Talk:Wiki Guidelines

Tags Discussion

user:OneKarma Oct 15, 2011 9:29 am

There has been a request to open 'tags' to the general wiki community.

"The clouds thing is generally used to show the relative prevalence of ideas that show up on the wiki. Creating a tag is truly the job of the contributor not 'IT'. In evolving parts of the wiki contributors tags could be a valuable way to work toward a consensus of ideas. It fits better with the opensource philosophy [...] that you see in the GA's."

Tags are not in any way closed to general editing. The issue being presented is instead my moderation of tags - as I have done so without regard for how others may feel about tags. Let me explain my position, and then we shall discuss and seek consensus.

As the wiki stands now, there are 97 pages and 7 tags that I have been monitoring. Here are the main reasons that I intend to continue monitoring tags:

1. Tags are often added as redundant place-holders. 2. Tags are often added even when their relevancy is very small.

These patterns lead to massive tag lists with many tags being used only once. I consider this 'clutter.'

I always consider the effectiveness and future use of a tag before deletion. In the case of redundancy, I delete the tag. If it is the only instance of the tag and its base is not quite wide enough to encompass many future pages, I delete the tag. If it is vague, I delete the tag.

All cases of deletion are easily remedied: no one is prevented from changing tags; the only issue is their moderation.

If you agree with monitoring tags, please make suggestions and/or go about monitoring tags on your own. If you disagree with monitoring tags, this is the place to voice your disagreement - otherwise I probably will continue to delete tags based upon the considerations I have highlighted above.

Thank you; please discuss

re: idea Tag cloud - software doesn't allow it

user:mcktimo Oct 15, 2011 10:05 am

Originally tags weren't locked, however they are now because this particular wiki software uses tags in order to create and sort the navigation menu on the left.

As a result, we have to lock the tagging ability in order to preserve the navigation. If we open it up and everyone adds and removes tags the navigation goes completely haywire and it becomes very difficult for users to find what they need in the wiki.

I think using tags to get consensus would be an awesome idea, but unfortunately we are limited by the current software we are using.

re: Tags Discussion

user:OneKarma Oct 15, 2011 10:48 pm

i believe you may be missing something, mcktimo.

i believe anyone can add tags (just click the drop-down next to 'Page' at the top of any link, and click 'view details and tags'. (if non-admin members prove this to be untrue, please send me a personal message!)

only admins may edit the navigation bar, which i have locked. as far as i know i am the only direct contributor to that page, as the other admins assume that i keep focus.

the navigation bar is under manual control (it no longer relies on tags) but i still use tags to monitor certain sets of pages. this function is part of the 'manage wiki' section.

software is not limiting us in the use of tags.

re: Tags Discussion

user:OneKarma Oct 17, 2011 12:41 am

i think found the answer i was looking for. by redefining non-structural tags as keywords, we avoid the issue. please refer to edited version of wiki guidelines, in the tag section, of course!