November 15, 2008

Tags.

You may have noticed that I've started making more specific tags -- the various labels at the end of each post. There are so many posts on this blog that huge numbers build up in the broad tag categories. The "Obama" tag has 896 posts.

So I've decided to get more specific -- with that "boring Obama speech" tag I created today and "Obama songs," things like that. There is a danger I'll make a new tag and then forget to use it again, like "shut up and believe." I sort of remember to use "written strangely early in the morning," but probably not as often as I write something strangely early in the morning.

When I first started doing tags, I tried to keep it general, with things like "animals." Now, when I have a post about an animal, I make a tag for the specific animal. Then, I do a search for all the old posts with that animal, and I'm always amused when some particular animal has been the subject of a lot of old posts. Of course, there are many old posts for "dog" and "squirrel," but I was delighted to find out, after I did a new "alligator" post, that I had 10 posts that could take the "alligator" tag. I had no idea I'd been writing about dolphins.

And today, when I created the "lobster" tag, I saw that I had 16 posts that deserved it. I clicked on the tag to see a page of miscellaneous old posts. I'd forgotten the time we murdered a lobster for dinner. (Recipe for Chilled Pea Soup with Lobster, Crème Fraiche and Wilted Watercress reachable through that link.) "We were just squealing and shooting photographs a la Annie Hall." I wrote that back in 2005, so it not only pre-dated tags, it pre-dated YouTube. It makes me want to do this now:



I love all the many ways the blog lets me reach into the past 5 years.

31 comments:

Trooper York said...

If garage mahal doesn't get a tag the terrorists have won.

Meade said...

Consider the Garagester

Ron said...

Or even I, the Ronolo!

Meade said...

Yeah! da do Ron Ron Ron, da do Ron Ron!

Meade said...

psst... think we're annoying her yet?

walter neff said...

She needs to put a Sarah Palin tag in every post so she gets more than 10 comments.

Our Sarah is much more popular than most of the people she has been posting about.

walter neff said...

I like that "Our Sarah" thing. I think Simon started it. Just like he says "Our Nino."

He seems like a very possessive guy that Simon.

walter neff said...

How come Simon does not have a tag? He is the most loyalest, bestest, most obsequious commenter here.

I think he needs a tag.

Meade said...

Now I'M starting to get annoyed.

Bissage said...

(1) And now with the more specific tags, it has become clear that Professor Althouse is well on her way to creating the most perfectly structured free-form art project ever in the history of the entire Universe.

(2) It's all too much for me to take
The love that's shining all around you
Everywhere, it's what you make
For us to take, it's all too much

(3) Sincerely . . . please accept my heartfelt thank you for everything.

Bissage said...

P.S. Love the Annie Hall clip!

walter neff said...

Mission accomplished!!!

Hey where did I hear that before?

Ron said...

Meade, you have a tag, yes? Simon, I grant you an honorary tag! I'll give you a tag on my blog, even though you've not posted there!

Meade said...

Mission accomplished!!!
Hey where did I hear that before?


Dont know. Probably not from the President -electl Was it here?

Meade said...

I do, Ron. But what I really want is a tag on your blog. That is, if you'll ever invite me to read your blog.

I'm Full of Soup said...

How about a tag for posting about tags?

Wince said...

Let's not play moral equivalence between humans and lobsters.

Zachary Sire said...

I love all of the tags here. Tags are almost as important as the title of the post. Speaking of titles, why does Althouse always use punctuation in her titles? It bothers me. Specifically, it's the periods. They're not needed in titles, unless it's part of a quote or you have more than one sentence in your title.

Would you title an essay with a period? What about a book? Imagine looking at a book cover and seeing a period after the title...crazy!

Moby Dick.

The Bible.

The Scarlet Letter.

See, it's weird. Blog post titles do not need periods because they are titles, not a part of the text of your post, in my opinion.

DaLawGiver said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DaLawGiver said...

Rock Lobster, this time with a spell check.

Ann Althouse said...

"Speaking of titles, why does Althouse always use punctuation in her titles?"

There is a reason for this long-standing practice. Look at the first month of this blog. Scroll all the way to the bottom. See? No titles. Now look at the top of that month. Something title-like was created by beginning the post in bold face. Since that was continuous with the rest of the post, there needed to be a period. By the second month of the blog, I had the practice of putting the first sentence in bold face as a title.

I don't know if there was a way to do titles back then in a separate font on a separate line in the template I was using at the time. I can't remember. But I see that I started making separate line titles in May 2004. If you scroll down you can see that post in the old format is on May 1st. May 2d, I have my first real title on a separate line, and I retain the convention of ending the title-like beginning with a period. I think that part of it was a stylistic choice, but part of that I thought I might go back to the old format, with the title merged with the post, and the period would need to be there.

Once that decision was made, it was a matter of consistency, which is why I do it now. I know it bugs some people. I hope that this explanation helps you adjust and that you feel better now?

Ann Althouse said...

And Simon has a tag:

http://althouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Simon (the commenter)

Ann Althouse said...

I do tags for commenters in that form when the commenter has just a completely plain first name that would confuse readers who don't follow the commenters.

Ann Althouse said...

Here's one for Ron:

http://althouse.blogspot.com/search/label/ron (the commenter)

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

i wish palin was half as smart as our beloved professor.

Zachary Sire said...

I understand. And I respect the consistency. I knew there had to be an explanation.

Ron said...

I'll be damn! I had a tag and didn't know it! Well, that sums up a lot about my life, dunnit!

Meade, come over to Fluffy Stuffin as you are always welcome...It's a hot dog stand compared to this cathedral of tags, but, hey, ya do what ya can!

Meade said...

Thanks, Ron (the commenter)

I hope that this explanation helps you adjust and that you feel better now?

Is she the mostest or what? Next she'll be offering you a warm steamed towel and a hot mug of herb tea.

Meade said...

"cathedral of tags"

That's front pageable.

AllenS said...

That movie clip should inspire a new tag: free range lobsters.

walter neff said...

You should use periods when it is a persons title that should go after their name. Like Jr. Or Esq.

Or after Michael's name. Moby. Dick.