Tags feature for DG?

Thanks, Equl. I already switched it from 2 words to 1.

Susan, Look at the top of this page just under the banner and under the date. You should see a yellow 'folder' icon. There is one at the top of every thread (I think), every individual post, and photo. Find something, whether thread, post, or pic, you want to tag. Then click on the folder icon at the top of the associated page. You will be prompted to fill in a tag or comma separated list of tags for the item. That's it.

I've gotten into the site. I believe I now understand the concept. Tagging doesn't replace search features. Tagging = Social bookmarking which is another very different type of tool to use at a website. In other words tagging is an enhancement.

http://www.spokenword.ac.uk/spokenwordmatters/2007/01/15/tagging-is-interoperability-possible/

I like the Wild West approach, mostly because that fits the way I do things.

"þvörusleikir - " this is showing on the cloud but when clicked on it shows page not found. Whaz up wid dat?

Well, fooey.. it should be showing! It's one of Rannveig's Christmas trolls.. I just finished tagging them.

Hmm.. ok, any of the trolls' names that had non-English letters in it won't work in the tag cloud. So Gryla and stekkjastaur worked, but þvörusleikir and some of his other friends didn't.

Yeah, it looks like you may have to just retype them, and not copy those foreign lettering. I would copy and past the word and then type it out right next to that word and then delete the foreign one. I wouldn't be able to remember how to spell them otherwise!


This message was edited Jan 13, 2008 12:04 AM

I'm guessing then that the tag program Dave implemented does not recognize non english languages. Now I need to go find those trolls!

Except I have no idea how to spell þvörusleikir in English. LOL :-)

Maybe just lump them under one tag 'trolls', that way you just need to open that one word and see them all in a list.

That's a good idea. :-)

yeah, I id several Rose ones, with their months of blooms but now I think I may just have to redo them as Rose blooms otherwise my tag cloud will get crowded fast.

Not quite sure I understand this whole thing!!

If I go into the the little folder and click on one of the blue highlighted lines, it is supposed to open up threads pertaining to that word? If that is right none of the links worked for me.

How do I add my own thread I want to keep?

Thanks Terry.

I meant to say "How do I tag a thread I'm interested in" Now I think I understand a bit better!!! LOL

Now do I understand you can only tag the page or can you tag individual threads that will open up with particular info you like?

You can Tag Forum, Thread or Individual Post (probably most used I'd think) or even your Homepage.

BTW I logged out and I couldn't find a way to find any Tags or do Search.
I was going to ask about Privacy but it appears that's not an issue.

Don't forget Tags are Your personal things.
They are a way for You to find Your Favorites.
Use whatever description You feel works best for You.
Forget about the Tag Cloud it will take care of itself.
Ric

About quotation marks: We do need a standard for quotation marks. Dave already makes any group of words set aside by commas into a phrase on its own, so quotation marks are not necessary.

daylilies, daylily seeds, hybridization

Earlier in this thread, someone said the phrases in quotation marks showed up at the beginning of the tag cloud instead of where they normally would alphabetically. Given that, I think quotes should be left off. Dave may have already implemented something which strips the quotes off entries; I haven't checked the site-wide tag cloud to check.

Not to say that the Cloud isn't important.
It's a way to draw attention to items of interest for sure.
But for You it's not the main reason You Tag

Let's say you're in a thread about watering seedlings that is 200 replies long......
you can tag the Thread... watering seedlings
But then say you want to respond to a Post by your friend Fred asking about 'watering seedlings' but for some reason don't have time.

Before you could dump it in your Favs..... then wade thru all of them for that exact post or wade thru the whole Thread.

Now you can Tag the Post... Fred, watering, question or watering question Fred or whatever will trigger your memory
Then later you can go back... hit your Tags ... and find it almost instantly.
The Question and Fred part won't mean anything to anyone else in the cloud but it will to you.

Ric

Thanks GW!
Many of us are used to Flickr tagging....
so compound words and quotations are the way we learned Tagging.

So I shouldn't tag your reply
" 's
or quotationmarks eh? LOL!

Ah another learning curve...

Ric

From what I gather, a single quotation mark would be okay, but setting things aside in doubles isn't necessary.

Gardenwife and Dave this is my favorite addition in the time i've been here :) Thank you!

Took me a bit to figure out where that link to the entire cloud Terry provided came from. It's in My Tools tab and the My Tools box on the right side. Doesn't quite make sense to me to have the entire public tag cloud under My Tools. My Tools should just contain my tags IMHO. I would think it would be better to have it accessed under Extras perhaps.

Thanks Sue-- I was wondering where the main link was and now I know! I agree, it isn't a "personalized" tool. Maybe under Guides and Information?

Except it's not really a guide or information, it's an extra 'gadget' so to speak and would fit nicely under the Extras tab and the 'DG Connections' column. ;-)

Can a setting added where we can edit our own tags? I would like to condense them under one name. Some I suspect would like to correct spelling. And can the above post me addressed?

I'm afraid I miss being able to open a specific post, save it in my Favorites, and edit the title. What I'm getting now is a long list of "personal tags", all in a row and in a huge font. Much harder for me to locate a recipe or a photo or a bit of information from someone who posited.

I wish I had an option to choose either Favorites as they used to be or the new tag system.

Not a tags fan,
June

I think there is a place for both, too. Is there a reason that DG favorites and tags must be mutually exclusive, or can they both be used?

If having both would be a nightmare, I'd suggest people use their own browser's favorites/bookmark feature.

Internet Explorer users, see http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/ie6/using/howto/share/favorites.mspx
Mozilla Firefox users, see http://mozilla.gunnars.net/firefox_bookmarks_tutorial.html

The thing is, tags offer more flexibility and benefit everyone.

Still, I can see where both are beneficial.

You can already edit your own tags. If you go back to the item that was tagged and click the folder icon again (as if to add a new tag), you will see a list of your existing tags for that item. If you remove one of the tags from the list (back space over it) and hit return you will have removed that tag from the item. If you remove all of the associated items from a tag that you created and if no one else is using that tag, it will be deleted from the system.

To correct the spelling of a tag you created (assuming no one else is using it) you could just remove all of the items from the tag (which would cause the system to remove the tag entirely) and then start over by creating a new tag. Or, to make it easier, each time you remove the unwanted tag from an item you could replace it with the new tag. When you get to the last item, the old tag will be gone and everything will have been switched to the new tag.

Hope that's not totally confusing.

Gardenwife - I too would like to have both but the old way was efficient for me and I could find what I needed quickly. I have a business and don't have time to spend fiddling with more bookmarks in my browser. LOL - I'm spending too much time on DG as it is!

June

I also miss my Favorites. I always changed the subject of the saved favorite so that they were arranged in categories. For example, Iris, Roses, Recipe, etc.

I am using the tags and they are ok, but a huge cloud with huge text is kind of in your face versus a nice alphabetized list.

I'll work with what Dave gives us and am sure I'll get use to the change.

I tried it. I was excited when I thought I actually tagged something. But now I can't find it. It seems to be in everyone elses tags? If I am saving something for myself, why is it harder to find than when I saved it to favorites? My vote is to have both. Favorites for those who won't use tags, and the Tag feature for those who will use it.

At the bottom of the "Tag Cloud" there is a link that says "View your own tags". This will take you to a page with only the tags you have entered. Not exactly like favorites but the same info.

or click on My Info, it's in the Your Actions box.

or click on My Info, it's in the Your Actions box.

And scutler (or Raccoon Lady as I just discovered from a tag, lovin' the saga!), thanks for those instructions for editing tags, took me a bit to figure it out but it so easy!

seems like alot of hassle to go through when it was easier to just make one click of the folder and it was saved.

Yes, saving it as a favorite was easier; you didn't give it a name - the system tagged it for you.

Looking at that list of thread titles and remembering WHY you saved them was harder.

Figuring out where a particular post might be hiding in that list of favorites (when the thread titles don't give you any good clues) was MUCH harder ;o)

That " huge cloud with huge text" is neither appealing nor useful to me. I like things organized. "View your own tags" does gives you your own but in the same huge chaotic cloud of text. Previously I was able to name or categorize my Favorites just by using the edit feature. You did not have to keep the title under which you originally saved it.

Different strokes for different folks, and I would like to have both features made available.

June

Say June, would you be able to categorize your old "My Favorites" into your Diary or Journal? My entries are still ok over there and I can organize everything the way I want to.

The tags are great to gather similar posts and threads together such as all of the Upper Midwest Round Up threads. Tags do serve a purpose.

I'm confused about all this "tag" stuff. I'm getting old! It sounds like a great idea if I can figure out how to use it. I know many times I have gone back searching for something I read on a thread and can never find it again. This "tag" feature would really come in handy! I have bookmarked so many sites and things that the list has gotten so long and it's not in any particular order so I have no patience with searching through it any more. I like the idea of alphabetized and organized!

Later today I am going to read back through this entire thread to see if I can grasp this concept with my brain! Most of my time is spent on the Gesneriad forum, but a couple of others interest me as well. There have been many posts I would have liked to have saved regarding propagation, care and culture on particular plants etc. I would also like to be able to save articles written by DG'ers. So far I have been printing info out that I want for future reference and my file box is getting over stuffed! I would much rather have a DG file where I can store all saved information to refer back to. This would be wonderful to have on my own home page, right at hand to access whenever I liked.

Equilibrium - Possible and I'll look into it, but frankly I have a fulltime business and can't add any more time to what I already spend on DG. Doing the Favorites took just a minute and I could find saved posts, but I can live without them.

Tags apparently work for others, and I know Dave can't accommodate everyone's wants. I probably need to spend less time on DG anyway. LOL.

June