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I'm editing this to bump it, because I've been finding a lot of tags with no descriptions and few questions associated with them. If you feel like we need to group a certain set of questions with a new tag, please take a few minutes to write a sentence explaining what kind of questions you think the tag should be applied to so that the rest of the community can help find questions it belongs on. A tag that has a single question isn't living up to its full potential.

We have had a lot of angst over tags, and I think a lot of the heartache could be lessened if we had well-written descriptions of the tags. While a tag might make a perfect sense and seem obvious to the person that created it, I think every single tag could benefit from a description. Some guidance on how to apply the tag will help make sure that the community understands what it's for, which should help with the adoption of new tags.

We're not in terrible shape, because our most popular tags have some sort of description, but we still have a lot of tags that have no guidance at all. Let's not add to that stack of tags with no descriptions - you're creating that tag for a good reason, so let's make sure that when a question is tagged with it, the author understands why it was added.

I keep an eye on the new tags tab and I see some good ones being added, but it's about 50/50 whether someone remembers to add a description. For example, I have a pretty good idea what should be used for, but it shouldn't take too much effort to write some quick guidance for it and make sure we're all on the same page.

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  • The problem is we have some tags that should ideally not exist, not due to a philosophical reason and the purpose of tags and all that, but because they're actually DUPES of other tags. And editing a description in would only mean the tag is here to stay. – M.A.R. Oct 5 '16 at 8:08
  • @Rubisco I think a description would make it more apparent when a two tags are serving the same purpose. I know you have good reason to be discouraged about the tag situation, but I don't think this is going to make it worse. – ColleenV Oct 5 '16 at 10:06
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    It's not about the same purpose and whether it needs to be clear they serve the same purpose. Just that last time I went to the tag's page . . . I mean, when you find [adverb-phrase], [adverbial-phrase], [adverb], [phrase] or sometimes even [adverbs] and [phrases] you just don't know where to start. – M.A.R. Oct 5 '16 at 16:47
  • @Rubisco You won't get any argument from me that we need to have some basic agreement on how we form tags, and if folks are interested in doing regular initiatives, I think the tag situation is a good place to start. – ColleenV Oct 5 '16 at 17:05

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