Tag It...

[Bill A]

A request to all forum posters (or readers). Please use the tag feature at the bottom of the threads. The "tag" is a search feature that allows searches to identify information that is in the thread, but may not be apparent in the thread titles, and provides a quick link to other threads that discuss the same terms or ideas.
A thread may be named PPCLI, or 17th Lancers. This in itself is a good clue as to the contents. However, what is actually in the string is not clear. Is the string about cap badges, officers' badges, cloth titles, time period of issue, reproductions, etc etc? Or maybe the discussion in the thread has diverged into discussing some other topic, say for example, finishes or types of metals used in making the badges. These topics are not mentioned in the thread titles. Adding tags can assist forum readers in finding all the relevant (or perhaps irrelevant) information in other threads.
To assist in finding information, all registered forum users can add "tags". At the bottom of each thread there is a menu bar which is named TAGS. The left side of the menu has TAGS and the right side of the same bar has "EDIT TAGS". If you click on the TAGS link, there are examples of tags being currently used, which are also live links to other threads that have been tagged with the term. On our forum, the most commonly used tag is YEOMANRY. Clicking on that tag will take the reader to a page with all the other threads that have been tagged with that term.
On the other side of the menu, the EDIT TAGS allow the reader to add tags. Simply click on the link, and a dialogue box opens. In there the forum user can add tags.
To use a current string as an example, the Khaki Glengarry?, thread has a good title, but it does not cover the content that has developed. Discussion has mentioned A&SH wearing khaki glens, the 15th Battalion CEF, and the Kaiser's Bunker web site. A reader looking for information on these topics can use the search feature, but to maximize finding information, tags would help. If I click the TAG link, I can find all the other threads that have been tagged with those terms.
To add tags, the reader can click the EDIT TAGS link and simply add the terms to the tag line. If we all do this, especially when a thread takes a turn and goes in a different direction or brings in information or topics that are quite different from the thread or message titles, searches for information will be much easier.
The forum is now getting to the size and complexity that searches can be assisted by any of us adding tags as we see the need in a string. (Note that there is a limit on the size and number of tags that can be added to a thread.) Please add tags when you see the need.