On the WordPress dashboard (when you’ve logged into your blog) you can see links to recent blog posts and other news regarding WordPress. I was checking out some of the posts and read this post by Lorelle where she says Matt just announced a delay of version 2.2. One thing I noticed was that Lorelle mentioned that one of the reasons for the delay was the addition of tags and some problems with implementing that. I did not know about that and I think that’s great news - because that’s one of the things I’ve found missing in WordPress. So far I’ve solved that problem with the “Keywords:” thing that I have at the end of each post with tag links to Technorati.
Although I don’t mind linking to Technorati because they send me traffic every now and then - I would like to keep my visitors on my site for as long as I can ;) Therefore I was looking for an alternative - and I was planning on finding a plug-in that would add tag support. I believe “Ultimate Tag Warrior” does that - but now it looks like I don’t need to install that plug-in.
Having tag links in your blog posts that Technorati picks up (links with the rel=”tag” property) can bring you some nice traffic from people searching for those keywords (the words in the anchor text of the tag link) and I think bloggers should definitely use tags. If you’re using one of the popular blog platforms (WordPress, Movable Type, etc.) Technorati should pick up tags based on what categories your blog posts are filed under. However, you might not want to have too many categories but still want to appear in Technorati under a few other keywords - and that’s when tags can come in handy. Tags can also be used as a less formal way of categorizing your blog posts.
I look forward to the release of WordPress 2.2 2.3 and hopefully we’ll only need to wait a few weeks months longer.
Update: Oh man! Only a few moments after publishing this post I read this post by Dougal Campbell and it looks like we won’t get tag support until version 2.3 :( According to the WordPress roadmap version 2.3 is due in 4 months (late August 2007). Not sure if I want to wait 4 months for tag support - I might install the Ultimate Tag Warrior plug-in after all…
Update 2: While I was editing this post and adding the first update it looks like Matt Mullenweg himself came to check out my blog (probably because of the ping) and he even added a comment to clarify that WordPress won’t have tag support until “a later release”. I don’t want to geek out but I think it’s pretty cool that the #1 Matt (according to Google) commented on my blog. He’s about my age and already achieved so much - the work he has done with WordPress is amazing and he’s definitely one of the bigger “internet celebrities” ;)
Keywords: wordpress, tags, website traffic, Matt Mullenweg, Technorati
12 responses so far ↓
Matt // Apr 19, 2007 at 7:15 pm
Actually I think we’re going to be saving tags for a later release so we can get the implementation just right.
Lorelle // Apr 19, 2007 at 10:04 pm
I’m glad you are having fun with this!
Some more information for you. If you are using your categories well, then you don’t need tags.
Right now, if you are using the latest version of WordPress with the latest version of the Ultimate Tag Warrior, be warned that there are some bugs and the Plugin can increase the hits on your database, which some smaller minded hosts find a bad thing. ;-)
Hopefully, before WordPress implements tags, UTW will be fixed so it will be a little more database friendly.
On the issue of having your tags at the bottom of your posts link to Technorati, it doesn’t matter where they link, Technorati will find them. It isn’t a thank you, and in fact can lose you readers.
Consider changing these to site search links so your readers will find keyword related information ON your blog, not off. Have you really checked to see where your Technorati tags lead and the information in those tag pages? Take a look and you may change your mind about their relevance.
For more information on tagging, I recommend Tags and Tagging in Wordpress.
I hope this helps. And we are all anxious and excited about the tag feature in WordPress.
Hannes Johnson // Apr 19, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Thanks for dropping by Lorelle - and thanks for the tips. I’ve seen how you handle tags and I might try that instead of linking to Technorati.
I’ll check out your post - looks like you’re covering a lot there ;)
WordPress 2.2 retrasado - Carrero Bitácora de los Hermanos Carrero, David Carrero Fernández-Baillo y Jaime Carrero Fernández-Baillo. // Apr 19, 2007 at 10:53 pm
[...] Actualización 19-04-2006 22:38: Parece que la funcionalidad de etiquetas de Wordpress (WP Tags) se podría retrasar con total seguridad para la versión 2.3 prevista para finales de abril o principios de mayo como cita Matt en la lista wp-hackers. vía: Geek rambling and Hannes Johnson. [...]
Angelika // Apr 19, 2007 at 11:21 pm
Just letting you know that I’ve favorited your blog on Technorati as a part of the Technorati Favorites Exchange. :-)
Here’s my link.
Angelika // Apr 19, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Where’d you get the top commentators thing on your sidebar? Is it a widget?
Hannes Johnson // Apr 20, 2007 at 1:23 am
Angelika - thanks for fav-ing my blog — I just fav’d yours ;)
And you can get the Top Commentators plug-in here.
Dawud Miracle // Apr 20, 2007 at 1:27 pm
I just saw this. Like Matt said…
Felista // Apr 20, 2007 at 1:50 pm
O my You guys are doing a lot am not even sure I understand what tags are am lost here. Help
Best CD Rates // Apr 28, 2007 at 6:14 pm
man! i was hoping for some tag support too.
Robert Irizarry // Apr 28, 2007 at 9:00 pm
Tag support would be nice - I tend to prefer having the functionality built in rather than added as another plugin. With all the plugins I use, I’m always concerned about compatibility issues. That said, I am using Ultimate Tag Warrior. It’s too early to say how effective it is for my blog but the tags are there.
Jeff Kee // May 7, 2007 at 7:05 am
Wow tags would be good. And yes I guess I broke into the top 100 favorited, thanks! I’m busy adding back those who added me.
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