Is Thread Tagging Really That Neccessary For Forums?

DRE

DRE

Well-known member
Trying to figure out if I really need this feature. I feel like the tagging in XenMedio imports spam to my own site from YouTube and really doesn't serve a good function other than saving those dumb search terms to the database. About the regular forum tagging mod, I feel like search is good enough but then sometimes xenforo search sucks.
 
AndyB said:
IMHO tagging is not needed and only serves to waste time. A well written post will have enough words that a search engine will be able to find it.
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I agree. I think there should be a 'trending terms' type of modification instead.

Have those show up on the search page and on a sidebar as most searched terms.
 
I've never personally needed it or used it but I know alot of people request it to be integrated in add-ons and the core so in some shape or form I suspect it must serve a purpose.
 
The only time I've even found tagging remotely useful is doing a twitter search. And since I so rarely use Twitter. :cool:
 
Outside of issue tracking for software development, or organizing something like bookmarks, I don't find tagging all that useful. I'd much rather just search, despite any shortcomings -- most people suck horribly at applying appropriate tags.
 
I only tag someone if I need them to view the post or they are included in the post and its important for them to see it, otherwise I don't need it. It can be useful sometimes for I would recommend keeping it.
 
DRE said:
sometimes xenforo search sucks.
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All forum searching sucks.
Xenforo's search is the same as vB and IPB.
As craigiri recently said: forum searching is not going to beat Google.
The best current upgrade from forum searching is .. Google.

Tagging in XenMedio is probably a good thing.
When you stumble upon a video you like ... it's nice to be able to find similar other ones.

Read the XenTag thread.
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/tinhte-xentag.32231/
 
As an end-user on forums I've never used tags, and as an admin I'd not want the extra work of having to ensure content had the right tags. The only use I almost had for them was done instead by thread prefixes.
 
I think tags are very useful. Tags are essentially pre-made search items for people's convenience. Really, there are people who wants to search for something but don't know what to put in the search field to get the best results.
I don't think that tags help to boost SEO though.
 
Tagging *can* be useful if you have a user base who understands how to take advantage of that feature, otherwise tags tend to be useless or a nightmare for the admins/moderators.

And why must every thread about a forum feature have at least one reference to SEO voodoo?
 
My members love tagging, we also use it to alert people to site updates aswell, it works a lot better than notices / announcements.
 
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