[wp-forums] Tidying tags

[Podz]

Scott Merrill wrote:
> Podz wrote:
>> error (858 posts)
>> help (367)
>> mysql (255)
> 
> I think this is a legitimate tag.
> 
>> new (129)
>> php (348)
> 
> this, too, is probably a legit tag.
> 
>> problem (374)
>> tags (203)
>> wordpress (363)
> 
> The others appear useless, but the context of their posts might prove me
> wrong.

So keep all but error, help, new ?

> I think a little bit of volunteer effort to tidy up the tags goes a long
> way.  If we all pick one of these questionable tags, it shouldn't take
> us too long to skim the posts and excise the tag as necessary.

This for me is where we need to question the whole thing.
To do that task takes a lot of effort consistently or a set time one day
to do it. Either way, is the effort expended worth the return ? If I
know that /tags/mysql was actually looked at X times per week, and that
tags/plugin was clicked a lot, that would give ME an incentive to retag
and maintain them. But right now I see a cloud which gets in the way and
has a lot of useless content.
So without any stats I see two options:

1 - Leave it completely alone. Maybe deal with dupes, but otherwise
accept that there will be space wasted. Let it 'evolve'.

2 - Police them aggressively and make it work better as WE see it.

1 is no effort, 2 is potentially a lot but if there is a period of
intense activity from us (short of making many people have the ability
to alter tags) then that could lessen to a point where we know that we
can make a difference. Right now it sometimes feels like a waste of time
when you get
How
do
I
get
the
image
to
stay
on
the
left
when
I
do
this
garbage appearing.
I know they are in the minority, but do you see what I mean ?

I have to say that without solid figures that the tag cloud does seem to
be a useless waste of space.

I would like to see a "Click to get to the main area" and a "Click to
post a question" with a dropdown box for the right forum. Sure there
will be the odd mistake but we can move posts around more easily than
dozens of tags.

The tags don't even have a "Clicking a suitable tag may help you find an
answer to your problem". There is an assumption (again bad) that  a
frustrated and confused user will arrive and think "How useful ! A tag
that might help me !". Whatever ... they are here to stay.

Option 1 / 2 ? Got a 3 ? :)

I don't have an agenda here, I'm just hoping to find a way forward that
most of us can agree on.

P.

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