Theoretically, you are doing that, but since there are no specific categories or other organization to tagging schemes, everybody makes up his own, and you wind up with an incompehensible mess. I tag threads I think are valuable as much for other people as myself, in the sense that I can quickly find them to refer to others who are having a related problem, but I don't expect them to be able to find that specific post themselves.

You still have a "one word" tag. The only difference is that there are + marks in the word. At least I think that's how it works. I know there are tags out there that look like that.

Can you search on your own tags? That would be helpful, but searching on tags generally will probably be no more sucessful than searching Titles Only. The search engine is helpful, but not as good for finding a specific post you want to revisit. I have spent long periods with the search engine looking for an old thread that I remembered so I could tag it.

My purpose in writing this thing was not that I knew intimately how the feature worked, but rather to encourage people to stop making a shambles of it. Currently, the Top 15 LQ Tags and the Tag Cloud are worthless to anyone as near as I can tell.

I think the idea of the + is really to improve readability (partly since we lowercase all tags). It also provides a means for us to code something that could split them if a desire to search for one half of the tag arises.

Sorry, I kind of misphrased that. I meant your own posts that have been tagged as opposed to your own tags. We should really add another feature to limit the results to a user's own tags as well.

One thing to keep in mind with tags currently is that they are a bit new to LQ. If anyone has ways they think the implementation could be expanded or improved, don't hesitate to let us know.

--jeremy

I would enjoy being able to search all tags by a given user, like we can look at all threads initiated by a given user. A lot of times, I'll use the "Find Other Threads by this User" link to evaluate a person's skill and knowledge level. If I respect the advice and/or attitude of a person, I'd be interested in seeing what he's tagged.

for reference, the top 15 tags as of now are:
I agree with rickh- the linux tag is pretty much useless- "duh!"

The ones that are fc5 should be fedora+5 or even fedora+core+5 IMHO to make it better searchable (in the future, when such a search taking advantage of splitting tags works, of course)

I think that rickh has hit the nail on the head- not with his funky ideas about tags (sorry, rickh! ) but with the fact that people don't have a central guideline as to how to tag, and therefore are just making stuff up. We need a clear tutorial on how to use the tag system appropriately.

titanium_geek

What do you mean folks that I can use any tags for that?

A new Tag entry displays a drop down menu when 3 letters typed, can then select from list if desired, or make new tag. Since each distro has it's own subforum I do not see how any of those tags would be useful or I do not understand the practical use of tagging application. Distro tag would only be useful in the HW, Mobile, Networking forums to indicate a specific interrelationship. In the interest of saving keystrokes fc5 is better, as fedora could be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or the latest 6 test 3 (fc6-3) I am trying to install w/o success. About ready to turn my RLU back in.
IMHO is is too time consuming to read thru so much stuff, but rick_h #19 has nailed it in his 19:53 comment! I used it to see threads started by him and read those to learn the most. Will check out m c 9 ASAP.

I think newbie thread start should eventually have full details, edited w/ corrections unless a major change of thought or new problem occurs. A thread starter replying to help with a new post makes it that much more to read through, many partial problem statements, never one summation clearly understood by others.
*!* So it is back to post properly and UPDATE the subj line. *!*
Instead of just deleting random tags, the post requesting more info to clarify the problem could be deleted after initial thread is edited (A snipped post inserted with corrections). Slowing down to cut & paste may result in a more thourough thought process, answering all the Q.
Many posts to threads are just chit chat comments, do not expand on a answer or similar problem.

Jeremy removed it because it needs a bit more work.

The way I see it, tags really are a search enhancement feature, but LQ hasn't gotten around to integrating them (yet?)

So, even though each distro has a subforum (though there are some that don't *cough* gentoo *cough* (don't even start that)) you can't see that easily when doing a search.

We always berate newbies for not doing a proper search before posting their questions - we should make it as easy as possible for them to find their answer immediately, instead of waiting around for forum help. (Not saying that individualized help is bad, but if the answer is there...)

So tags, that describe the nature of the post, are useful, in that they help you find information (answers).

titanium_geek

In what other ways would you suggest integrating them?

Can not see any benefit of using + between words other than readibility, was unable to search on a partial tag. Does not show anything at all! T..Geek & R are on correct thought process, just need refining & IMPLEMENTATIONIMHO Migrate mobile to the appropriate distro, 1st Senior member or moderator reading it could add an appropriate tag `LT'. A newbie could enter distro forum and limit search to LT tag, hopefully a few months after implementation it would provide all the answers for a new user trying to run that distro on a LT. Would provide better exposure than just posting in LT, maybe get an RSVP from someone familiar with that distro on a LT (single HD only), as many answers are to install on 2nd HD even in mobile now!

Getting rid of the laptop forum and using tags instead is definitely not going to happen (and is IMHO an example of a bad way to use them). Tags aren't meant to be part of a hierarchy or preconceived categories. In most cases they should not have specific meanings (we make an except for answer for instance, but even that was a stretch). The great thing about tags is that people can use them in whatever way they find useful, which will vary greatly between users. Trying to make them one single thing completely negates the point. That being said, some further integration is definitely coming.

--jeremy

I don't know exactly how the search works at LQ, but wouldn't it be friendlier to the server if it searched, say, the first post (full text) and then the tags- as a search option. You could star/flag any posts that where tagged "answer"

When you search, you type in keywords- like slackware + grub (very simply) it's a simple match to the tags.

I could be wrong, but the way I see it:
tags are only helping when you explore the tags, which is, like rickh said, a bit messy and difficult to get the most out of. If they were (if they are, more visibly) associated with the searching, then they would seem a bit more useful.

<sub note>
Of course, searching isn't the only way you use tags, there is also personal categorization etc etc
</sub note>

titanium_geek

Once again today, LQTags led me directly to a thread I hadn't even thought about in 6 months. It's getting mighty hard to keep my tags down to the limit of 15 which is all I can pick from.

As you have seen, or you may remember, this thread brought me lots of heat from the powers that be on LQ, but I don't take back a single one of my recommendations. They work beautifully for me, and they will for you, too, if you follow them.

My main purpose for running this thread through again, though is to beg for an expansion to my "top 15" list. The LQ "top 15" and the "Tag Cloud" are useless to me, but my own Top 15, which could easily be Top 40 or 50, are oases in the LQ-Tags desert.

Would it be too server intensive to ask for the top 50 tags?

TG