You may have noticed that Gather does not use a standard taxonomy on the site, unlike most other complex media sites. If you have been on Gather for a few weeks or months, you will notice that we removed the "Browse by Topics" navigation that rested on the left-hand side of the page. We have converted all of our taxonomical categories into tags, which are more free-form, less hierarchical, and more easily searchable than the topics we presented in the Beta version of Gather.
A new way to organize. Ever use the Dewey Decimal System or try to categorize a business using SIC codes? These old hierarchies have not kept up with the worlds they live in. Tags free you from having to do the same. Tagging is a relatively new concept, but it provides a lot of advantages for readers and for writers. Think of it as a way to describe your content that fits your intent, rather than getting pigeonholed into a small pre-defined box. If you are writing about the Brooklyn Bridge, you might classify that as "New York City landmarks" or "travel" or "engineering feats" depending on what you say. It might be about all of those things. By using tags, you can describe your image or article with all of the most appropriate words, and have readers find you and your content when you are on the same wavelength.
Navigating a tag-only site. In the blue box outlined at the top of the page, Gather offers some easy ways to find topical content. The "Suggested Tags" show content by what Gather has chosen to be the most important topics on the site. Since you, the Gather Community, can react to news and information or popular concepts at a moment's notice, you can also look at the most viewed (how many Gather folks clicked on the article), most discussed (how many comments were placed on this topic), or most published (the frequency of use of that particular tag). This allows you to browse common categories, or search based on what the Gather community has indicated to be commonly read and reviewed topics such as "random musings" or "writing contests". Additionally, if there is a term you want to search on Gather, you can just type in www.gather.com/<keyword>, such as www.gather.com/news and head straight for the images, articles and groups that use that keyword.
Tagging for maximum exposure. There is really no perfect way to tag – it's a function of what you have to say and how you want people to perceive your work. Some of the best examples of self-promotion that I have seen have used only 5 to 10 tags, one of which is the person's name, at least two come from the list of "selected" tags, and the rest give simple, search-like terms that help readers find the article in question.
What do you think of the new structure? Are tags easier to use? Do they help you find great content? Or do you prefer a structured taxonomy? Let me know by posting a comment or sending me a message.
Note: There are some technical tips that need to be taken into account. You can have spaces and hypens in your tags, but anything separated by a comma becomes a new tag. You should also consider what people might search for – one word like "katrina" or multiple words like "response to hurricane'. A string of unconnected words need to be separate in order to be found easily.
David is Editor in Chief of Gather.com. His other "Editor's Desktop" articles can be found at www.gather.com/editors desktop. You can find more of David's thoughts at david.gather.com.
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Comments: 26
That's okay if you know exactly what you're looking for, and it's okay if you're open to anything. It's not as good if you want to go to your favorite area and browse.
David
If there isn't, won't there be a glut of articles with tags that only the author of the article understands, in so far as how they relate to the article they publish ?
Example:
If someone publishes a faiy tale and they tag it with: apple, poison, sleeping, beauty, prince, kiss, searches using those tags might turn up articles on everything from botulism to rock music.
I'm sure I'll get used to it.
On the second page of the publishing wizard, we scan what you have selected, and recommend other tags based on the content you have written, and what we have seen others tag on similar articles. If you like those tags, you can add those as well.
These tools should help you tag consistently yourself, and be consistent with others as well. As you go through your next series of postings, let us know if these tools help you tag better.
David
David
I also made another horrible beginner mistake that I feel terrible about, but was not able to ifnd a solution for. I was reading an article that I was really enjoying, and when I got to the bottom, I thought it had more pages. It was the end, but I thought it continued to the next page. Just based on navigating other sites, I clicked on the "2." Unfortunately, that was the ratings icon, so I inadvertantly gave a 2 rating to a very good piece. I wanted to change it, of course. On Netflix, you simply click a different star and you can immediately change the rating. I couldn't do this, however. So I started to search the FAQ;s....This caused other problems--with few raters, that moved the piece toward the end of the group, and I was never able to find it again and write an apology!! It's all rather embarrassing, to be honest, and I feel like an idiot. I spend a fair amount of time using the Internet, but I have not managed to work this site very well. However, I believe that if we can continue to give supportive feedback, things will become easier for everyone, I hope. I appreciate the way gather offers opportunities to publish and enjoy others' work.
That has been very frustrating to me. I have tried to make it a habit to copy what I wrote so I can paste it back in the piece, but it seems when I'm the most into it I forget to copy the things and all my thoughts written down have vanished, hopefully they will float back later for me to write them down again.
Regarding the tags - we are considering the ability to allow you to tag things you read, since of course they will have different meaning to you than to the author. What is a family story to one, may be salvation to another. We'll let you decide how to keep track. Stay tuned on that.
Also, the latest version of the site allow you to see a history of events related to your network of connections and content. In the "My Info" menu at the top right, you can select "My Activity" and clcik on the pull-down menu for "My Network's Activity" to see what has happened on Gather. We have also started emailing a daily or weekly "Digest" of activity, which you can sign up for under "Preferences" under the same menu.
I hope that helps you and the rest!
David
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When I attach images to articles I've never been able to drag an uploaded image onto the article area. I can only copy and paste. If I want to use the enlarged image feature I have to first go through the publishing steps to Preview and then Edit before I'm able to copy the enlarged image to the article.