8 votes

How do I know how to properly tag my posts?

Say I wanted to create a thread about running. Running is a sport and hobby. Sports is often seen more as the professional side of things (say, Olympic running). Then again, many runners take their hobby quite seriously and definitely exercise it as a sport. How do I know which one of those two groups is the more appropriate?

7 comments

  1. [5]
    cfabbro
    (edited )
    Link
    Note: IMO all the advice below only applies to people who actually want to bother with tagging. For anyone who doesn't, don't worry about it, just ignore it, and submit stuff anyways, as those of...

    Note: IMO all the advice below only applies to people who actually want to bother with tagging. For anyone who doesn't, don't worry about it, just ignore it, and submit stuff anyways, as those of us with tag editing and group moving can handle the rest. :)


    I think in a lot of cases like this, where there is crossover in terms of subject matter between the groups, it entirely depends on what the user who posts the topic wants the discussion to be focused on. If they want to discuss running as a sport, then ~sports makes the most sense to post to, and vice versa. If they are fine with either, then whichever group of users they prefer to have the discussion with (sports fans or hobbyists) is probably where they should post it. Article submissions should probably mostly stick to whichever group is most appropriate for the article itself though, e.g. Olympics news in ~sports, running shoe reviews in ~hobbies, unless there is a particular reason the OP wants to do otherwise.

    As for tags, worth keeping in mind is that (IMO) they are mostly there to help people find (or filter out) specific content (which they can do by searching for and browsing the tags, e.g. ?tag=running), and act a bit like precursors to groups that don't exist yet. So since ~sports.olympics doesn't exist yet, if the topic was about Olympic running then I would add olympics, running, and maybe even whichever division? it was about (e.g. 100 metre dash) to the tags.

    11 votes
    1. [4]
      Amroth
      Link Parent
      First of all, thank you for the detailed response! If I understand this right, I can search for tags independently of groups? So groups don't matter too much in the context of finding specific...

      First of all, thank you for the detailed response!

      If I understand this right, I can search for tags independently of groups? So groups don't matter too much in the context of finding specific content?

      2 votes
      1. [3]
        cfabbro
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        AFAIK you can't yet exclusively "search" for tags yet, as the topic title and other metadata will also be included in the search results. But yes, you can search within specific groups by going to...

        AFAIK you can't yet exclusively "search" for tags yet, as the topic title and other metadata will also be included in the search results. But yes, you can search within specific groups by going to that group's page and using the search bar in the top right there, or manually doing so, E.g. https://tildes.net/~tildes/search?q=advice. And searches originating from the home page will search all groups, e.g. https://tildes.net/search?q=test

        Browsing tags also works similarly... you can browse a tag in all groups or just within specific groups. E.g.
        https://tildes.net/?tag=ask.advice vs https://tildes.net/~tildes?tag=ask.advice

        p.s. Even though it's a bit rudimentary ATM, there are lots of already accepted feature requests on Tildes Gitlab page regarding the search feature, so it will likely be improved over time: https://gitlab.com/tildes/tildes/-/issues?scope=all&state=opened&search=searching

        2 votes
        1. [2]
          Eylrid
          Link Parent
          You can search tags specifically by clicking on a tag or by using ?tag=whatever, e.g. https://tildes.net/?tag=ask https://tildes.net/~sports?tag=running

          You can search tags specifically by clicking on a tag or by using ?tag=whatever, e.g. https://tildes.net/?tag=ask https://tildes.net/~sports?tag=running

          1 vote
          1. cfabbro
            Link Parent
            I generally refer to that as tag "browsing", since you're not really "searching" or using the site's search feature using that method, just manually inputting tags you probably already know or...

            I generally refer to that as tag "browsing", since you're not really "searching" or using the site's search feature using that method, just manually inputting tags you probably already know or clicking ones you see elsewhere on the site.

  2. [2]
    SheepWolf
    Link
    I think with Tildes in its current state, groups and tags are fairly flexible. You'll see every now and then tags getting added by those with the ability to do so in the "Topic log" to the right....

    I think with Tildes in its current state, groups and tags are fairly flexible. You'll see every now and then tags getting added by those with the ability to do so in the "Topic log" to the right.

    Rarely (almost never), if someone thinks a different group would fit the thread better, they will ask the original poster or move the thread then ask if the original poster would prefer it moved back. Or the original poster can object to the move.

    My current belief is that you post in whatever group you think is best and tag it with 2 or 3 tags that you think fit most appropriately. If later you decide to change your mind, you can ask someone to move it for you.

    As far as I am aware, there isn't a stigma against posting the same thing in multiple groups. People subscribed to both groups might see both appear depending on their Activity sorting but they are also able to click "Ignore this post", and generally whichever topic has more activity will end up being the main thread while the others will kind of fade off.


    Every so often there will be a discussion of groups and heirarchy. For example this one:
    https://tildes.net/~tildes.official/h23/potential_new_groups_and_general_discussion_about_the_purpose_and_organization_of_the_group

    6 votes
    1. SheepWolf
      Link Parent
      Relevant comment by hungariantoast from here:

      Relevant comment by hungariantoast from here:

      I honestly would not worry too much about posting to the correct group, or tagging stuff correctly, or at all even.

      The most important thing is just posting the content. Don't let the underlying categorization stuff stop you from posting. Users like @mycketforvirrad[+] and others stay on top of all that pretty well.

      I mean, it's great if you want to get into it too, but don't stress over it.

      Also, just in case you have not noticed it yet:

      If on desktop, on the right side of your screen is the sidebar, and near the bottom of the info presented in the sidebar is the topic log. That tells you what changes were made by which user, and when, to your topic.
      If you're on mobile, the sidebar should be a button in the top right that you can press to reveal it, and then the topic log will again be at the bottom of that info. You have to click/press the topic log drop down to reveal that information.

      Checking the topic log, you'll notice that I moved this topic from the ~talk group to the ~tildes group. That's because meta discussion about Tildes itself usually goes here.

      Again, it's no big deal if a topic gets moved, and the groups can be a bit confusing at first. Feel free to ask questions when you notice someone edits your topic, as moderators here are almost always happy to explain/discuss changes.

      Also, here is the list of things that moderators can edit on a topic:

      • The topic's tags
      • The topic's title
      • The group the topic is posted to
      • The topic's link

      Finally, the site's documentation and blog are worth reading. They should both give you a good feel of the site. Of course, you can always ask questions if you are confused about anything, or submit suggestions for site features, changes, etc. as a post to ~tildes.

      4 votes