RELEVANT to the forum...they will be fine.

In the Technical section and the How are we Doing section, there are some threads on tags in there. Just FYI.
 

rwbeagles

As to what's appropriate? No there isn't/will not be a list, members here who want to use tags can use them...and as long as the tags they use are RELEVANT to the post/thread...and RELEVANT to the forum...they will be fine.

I totally agree with Rwbeagles, but it is clear (to me anyway) that many people either have not read this or they don't understand it.

I am trying to give people examples of how to reduce the load on the admins and mods when it comes to tag management.  If I am wrong about what the admins and mods are finding that they need to fix, then I would like them to say so.

The admins and mods want to maintain a set of tags that forum members find are useful.  I believe that there are so many breed names that they would eventually clutter the tags.  Perhaps a poll is warranted.

FourIsCompany

In the Technical section and the How are we Doing section, there are some threads on tags in there.

True, but I find that practical examples are much more effective in explaining things to folks than the type of discussions that are in those threads.  It simply isn't fair to the admins and mods to deliberately create tags that they have to spend time cleaning up.  That includes tags that only differ by a couple of letters and have to be consolidated.

Do the tags even work for you? When I click on most of the tags in the "popular tags" section, no posts come up!

exactly why I think it's important the function WORK...for everyone...before we worry about the tags themselves.

Ixas_girl

Do the tags even work for you? When I click on most of the tags in the "popular tags" section, no posts come up!

I have only used tags by clicking on a tag is a post.  I get some posts, but definitely not all of them.  I have been having a lot of trouble with searches, too.

I'd say geting these other issues addressed is priority over tags and how they're worded, right at the mo'....that's just me tho. I'll note the Admins to read this thread. We'll pow wow and see what comes up...

I had expected this thread to be moved out of Chat eventually, but I really do not appreciate it being moved so soon.  Most people don't read the Technical sections and I was hoping to do some educating about tags and to get some input about having dog breeds in tags.

None of that will happen now.  There is no reason that we have to wait until tags work properly to discuss what we want in the tags.

Janet...

I am sorry you're upset about the move. It was agreed that items dealing with forum use and issues be in either tech or here. That was a decision made by all mods/Admins to help IT, mods, and members know where to find/post/read concerns on said topics.

If you would like I will set up a poll in the POLLS area about dog breeds being in tags. What exactly...do you want the members to vote on..if you PM me the wording I will put it up.

Wow, I thought this had already been discussed earlier in another thread.  

Tags aren't being overused or abused as far as I can tell.  But wow, if it really gets on your nerves that there are several breeds listed in the "Tags" section, then don't click on them. 

Xerxes

Wow, I thought this had already been discussed earlier in another thread.  

Tags aren't being overused or abused as far as I can tell.  But wow, if it really gets on your nerves that there are several breeds listed in the "Tags" section, then don't click on them. 

I haven't used tags at all.......

rwbeagles

If you would like I will set up a poll in the POLLS area about dog breeds being in tags. What exactly...do you want the members to vote on..if you PM me the wording I will put it up.

How about this:

"Once more people learn about the forum tags feature, the tags listing will probably grow quickly. One way to cut down on the number of tags and to keep the listing more useful would be to not put breed names and/or forum names in tags.  One can easily use the search function (when it is fully implemented) to find these items, so they don't really need to be in tags.

Would you like to see breed names excluded from tags?
Would you like to see forum names excluded from tags?"

Xerxes

But wow, if it really gets on your nerves that there are several breeds listed in the "Tags" section, then don't click on them.

ROFL. The only thing I was annoyed about was that my post was moved so soon. I had hoped it would stay put until after the weekend. That would have gotten responses from the weekday folks and the weekend folks.

The few breed names currently in the tags don't clutter things up. Two or three hundred breeds would. Once searches are fully working, members can easily search on "Chihuahuas". No tag is needed. The same logic applies to forum names.

Tags really should be used for things of substance - like a "vaccines" tag in a discussion on which vaccines to give and no "vaccines" tag when someone says "My dog got his annual vaccines today".

ottoluv

I think it would be hard to control the behavior of thousands of people.

Forum members can be educated on tag protocols just as easily as they are educated on other forum rules. Admins and/or mods will always have to regularly edit the tags. Otherwise, we will even wind up with lots of repetition like "Vaccines vaccines vaccine vacine".

You and I have discussed this privately but I'll toss my 2 cents in for what they are worth. 

Breeds belong in tags until search is working, Why? Many , many breeds have very specific problems and fanciers.  If I tagged Dermoid Sinus as health, tons of folks would be confused. Ridgebackers understand this very important issue.  If I tagged counter surfing, again , many breeds , say Toys would be utterly disinterested, while folks with dogs able to reach a counter top and steal might find information in that post helpful or humorous.  i would have no issue with using the normal abbrieviations... RR, Chi, Rott   etc.

If some one tags a post as funny or cute a lot of us would flock to it.  By the same token , if thier post is a particularly painful good bye, my therapist would prefer I skip it   

I find the site to be both facsinating and labor intensive.  Asking for cheat sheets or clarification often brings the ire of thoes who are truly cyber savey . I can't understand why, If I understood the instuctions I would not be having problems with them.  I am the type of person who's vcr blinks after every power outage until one of my girls or the DH comes home.  And the universal remote to the TV  forget about it !  I had a 12 year old explain my very expensive very high tech camera to me in about 5 minutes after days of pouring over the instuction booklet. And My 8 year old grandson taught me how to text quickly on my cell phone!  If it is a piece of medical equipment  I will struggle till I know it inside and out but the rest of the faqs etc are so much chatter in my head I simply can't manage them all.  I still can't enable the spell check in this forum. And while I am often told to look for the help button I rarely can find it.

The time I have to scan the email is limited most days, so I admit to reading mostly the lists that are to the right of the forum page. If I have a little more time I may skim the photos or blog a bit.  I have elected to not use tags since our discussion.  If this becomes terribly difficult and not user friendly I'll play elsewhere life is too short for that kind of frustration.

I know few admit to having trouble in the cyber world but I'll admit I am a cyber trogladyte  just dragging my knuckles through the internet...

Bonita of Bwana

I hope that at some point, everything will function as it was meant to....including my receiving notifications.  At some future point, tags may become an issue, but for now, there have been very few edits that have needed to be made.

The last time micromanagement came into play on this forum, there was a revolution that flat out wasn't pretty and a good sized exocus.