# tags **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 4, 2008, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470 "2008-10-04T19:03:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/21 "2008-10-04T22:46:56Z")
Can we make suggestions for rules or guidelines on implementation? ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2008, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/22 "2008-10-04T23:58:09Z")
Um… [sub]where are these ‘tags’ ? I don’t see 'em.[/sub] on edit: oh. never mind. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/23 "2008-10-05T00:54:28Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > They’ve been disabled for now. Someone added “retard” as a tag to one thread, so we’re leaving them off until the staff can discuss how–or if–they should be implemented. What were they? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/24 "2008-10-05T02:21:15Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > At this point, that’s what it looks like. I didn’t see where we could tell who created which tag, and a search of the vBulletin forums also seems to support that idea. There are a few third-party add-ons which show who created the tags, but it doesn’t seem to be a native feature. > > We’ve held off on any decision regarding those until the board is fully functional and not just in a stage of repair. Jerry’s doing an excellent job, and we don’t want to unintentionally hamstring him by turning on features that may or may not cause a problem with his fixes (or give false positives if he’s trying to track down a problem). But as soon as he gives the okay, we’ll look at all of the new features and get back with everyone. Can you restrict the words allowed as tags? This is a great feature that can cut down on searches. As an example, I was trying to catalog Dopefests and Tolkien threads and I did catalog most New Jersey threads. An can you please turn the signature default back to off. I keep forgetting to turn it off as I am so use to it the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/25 "2008-10-05T02:27:26Z")
> [@SkipMagic](#): > > We’ve held off on any decision regarding those until the board is fully functional and not just in a stage of repair. Jerry’s doing an excellent job, and we don’t want to unintentionally hamstring him by turning on features that may or may not cause a problem with his fixes (or give false positives if he’s trying to track down a problem). But as soon as he gives the okay, we’ll look at all of the new features and get back with everyone. > [@RyJae](#): > > All good and thanks for being so forthcoming with answers. It is appreciated. I’ll second this–thanks for the rationale and heads up. Tripler I hope they do come back. ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/26 "2008-10-05T02:35:57Z")
> [@BiblioCat](#): > > What were they? > [@ZenBeam](#): > > What the heck are tags? I will add my voice to this chorus: What are “tags” and what do they do? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/27 "2008-10-05T02:42:40Z")
> [@Randy\_Seltzer](#): > > I will add my voice to this chorus: What are “tags” and what do they do? Tags are keywords that can be added to a thread. This allows for a different type of search. A search that is also quicker. As an example, I had started tagging Dopefests with the tag Dopefest. If it was a Jersey Dopefest I tagged it with Dopefest, Jersey, New Jersey. Gettysdope got Dopefest, Gettysdope. Now if you were reading a New Jersey tagged thread and wanted to find more threads on New Jersey, you could click on the New Jersey tag at the bottom of the thread and pull up all threads tags New Jersey. Jim ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/28 "2008-10-05T10:36:51Z")
Pardon my stupid, but I can’t seem to find the option to turn on/off my signature file. It popped up on a reply where it really wasn’t a time where I would have chosen to display it and when I went to turn it off, I wasn’t able to find the option. I ended up deleting it just so it doesn’t randomly pop up. And for the record, in case anyone cares, add my “no” vote to having the default option be “signature on”. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/29 "2008-10-05T12:08:36Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Can you restrict the words allowed as tags? We can, but I’m not sure a word blacklist is a game you can truly win, not when there are so many different ways to say the same thing. For example, it’s easy to forbid the use of “asshole” in tags, but that leaves open “@sshole,” “a$$hole,” “assh0le,” “@ssh0le,” “assshole!,” etc… (No pun intended with ‘leave open’.) For every word we disallow, ten creative cousins will pop up in its place, and to be honest, I wouldn’t look forward to having to add to the list each time someone discovers a fun new way of insulting others. You can also unintentionally block too many words. Say that you decide to block “ass” from being used so that any word containing those three letters is prohibited. You’ve just knocked out “assignment,” “sassy,” “pass/passed/passing,” etc… It gets to be a real pain in the @s$. > [@](#): > > An can you please turn the signature default back to off. I keep forgetting to turn it off as I am so use to it the other way. We’ll send a note to Jerry. It looks like a change that needs to be done to one of the backend files; nothing that we have access to edit ourselves (or even should be able to). Both Invision and vBulletin boards make you edit the PHP for this and I’ve never uderstood why; disabling signatures is a popular request, so they should just build in a switch from the GUI. But, I gripe… **Salem** : Under each reply box is a section called “Additional Options”. Be sure to uncheck “Show your signature”. (The quick reply box, however, seems to be permanently set to show signatures. We’ll ask Jerry about that, too.) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/30 "2008-10-05T12:16:32Z")
When you activate the Quick Reply box, the signature option becomes usable. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/31 "2008-10-05T12:18:06Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > When you activate the Quick Reply box, the signature option becomes usable. But it’s on by default, and most people will forget to turn it off. ---
**Author:** ![SkipMagic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skipmagic/32/20706_2.png) [@SkipMagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkipMagic)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/32 "2008-10-05T12:47:10Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > When you activate the Quick Reply box, the signature option becomes usable. Oh, yeah. Forgot you had to activate it. Thanks. ETA: A quick edit screen is now available. Nice. ---
**Author:** ![Salem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Salem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Salem)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/33 "2008-10-05T14:15:41Z")
AhA! There it is. The first time I tried it didn’t work, but then I realized I’d deleted my signature, so that probably eliminated the option. I just put back a sig file and sure enough, there it is. Still would like to see that ‘default on’ checkmark removed. Thanks all ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/34 "2008-10-05T14:27:15Z")
Tags sound like they’d be really useful if we can minimize the potential for abuse. Can their use be limited to trusted users only? Possibilites would be Members only, users who have at least, say 100 posts, users who’ve been around for at least 6 months, or some combination of these. (I don’t think limiting them to Mods/Admins would work, since that would be too much work for such a small group.) Can people who abuse tags have their tagging privileges revoked independently of their posting privileges? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/35 "2008-10-05T15:13:44Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > Can people who abuse tags have their tagging privileges revoked independently of their posting privileges? The problem is that the mods can’t tell who added what tags. If they could, they could enable tags and just hand out warnings for jerkish ones. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/36 "2008-10-05T22:49:32Z")
How about allowing only the OP to add tags? Is that possible? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/37 "2008-10-05T23:14:40Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > How about allowing only the OP to add tags? Is that possible? Ooo, I like that idea. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/38 "2008-10-06T00:56:39Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > How about allowing only the OP to add tags? Is that possible? And, if possible, allow them to add more later, since alot of threads change direction at some point. For example, this tread could be tagged as ‘tags’, but later the OP may want to add a “multi quote” tag. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/39 "2008-10-06T01:00:14Z")
[This thread over at the vBulletin forums](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275533) discusses the problem of knowing who left a tag. One of the posters there says > [@flynnibus](#): > > Yes, click edit tags, hover over the tag and the username who left it is shown. Also, if you scroll down to below the last post, you can see how tags work. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470/40 "2008-10-06T16:10:10Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > How about allowing only the OP to add tags? Is that possible? > [@ZenBeam](#): > > [This thread over at the vBulletin forums](http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=275533) discusses the problem of knowing who left a tag. One of the posters there says > Also, if you scroll down to below the last post, you can see how tags work. Can we please try one of these solutions out. Tags can be an excellent addition as posters get use to them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tags/466470.md?page=3)