[wp-testers] "Categories"

Colin Frame cframe at gmail.com
Tue Nov 22 20:03:35 GMT 2005


Couldn't have said it better myself :)

c.

On 22 Nov 2005, at 19:29, Stuart wrote:

> 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
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>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> --
>>>> Aaron Brazell
>>>> Editor/Writer
>>>> http://www.technosailor.com
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>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> 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.
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --
>> Aaron Brazell
>> Editor/Writer
>> http://www.technosailor.com
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-- 
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