[wp-testers] "Categories"

Tue Nov 22 19:29:57 GMT 2005

I agree with Sean - I think that categories and tags compliment each
other and should both be present in Wordpress 2.0

Categories are perfect for structuring the heirachal navigation of a
Wordpress site; whereas tags give you the finer control of being able
to assign a post to many tags while at the same time keeping your
navigation structure clean.

An example of this is that you may have the following categories on your blog:

* News
* Technology
* Web design
* Development
* Personal

A post you create about the new iPod (for example) could be assigned
to the Technology category, but you could assign several tags to the
post too like this:

* Apple
* iPod
* MP3
* Audio
* Gadgets

Another example is a post you create about Angela Merkel becoming the
new chancellor in Germany - this could be assigned to the News
category, but you could assign several tags like this:

* Politics
* Germany
* Government

This keeps your navigation clean - you can have as many tags as you
want without having a sidebar full of categories. I've seen some
Wordpress sites where you have to scroll down the page to see the
whole list of categories.

The tags could also be linked with del.icio.us or Technorati tags. The
end result is that you would have fewer categories that are specific
to Wordpress, and many tags which could be used to link into other
systems.

Tags are a huge buzz at the moment on the net - Amazon just started
adding tags to their products, flickr do tags, so do Technorati,
TechCrunch reports on new tagging sites almost every day. For those in
doubt, read the Wikipedia definition of tags - it describes the
difference between categories and tags well:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tags

The Wordpress forums are a good example too - I like the tags because
it helps to find specific problems, but I also like to browse a
certain forum sometimes to see what's new - each forum is basically a
category of posts. This is a good example of how tags and categories
can compliment each other.

Phew - that was long! I think tags are an important part of today's
internet (some call it Web 2.0) and Wordpress 2.0 needs to get this
feature. Comments welcome.

Cheers - Stuart.

On 11/23/05, Aaron Brazell <aaron at technosailor.com> wrote:
> Sean,
>
> I think what you want could easily be done via a plugin piggybacking on
> built in category functionality.  Email me directly if you want to chat
> about this.
>
>
> A
>
> On 11/22/05, Sean Hayford O'Leary <hayfordoleary at gmail.com> wrote:
> > That's what I was saying, but the whole thing about categories having a
> more tree-like taxonomy-style structure with parents leads me to want them
> to both exist.
> >
> > Well, I'm more concerned about people coming to some agreement, it doesn't
> really matter which version it goes into. I can wait :).
> >
> >
> >
> > On 11/22/05, Aaron Brazell < aaron at technosailor.com> wrote:
> > > I'd agree with Santanu though I think that tags and categories are six
> of one or a half dozen of another.  The functionality of *how* they could be
> implemented on display should likely be the  point of difference ( i.e.
> category list, tag cloud).  Functionally they really are the same thing
> though.
> > >
> > > I also would not hold your breath on getting tags, as a concept,
> included in 2.0. I think now that we've moved to beta, there's a feature
> freeze. But I'm not the devs so who knows?
> > >
> > > Aaron
> > >
> > >
> > > On 11/22/05, Santanu Misra <santanu.misra at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Sorry Sean,
> > > >
> > > > I think that will be mistake to  mix categories with tags.
> > > > They both should be part of the core but should not  compliment each
> other.
> > > >
> > > > -Regards
> > > > Santanu
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > http://www.santm.com
> > > >
> > > > On 11/22/05, Sean Hayford O'Leary <hayfordoleary at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > Well, I always used to do one file per folder (hate extensions in
> addresses)
> > > > > ;).
> > > > >
> > > > > The general consensus seems that categories should remain
> more-or-less as is
> > > > > and tags should be added, though seperate from categories.
> > > > >
> > > > > And I agree that both could exist happily together. And that a
> system of
> > > > > both would be ideal. Still, I stand by my point: look at Flickr's
> sets and
> > > > > tags: each image can only exist in one set. Because of the free-form
> nature
> > > > > of categories, they are closer to tags.
> > > > >
> > > > > -Sean Hayford O'Leary
> > > > >
> > > > > On 11/22/05, Gregory Wild-Smith <greg at twilightuniverse.com > wrote:
> > > > > > Only one HTML file per folder? Hardly.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > It's a grouping system. You group posts by category. Tags allow
> you
> > > > > > finer control over that that doesn't require sub-categories (you
> can
> > > > > > have the same tag across totally different categories).
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Tags also were intended as a kind of meta information.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > If people mis-apply categories or tags, that doesn't mean the
> system is
> > > > > > broken. They aren't mutually exclusive either, they can complement
> each
> > > > > > other perfectly.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > I agree WP is making it easier to mis-apply them though. The
> comparison
> > > > > > to Flickr makes sense if you include their sets - the sets are
> like
> > > > > > categories. It is just that Flickr uses tags as a primary
> navigation,
> > > > > > and sets as a second. WP is the other way around. That makes more
> sense
> > > > > > for publishing, where you'll have a broad area you are writing
> about but
> > > > > > other smaller details that still warrant some kind of mention.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > "I feel that, especially with "tag" becoming a more widely
> > > > > > used term, WP's admin ui should refer to categories as tags."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > That would be a complete an utter mis-labeling. They are two
> separate
> > > > > > things.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > -- Gregory Wild-Smith
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Sean Hayford O'Leary wrote:
> > > > > > > I've been toying with this thought since 1.2, but it seems all
> the
> > > > > > > more relevant with 1.6/2.0.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Categories aren't really categories anymore. Here's the thought:
> Each
> > > > > > > item fits into ONE category, just as an HTML file might fit into
> ONE
> > > > > > > folder (taxonomy).
> > > > > > > But in WP (especially with on-the-fly category additions), it's
> really
> > > > > > > more like tags (folksonomy).
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Look at Flickr's tags and look at the traditional directory/file
> > > > > > > taxonomy structure. In my opinion WP's categories far better
> resemble
> > > > > > > tags than taxonomy.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Basic point: I feel that, especially with "tag" becoming a more
> widely
> > > > > > > used term, WP's admin ui should refer to categories as tags.
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > What do you guys think?
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > --
> > > > > > > Sean Hayford O'Leary
> > > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > > wp-testers mailing list
> > > > > > > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > > > > > >
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > > wp-testers mailing list
> > > > > > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > > > > >
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > > wp-testers mailing list
> > > > > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > > > >
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > > wp-testers mailing list
> > > > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > > >
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > --
> > > Aaron Brazell
> > > Editor/Writer
> > > http://www.technosailor.com
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > wp-testers mailing list
> > > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Sean Hayford O'Leary
> >
> > I'm always online. Check out my personal site [
> http://sdho.hayfordoleary.com], design site [
> http://design.hayfordoleary.com] or HOP [http://p.hayfordoleary.com] -- my
> portal project.
> > _______________________________________________
> > wp-testers mailing list
> > wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> > http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
> >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> --
> --
> Aaron Brazell
> Editor/Writer
> http://www.technosailor.com
> _______________________________________________
> wp-testers mailing list
> wp-testers at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-testers
>
>
>