Once a discussion is tagged, it will be included in a dedicated page for each tag. As discussions across all categories are tagged, they will become more discoverable.
Some of the forum’s most popular content is class-specific threads. Right now there are Class of 2024 discussions for various schools, majors and general categories. It is possible to find many via search, but readers won’t necessarily think to do that. Having a “Class2024” tag on the bottom of the post, will point users click on the tag so they can find other threads on the topic. (Obviously, we’ll expand this to other classes in the next few weeks so that students who expect to graduate in other years can find their discussions.)
Discussions may have up to five tags (after we add more than the initial two, of course). And they need not have any tags at all. The long term goal is to allow discussions to be tagged a variety of ways. But for the moment we’re testing with a limited set of tags. We want to see how the feature gets used before we add more.
We started with two topics that are very timely at the moment, but we’re also considering tags such as:
schools
majors
community events
We’re also interested in learning what tags you might find useful. (Please put your feedback in the comments below.)
The author can add a tag when they create/edit the thread, @twokids2go. Unfortunately, authors must edit within 15 minutes, so most of the existing threads are not going to be tagged. Several of us on staff will be adding tags to existing discussions so that they will be properly indexed.
How do you get to the tags? Will there be a line under “Latest Posts” on the right, or do you have to bookmark them? It seems like you have to know they are there, or is there a way to access them from a menu? Thanks!
Excellent question, @belmom! At the moment we don’t have a convenient way to find or follow tags. If you see one on the bottom of the post, you can click it to see other posts with that tag.
However, we are planning to use tags to assist in navigation. We know it’s gotten a lot harder to find discussions since the site was moved to the new theme. It’s something I’d like to get fixed as quickly as possible. Tags are just one part of that plan.
@belmom: I found out there is a list of “Popular Tags” (both of them!) in the sidebar of [Latest Posts page](College Confidential Forums). That’s not super helpful for discoverability, but there you go.
@jym626 : A recent example from a new post: [UVA or Umich](UVA or Umich - College Search & Selection - College Confidential Forums). The post itself doesn’t directly mention the expected year of graduation or COVID-19/Coronavirus. But the author did include those tags, so it not only gives the reader more context, but also allows us to connect that post with other related posts.
As for other tags we might consider, just about anything that might group a thread with other threads on the site are fair game. We’re going to be careful with what we add initially, but I suspect we’ll have all sorts of tags in the not so distant future.
You have to edit the post. So for the most part, that means only the author within the 15 minute edit window. If you’d like to add a tag to an existing post, feel free to post the link here and I can add it. We’re exploring ways to let other people add tags in the future since asking me isn’t going to scale.
Oh. And it’s only the main thread that’s tagged. Individual comments can’t be tagged.
“Class2024” may be ambiguous (does it mean high school or college class of 2024?).
Also, college students are less likely to graduate in exactly four years compared to high school students, so something like “CollegeFrosh2020” may be clearer.
The library would be helpful so we don’t end up with multiple tags with the same meaning. For example. UC vs University of California or CSU vs California State University
I think Chance Me would be useful (so I personally can know to skip those… lol). Also, I would find Tests/SAT/ACT or Financil Aid/FAFSA/CSS useful , if those aren’t redundant with already having their own categories.
I agree, @ucbalumnus . In fact when I first saw this on the site, I was very confused about it. For now I want to stick to the convention on the site, but it is something I’d like to change in the months ahead.
[Obligatory Tommy Boy quote.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKA70sI7Kt0) I took 6 years myself and I know people who finish in three. Also, it’s confusing for two-year schools. And then there are winter and spring admissions. I’m thinking “Fall Admission 2020” would be clearer. Most of these discussions have 2024 in their titles, which complicates things. Still, I’d argue it’s 2024 that’s unclear.
Absolutely, @lkg4answers ! We did some work automating tagging of older posts and found exactly that problem. The reverse is true too: UCB usually means Berkley, but it can also be University College Birmingham. We’re going to be careful with these tags to avoid ambiguation.
Good suggestions, @Anneiv. The trick with Chance Me is that we don’t (yet?) have a good system for using tags to avoid discussions. Tags typically bring more attention to topics. (Or at least that’s the goal.)
The other tag ideas are potentially useful since discussions of those topics are certainly not confined to those categories.
Tags might not be the right choice for that, @Lindagaf . We probably need to look into how pinned posts are currently displayed. (I’ve also had the problem noticing them. :neutral: ) Is there something specific you’ve observed? Which pinned posts ought to be more visible? The more details you can share, the more likely we’ll be able to find a solution that works.
