So this site is about to enter the world of
folksonomies, in which everyone tags the content on the site to make it easier to find, track, and categorize.
Unlike categories which force people to fit their content into a small number of content groupings, tagging allows registered users to categorize not just their own diaries, but those of anyone else's on the site, with as many keywords as necessary.
This will come in handy as we work to implement a way to sort diaries by tags (eta this week), as well as do fun stuff like this. So please start using tags when posting diaries, and don't be shy about adding tags to other content you come across. The more each piece of content (each diary) is categorized, the more ways of finding it we'll have, the more organized we'll become.
This implementation will be a bit rough at first. Not only is this new code in Scoop, but it's new technology in the web in general. So things may not be perfect or totally smooth as we not just work out the kinks, but also work out the concept itself. If you have ideas, please share.
Here's the current list of dKos tags, which will grow massively moving forward.
Update: From the comments:
Wired.com had an article last week with a few tips on how to tag effectively.
To summarize:
- Use combinations of simple tags rather than inventing complex ones. For instance, use tags CIA, LEAK and INVESTIGATION, instead of CIA-LEAK-INVESTIGATION.
- Use at least two tags for each item. More tags is better (up to a point).
- Try to think of what tags people might use to search for something and use those. For example, PLAME, ROVE, FITZPATRICK, NOVAK, TREASON, OUTING, OPERATIVE might all be good tags for an entry on the Valerie Plame outing.
- Try to re-use existing tags.
- Keep it simple. Don't use tags that are redundant.