[wp-hackers] Categories _contra_ tags

[Bernard D. Tremblay (ben)]

Eric Marden wrote:
>> I would appreciate to see how you might decide on a category as 
>> opposed to tagging!
> This is how I think about it:
> * Categories are 'buckets' for your post. Think of these like sections 
> of a site, in a sense.
> ** examples: articles, editorials, asides
> * Tags are the 'topics' you cover. These topics cross over categories 
> and more specific.
> ** examples: google, web design, wordpress
I was reading to come storming out against you and then realized I don't 
disagree.
But I think some something here has come un-glued at a semantic level.

So forgive me for being crude:
Why are there 2?

If I post something with Category "WordPress" and Tag "BlueSky" the 
difference in "level" is entirely my reading of things.

AFIAK searching for "BlueSky" in Tags will bring up that post. As will 
Cat "WordPress." And searching for both would very likely bring up that 
post and only that post.

So: how is that different from posting with both those terms used as 
Category?

The interface suggests very strongly that there's a major diff between 
the two.
Maybe there isn't, actually?

What would be lost (getting over the momentary confusion) if Categories 
disappeared and we were left with the same funtionality bundled together 
as "Tags"?
Are we using 2 terms for the same stuff?

BTW: when I ask a question I really and truly am fishing for an answer 
cuz I suspect there's something I've overlooked.


ben