What can be done to improve the functionality of tags on a website?

Question

I have some rough ideas - for example, dealing with a singular / plural, two or more words / phrases that mean the same thing, typos, etc. But I'm not sure of any patterns or rules of thumb to solve these problems. programmatically and automatically, or by submitting them to administrators or even users for cleaning.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Answer 1

You must have a policy for the tag format (for example, tags must be unique). Depending on how diverse the tags are, it would be useful not only to autocomplete when entering a tag, but also to offer similar tags so that people can easily use tags. In addition, the cleaning process can correct common spelling errors and replace obsolete tags according to the translation table.

Answer 2

As SO does, suggesting existing tags as you type is very good. He (almost hopefully) takes care of the plural / singular and typos, as people will reuse existing tags much more.

Answer 3

Use the ajax-driven tooltip like StackOverflow :)

Answer 4

Assuming that the setting is not incompatible with SO: how about the moderators being allowed to combine the smaller voted tag into a more general one, for example. VS9 can be combined in VisualStudio2008, but not allow the larger used tag to be combined into a smaller grouping of labels. Adding stimulus to an icon or similar.