PlanetPhillip

Introduction

This article is written to help readers understand exactly what tags are and more importantly how they benefit you as a PlanetPhillip Reader. To begin with I will repeat and answer some frequently asked questions and then discuss how you can use them and finally how you can improve the site by adding tags to maps and mods.

My explanations will relate directly to PP, other sites may explain tags in a more general way.

Web 2.0

Tags are often associated with something called Web 2.0, which is a way of describing the evolution of the Internet where the users of a website have a much greater interaction with both the site and the other users.

What are tags

Well, tags are really just words that get associated with (Tagged to) maps and mods. There is no limit to the number of tags that can be added to each map and mod. Other people have called them Keywords.

A tag should be self explanatory; by seeing a tag it should be very clear what it describes. New tags can be added to maps and mods at anytime and can contain more than one word.

How are tags different from categories?

In the case of PP, only maps and mods can be tagged, not other types of entries, poll questions for example. In the case of single player maps and mods the categories are divided into individual games. So, if you click the Half-Life 2 category a list of maps and mods for Half-Life 2 will be displayed. So far, so good.

Tags are not connected to games at all. For example clicking Crossbow will display a list of maps and mods that have been tagged with that word – irrespective of which game they were created for.

Remember tags have to be manually associated with each post, so even though plenty of maps and mods contain the crossbow weapon only the ones I have manually added Crossbow to are displayed. This includes both Half-Life and Half-Life 2 mods, in fact all mods listed on the site.

Game Specific?

In the previous paragraph I mentioned that tags were not game specific and whilst this is conceptually true the reality is slightly different. Some words are by definition directly associated to some games. For example Hunters are only used with Half-Life 2: Ep 2 maps and mods and there are plenty of other examples.

Half-Life Series

I will only be adding and accepting tags for the Half-Life series of games, purely because that’s where I view the future of the site.

How they benefit the reader?

Tags will allow readers to quickly locate maps and mods that contain elements they enjoy. The types of elements have been divided into sections

By using tags it is possible for readers to quickly find particular styles of maps and mods they like. For example, imagine you really enjoy playing against Manhacks, which is true in my case. Until now there was no why to find those maps and mods that had more than a few Manhacks included.

The same could be true for other enemies or even types of weapons. The image below shows a section from the footer where the Tags are displayed.

Within each section they should be displayed alphabetically. The image is old! Airboat is now before Buggy!) By clicking a tag you will display all maps and mods that have that tag associated with them.

I have tried to create a flexible system and will add more tags and even sections if needed. Please comment if you have any questions or suggestions. I don’t claim the system is perfect but it’s certainly better than nothing.

Adding tags to maps and mods

The image above shows the About This Entry section which is displayed for each and every map and mod. This one is from Union For Half-Life 2: Ep 2. Let’s look quickly at some of the information contained in this area.

The white arrows highlights the current tags associated with this map and mod. Each one is a link, so clicking a tag will display a list of maps and mods that have been tagged with that tag.

Onto the next line.

The blue arrow highlights the area where all readers can add tags. The first grey area is for you to type your tag. It will accept more than one tag but they must be separated by a comma. Remember, a tag can contain more than one word. In the image above you can see I have typed 2 more tags. When I am ready to add them I click the button labeled Tag This.

This will open a small area and send the tags to my server. You will be thanked for adding tags.

Your tags are sent to a list where I choose what happens next. I can Approve them, Delete them or even Spam them if I think an automated system is involved.

The question mark on the same line will provide some basic information and a link back to this article.

Some Tagging Concepts

I have tried to organize the tags to be as intuitive as possible but there are some guiding principles you should be aware of.

Firstly, I only add a tag if whatever I am tagging appears in sufficient numbers or for a significant proportion of the map or mod. For example you could probably add Headcrab to 99.9% of all Half-Life maps and mods. That defeats the purpose of having them. I would only add that tag if the map or mod features an inordinate amount of headcrabs.

You need to consider why readers are searching for maps and mods than contain the tag. The previously used example of Crossbow is a good one because so few maps and mods contain them. It is also a weapon that many people enjoy using.

Secondly, for most tags I use the plural, except for weapons and some enemies. Some tags should be obvious. For example there is normally only one Magnum in a map or mod, so that is singular. Combine Elite Guards normally appear in groups, so they are plural.

If in doubt add the plural and I will edit it if necessary.

Some tags I will not accept

I will not accept tags of authors names because they can be just searched for. Other tags I will not accept are vague ones; for example Combine. I probably won’t be adding every weapon because I don’t feel that really benefits a reader searching. The same for every enemy. Of course I can’t list everything I will not accept but I may add to the list above later.

REMEMBER

Adding tags is supposed to help readers find maps and mods, that should be the guiding principle when adding tags. Ask yourself this: “Will this tag help other readers find this mod more easily?”

Conclusion

This article should have given you a better understanding of the How and Why of tags, but as also please feel free to comment with questions, suggestions, including individual tags you think are missing, and ideas.

Thank You for reading.