Forum issue: Tags!

[John F]

OK, I am not the moderator or the administrator... That's my job over at Fanhome But the fact is it woudl seem Skyscraper City has upgraded their vesion of vBulletin (the message board software) and that includes post tagging.

Now who here knows about tagging? Raise your hands... Uh huh, ok, didn't think so.

Tagging is basically addign keywords to describe a post after the post. You'll be able to add five tags or so after any new thread you create. You are also able to edit in 2 tags to any thread you would like.

Tags are just keywords ro key fphrases. I've already added a few (2) keywords to several posts just because I know the system. It helps with search engine optimization and also put thsi forum (possibly) on the forefront of a weird little feature called at Tag Cloud here at SSC:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/tags.php

So anyway, you might want to do the neebish thing like I have been doing and add tags to existing posts. Or you might not want to do it at all. It's no big deal either way...

[randommichael]

Oh cool. I use tagging on DailyKos and its a good feature to have.

[FloridaFuture]

I have edited a few tags as well. I've been hearing that there may still be some enhancing to the feature before the forum upgrade is complete.

[John F]

yeah, Dkos, blog programs like Wordpress, Flickr, technorati... They all use tagging now. Have been for a while. I've been slow to adopt it but I'm involved with it now (well, ahve been since wordpress started using it as a regular feature).

for those who still don't get it --there is a definition of Tagging at Wikipedia

And (sorry to Admins and mods) I have a post up at FanHome talking a bit about how to do it on vbulletin.

[John F]

Originally Posted by FloridaFuture

I have edited a few tags as well. I've been hearing that there may still be some enhancing to the feature before the forum upgrade is complete.

Understandable. There a ton of modifications for vBulletin 3.7.1 as is. The only modification I did to the tag system on the other site is change the taag cloud so it is larger and includes mroe tags. (example tag cloud)

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by John F

Understandable. There a ton of modifications for vBulletin 3.7.1 as is. The only modification I did to the tag system on the other site is change the taag cloud so it is larger and includes mroe tags. (example tag cloud)

Indeed. I updated a site to 3.7.1 a few weeks ago so I went through everything. The members are on the older side and weren't too fond of the new social aspects (check out the profile pages to see what I mean, groups, visitor messages, friends, etc). Tags should make it easier to find threads. I don't really find much use for tag clouds over large amounts of content, but searching tags like tampa or skypoint should make things easier.

SSC feels a bit faster too. Which was muuuch needed .

[John F]

LOVE the social aspects of 3.7.1. That's soemthing most Forums forget -- they are the first "Social networks" that existed.

The problem is that message board users aren't that ssvvy in my dealings. I mean some of them are but others want to be left the hell alone. They don't like reputation ratings, they don't care for thread ratings...

So the point really is Web 2.0 has a lot of stuff, but some stallwarts on message boards aren't goign to take to them kindly.

.

[jonknee]

Originally Posted by John F

The problem is that message board users aren't that ssvvy in my dealings. I mean some of them are but others want to be left the hell alone. They don't like reputation ratings, they don't care for thread ratings...

So true. I get many emails from people having trouble registering, or wondering why they can't post (they haven't registered) or any number of other silly things.

To be fair, vBulletin doesn't have the best UI and suffers from a good deal of bloat, but it's still not rocket science.

[Jasonhouse]

Originally Posted by John F

Now who here knows about tagging? Raise your hands... Uh huh, ok, didn't think so.
.

I suggested taking advantage of such things a long while ago, along with various other improvements to the way the database is handled. vB Advanced is also a beauty, but nobody here listens, so I gave up on even trying.

If people want to start tagging their threads inside the Tampa forum, I'm down.

[John F]

Jason, I got the same problem at my end. I have people dragging their feat. I'm handling all the tech stuff now for better or for worse so there is movement... Though I have stayed away from vbadvanced and such.

but tagging, vbseo, the social tools (these web sites ARE social networks, even if peopel don't realize it).

Hell, I am surprised RSS and Ajax are utilized in the software, let alone captcha (for new users) and social bookmarking options. Things are so back asswords at times.

[Jasonhouse]

Look at your UserCP. Minimal social elements have been turned on (quietly).