Thread Tagging

[Taleria]

I was looking at the post tags, and they aren't used often, but it might be easier to find information if certain kinds of posts were categorized. As it is now, the tags are haphazard and somewhat vague. There could be categories like "Rules/Policies," "Quests," "Item Speculation," "PGs," "Special Events," etc. What do you people think, and if this idea does go forward, I need help refining it.

Not everything needs tagging - probably more the game-specific posts and ones pertaining to the forum/wiki. I know there's a search function, but it can be a pain to sift through threads to see if it has the info you want. And if people have questions about a certain quest, they could easily find what's already been asked.

*posts and waits with bated breath*

[wetheril]

I like the idea at first glance, as I've seen tags like the sort you mentioned implemented on other websites, though I'm not sure how easy it is to implement it in a forum, or to maintain for that matter. Only a forum admin (like Havoc) could tell you that.

[Young Ned]

It sounds like you're talking about some feature we already have but rarely use, but I'm not sure what that could be. You don't mean putting a title on a post that's different from the thread title, as I did with this post, do you?

Edit: No, I found a "tag search" option under Search that lets you search by tags, but still no indication of how to tag a post.

Wait a second, now that I'm editing this post, there's a little bitty "edit tags" link down at the bottom of the page that allows me to add tags to this... thread, not post.

Edit 2: Okay, the "edit tags" link is still down there even when I'm just viewing the thread, not editing a specific post. Got it.

Well, I suspect most people didn't even know until now that you could do this, so once we get past the education stage I think we could make some good use of this feature. I'll have to think a little about what we could use it for...

[Oldschool]

I'm a little familiar with it just because of the FAQ's. I thought it would be handy especially for "necrothreading" and research, but honestly I haven't taken the time to tinker with it.

Here's a link to the FAQ's on it,

http://www.srythforum.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_tags

[Oldschool]

Just thought I'd bump this back up as a reminder.

I myself often overlook the tag option which truthfully can be a great aid when searching for things.

Especially when you do a tag search compared to a word/phrase search. Often searching with words/phrases gives you extraneous posts/threads that are not at all related to your query. Not so with a tag search (provided the tags are related to the thread of course).

Of course it needs to be pointed out that the majority of threads currently have no tags which I'll remedy as time permits. And tag searches are very specific. For example if a thread is tagged "bugs" and you search "bug" anything tagged "bugs" won't show in the results.

The preceding post has a link to the forum FAQs on tags.

EDIT: Also I don't think every thread needs to be tagged just those that would help anyone/everyone searching for help or information.

[Scarbrow]

I'd like to contribute some technical limits


Regular users can add up to two tags for each thread.
You can remove any tags you've added. Once you remove a tag, you can add another one (let's suppose you add "test" and "foo", you won't be able to add more, but if you remove "test" you'll be able to add, say, "var")
Mods and admins are able to remove any tag, and add a substantially higher number of tags to any thread. If you're in need of adding several tags, please contact one of the staff.

[Oldschool]

A recent post about search limits got me thinking about the thread tagging function.

Although it's posted in the thread here is the link to the Forum FAQ's re: tags. http://www.srythforum.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_tags

The short of it.....

The tag search function is a nice way to search as it has a search assistant that recognizes words that are associated with thread as you type them. And it will get better as more threads are tagged.

And if members are interested in tagging theads refer to the previous post by Scarbrow.

The long (you didn't expect just the short did you ;)) of it.....

Basically threads can have words/phrases assigned to them. When you do a search you can also opt to do an advanced search or a TAG search which uses those assigned words phrases. When you click search under the display (threads or posts) option first there is the tag search option then the advanced.

Obviously the tag search is somewhat broad since it displays entire threads. As well as subjective since the tags are added by members. However by using the "search this thread" function within a tagged thread the search can be refined.

[Oldschool]

Another bump for newer members and a reminder for older ones about the tag search functions.

Slowly I'm adding tags as it was sometime before I realized their usefulness. Usually as new threads are created and as others are necro'd or occasionally when I notice guests viewing older threads.

Very handy when searching folks which'll only continue to get better.

The nice thing with the tag function is if you're searching tags (which is a separate search option) it opens up a "Tag Cloud" above the search bar which has many of the common terms listed/sized by the amount those terms are used. Also handy is when searching (or adding) tags there is a search assistant.

And while staff has broader powers re: tags regular members can and are encouraged to add them. In fact, kudos to those members that are and have been as I've noticed. :)

A reminder re: technical limits. Also in addition it is now three characters minimum which covers many of our acronyms, abbreviations or whatever you chose to term them ;) like WoD, HoR, etc.... And there is a top end, which is (iirc) 25 characters.

I'd like to contribute some technical limits


Regular users can add up to two tags for each thread.
You can remove any tags you've added. Once you remove a tag, you can add another one (let's suppose you add "test" and "foo", you won't be able to add more, but if you remove "test" you'll be able to add, say, "var")
Mods and admins are able to remove any tag, and add a substantially higher number of tags to any thread. If you're in need of adding several tags, please contact one of the staff.


And although they're easily found and pasted here multiple times here is the FAQ's re: tags,

http://www.srythforum.com/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_tags