There are tagging plugins for SMF; implementation would be easy. Getting users to properly and consistently use it would be the nightmare.
Frank
Topic: labels/tags instead of subfora? - page 2. (Read 2423 times)
That would be good. The tags would need to be admin-defined, though. Tag systems where posters can come up with arbitrary tag names make it hard for readers to find stuff, since posters often choose strange and incorrect tags.
This'd be pretty hard to add to SMF (and probably most forum software), though.
Yes, tags would be pre-approved by admins. In fact, current list of boards may be just fine. If an article is published that deals mostly with Bitcoin mining, I can start a discussion with tags 'press' and 'mining'. The way things are now, we end up with cross-posting mess, or even worse: multiple threads dealing with same story in multiple boards. This'd be pretty hard to add to SMF (and probably most forum software), though.
That would be good. The tags would need to be admin-defined, though. Tag systems where posters can come up with arbitrary tag names make it hard for readers to find stuff, since posters often choose strange and incorrect tags.
This'd be pretty hard to add to SMF (and probably most forum software), though.
This'd be pretty hard to add to SMF (and probably most forum software), though.
It wouldn't be a big change at all - just like now you go to Speculation or Meta to see what's new in these topics, you'd go to Speculation or Meta to see what's new in these topics. The only difference is that threads could be labeled with multiple labels, which right now we can't do.
Wow, that would be a big kind of change to wrap my brain around. I already use this in my PMs since that functionality is there, but for a whole forum? I really wonder whether and how it would work in real life. Are there any forums that do this already?
You're talking about a fundamental redesign, and at that point it's no longer what anyone would think of as a "forum."
I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's an enormous change.
I'm not saying it's good or bad, but it's an enormous change.
Most threads naturally belong to several topics. With the proliferation of available subfora the problem gets bigger, and information is harder to find. Being able to attach multiple labels (or tags, or whatever you call them) makes more sense than insisting on the choice of one particular subforum.
Labels work great for blogs, email, photos - would they work for a forum? Simply turning current subfora into the list of pre-approved labels for users to choose from would do it. Mods would still be able to add/remove labels as needed.
Labels work great for blogs, email, photos - would they work for a forum? Simply turning current subfora into the list of pre-approved labels for users to choose from would do it. Mods would still be able to add/remove labels as needed.
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