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Tags for multiple users - problems (& solutions?)

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tomos:
I was querying what "Categories" to use for a new Q&A website and got this reply:

Re: categories, I'd be more in favor of tags. They're more flexible. Alternatively you could go with a system that allows suggesting new categories. With *either* solution you want an auto-complete of some kind or a "suggest" function so there is less chance for spelling-related miscategorization, etc.
-JavaJones (December 22, 2010, 03:32 PM)
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I dont use tagging much. I dont use any programme that really successfully implements tagging IMO.

One big problem is that, even if you have auto-complete and some sort of auto-list where new tags get added to the list, you're going to have people using different words for the same "thing".

Another approach - that could be combined with auto-complete/auto-list - would be that, when you click on a tag to see entries for it, it would be like a fuzzy search, showing e.g. pigs piggy and pig etc.
In order to get around the problem of different words being used for the same thing e.g. pig & swine - these could be manually associated so if you search for one, you get both.

Anyone know of any implementation of tagging for multiple users that helps minimise these problems? (software or website)

app103:
If you only let the uploader assign tags, then you will run into the problem you described.

If you let everyone assign any tags to any image (multiple tags would be best), then each person will use what they want. Eventually, with enough people, every image of a pig will be tagged with all possible tags that could be used to describe it (pigs, piggy, piggie, pig, piglet, swine, hog, sow, babe, wilbur, etc.), including misspellings, and fuzzy searching will become unnecessary.

tomos:
If you only let the uploader assign tags, then you will run into the problem you described.

If you let everyone assign any tags to any image (multiple tags would be best), then each person will use what they want. Eventually, with enough people, every image of a pig will be tagged with all possible tags that could be used to describe it (pigs, piggy, piggie, pig, piglet, swine, hog, sow, babe, wilbur, etc.), including misspellings, and fuzzy searching will become unnecessary.
-app103 (December 23, 2010, 04:08 AM)
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very good point app  :Thmbsup:

app103:
Just be warned, that when you allow people to tag stuff with anything they want, things like this can happen.

NSFWhttp://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/Martha+Stewart/+tags

One of the ways to try to get around this is to consider tags in 2 groups...personal and community. Personal tags are tags applied by a single person. Community is tags in which at least a certain number of people have mutually tagged an item as something. Last.fm requires at least 3 people to tag an item the same before a tag shows up in the community list.

This will keep out a lot of the irrelevant tags a little more than using all tags submitted by everyone. It will also allow users to tag things for their own personal use, to make finding select items easier for them in the future. A user could tag items related to a personal project with the project name, and this tag would only be accessible to them. It would never show in the community list.

adi_barb:
the best solution is to manually edit and adapt the tags to your website style by allowing moderators or super moderators to edit them somehow.

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