The implementation of the new WordPress 2.3 built-in tag system has not come without some joy and pain. Here are some bits of news and tips to help you with the new WordPress tags.
What is the Difference Between Tags and Categories?
A category is a table of contents for your blog posts, segregating your posts with grouped like-content.
A tag is an index word that helps you micro-categorize your blog posts. Tags are also keywords and search terms people use to search for the content and subject matter of your post. They are specific to the post content but can be used repeatedly to micro-categorize your blog post content.
To learn more about the differences between a tag and category, see:
- Tags and Tagging in WordPress
- Tags Are Not Categories – Got It?
- Putting Some Thought Into Blog Categories and Tags
- The Problems With Tags and Tagging
- Tagging With Emotions Not Common Sense
- Keywords Versus Tags
- Blog Post Category Trauma: How To Help Bloggers With Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Suggestions for Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Fixing Those Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Changing Your Categories in WordPress
- Categories versus Tags – What’s the Difference and Which One?
- An Interesting Use of Category Tags in wordpress.com
- Are You Abusing and Misusing Tags?
WordPress 2.3 Tag Features
By default, WordPress 2.3 tags are added to your blog posts via the Write Post panel in a tag input form below the post edit area. The tag words and phrases are linked to the blog post.
On full version WordPress 2.3 blogs, the tag links link to a tag page, similar to a category pageview, of posts on your blog.
Currently, without a WordPress Plugin, tags are edited and managed on a per post basis. You will have to edit that post to change its tags. There is no tag management panel or method, nor a panel to view all your tags or get tag suggestions.
On WordPress.com blogs, the tag links currently link to WordPress.com blogs using the same tag on some WordPress Themes, and to blog content on other WordPress Themes. There is a lot of discussion on why do some themes have local tags instead of global tags and turning off global tags and how to let users know tags are not local. The best fix would be to give WordPress.com bloggers an option on where they want their tags to link to, but right now, it’s everywhere.
For WordPress.com bloggers who want tags, but want to control where they link, you can not use the built-in tag feature and use something like the Tagging Bookmarklet for WordPress and WordPress.com blogs.
WordPress 2.3 Tag WordPress Plugins
UPDATE: Simple Tags WordPress Plugin is getting a lot of attention and respect as a well-rounded Plugin for managing the new native tagging in WordPress. Called the successor to the popular Simple Tagging Plugin, Simple Tags features “type-ahead” input tags, auto suggestion, tag management, listing no-tagged content, mass editing of tags, tags for Pages, tag related content, a possibility of adding related posts inside feeds, tag clouds, header tags, embedded tags, and a lot more.
The following are WordPress Plugins that are designed to work with the native tagging in WordPress 2.3:
- Simple Tags WordPress Plugin
- Recommended Tags WordPress Plugin
- Flash Tag Cloud WordPress Plugin
- Advanced Tag Entry WordPress Plugin
- Structured Tag Library WordPress Plugin
- WordPress 2.3 Configurable Tag Cloud Widget
- WordPress 2.3 Related Posts WordPress Plugin
- All In One SEO Pack WordPress Plugin
- WordPress Selectable Tag List WordPress Plugin
- Embedded Tag Thing WordPress Plugin
- Tag Managing Thing WordPress Plugin
- Tag Suggest Thing WordPress Plugin
- Click Tags WordPress Plugin
How Do I Put WordPress Tags in My WordPress Theme?
The WordPress Codex, the online manual for WordPress Users, describes the WordPress Template Tag tags for use within your WordPress Themes, if you enjoy doing things manually and taking full advantage of the power of WordPress template tags.
For an indepth look at the structure and specific template tags and handling of tags in WordPress, Ryan Boren has written a “Taxonomy Schema” with all the details.
Nathan Rice covers how to make your WordPress Theme backwards compatible to accommodate the new tags, and how to customize WordPress Tag tags on Themes. You can find more helpful tips and information on WordPress Tags in:
- Aaron Brazell – 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.3
- Ryan Boren – WordPress 2.3 Database schema changes
- Ryan Boren – WordPress 2.3 Taxonomy Schema
- How To Add WordPress 2.3 Tags To Your Current Theme by Rich Gilchrest
- WPDesigner – WordPress 2.3 Beta Review and Checklist (tips for including tags in your Themes)
What About Ultimate Tag Warrior and Other Tagging WordPress Plugins?
The Ultimate Tag Warrior by Christine Davis has been discontinued and will not work in WordPress 2.3. Do not fret. Christine has created the now popular WordPress 2.3 Plugins: Embedded Tag Thing WordPress Plugin, Tag Managing Thing WordPress Plugin, and Tag Suggest Thing WordPress Plugin.
UTW, Jerome’s Keywords, Simple Tags, Bunny’s Technorati Tags, and other tagging Plugins can have their tags imported into the new built-in tag feature through the Importer panel.
More on Tags in WordPress and Tagging Your Blog Posts
I’ve written a lot about tags and tagging over the past three years. Here are a few articles to help you learn more about how tags work, and how to make them work in your WordPress blogs.
- Tags Arrive on WordPress.com Blogs
- A Tagging Bookmarklet for WordPress and WordPress.com Users
- The Problems With Tags and Tagging
- Playing Tag With WordPress
- What Do You Blog About? Check Your Tags
- 2005 – The Year of the Tag
- Tidying Up Tags – A Technical Review
- Blog Post Category Trauma: How To Help Bloggers With Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Suggestions for Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Fixing Those Useless Categories
- Blog Post Category Trauma: Changing Your Categories in WordPress
- Link Referrals – Linking to Site Search Tags
- Abuse: Keyword Spamming versus Tag Spamming
- Tags and Tagging in WordPress
- One Year Anniversary Review: Tags, Tagging, and Categories
- Happy Taggiversary to Technorati
- Are You Abusing and Misusing Tags?
Site Search Tags: wordpress tips, wordpress tags, tags, tagging, post tags, wordpress 2.3, wordpress news, wordpress tag help, wordpress categories, category, wordpress post categories 
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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.
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20 Comments
Thank you ver much for this great article. I think the developers did a great job in adding the native tagging.
However, in your list of wp-2.3-compatible plugins, you forgot one great plugin: Simple Tags. It adds a richer tag-cloud, comparable to the one that was available with the UTW.
I wanted to second the endorsement of Simple Tags. It’s a powerful plugin–the “mass edit” feature has a lot of great options & the tag editor helped me clean up the messy tags created by Ultimate Tag Warrior.
Okay, three’s complete. The author of the old Simple Tagging plugin for versions of WP prior to 2.3 has been working hard on building the new Simple tags plugin that will eventually incorporate all the functions of his previous tagging plugin.
I also use Advanced Tag Entry as it compliments Simple Tagging by adding a tagging interface in the post editor field for quick tag editing.
And the All-In-One_SEO plugin is invaluable. I think the author should get an award for the most constantly updated WP plugin in history (an update every 1-3 days and I’m not kidding).
Alright, that’s my 3 cents worth. See ya’ next year! 😉
Yeah .. I think from everything released to enhance features of WP2.3 Simple Tags is one plugin that enables people previously relying on UTW to mostly address lost functionality. I say mostly because it fails to do so in some parts and specifically Technorati tags, which is addressed by plugin you mention – Technorati Tags plugin.
Actually these 2 combined make a very effective duo for UTW replacement as i have outlined in one of my last posts.
Also to note – WordPress 2.3 has a nasty bug of creating empty taxonomies that make tags look ugly and that is where Simple Tags comes through with shining armor and provides you with ability to “Clean” tags 🙂
Great post!
For those of us that haven’t been using tags and now wish to, what’s the quickest way to scan all our posts and have tags added?
I would also recommend Headspace 2 as a plugin with some tagging features. It integrates tagging and tag suggestions into the flexible way it handles setting your page meta data.
I really wanna use the tagging system that the new wordpress has, but a lot of my plugins won’t work with the new version. So I’m gonna wait to see if they update first. Then go through the headache of upgrading.
Skeddy,
Simple Tags plugin gives you that option 😀
Like everyone here, I think Simple Tags is the best plugin to tag with WP 2.3.
Due to the power of suggestion, I am going to install Simple Tags later today to see what all of the fuss is about.
Used Simple Tags this afternoon – brilliant!
Simple Tags and All in One SEO Pack are terrific plugins.
Where is Simple Tags ?! Great to write an article, but forgive the best plugin …
Sorry about the self promotion here (please forgive me!) but I wrote a little post the other day about some unique ways to use tags. Just kinda figured someone might be interested.
I also have to give three thumbs up for Simple Tags. It really is a great tagging plugin.
Thanks for the article and it looks like by looking at all the feedback using the simple tags plug in will really help maximize the 2.3 tagging feature. I’ll have to add another plug in to the list of things to do for the new blog. Thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
I updated from WordPress 2.2.2 to 2.3.1; unfortunately, the keywords produced by the Autometa 0.8 plugin were not supported by the importers. Anyone know how to take care of this division, or do I need to manually edit all my posts?
HI! Will any of these TAG plugins help me order/reorder my navugation tabs? Thanks for all the great articles!
bs
Haha, simple it sounds, simple it is on paper, but I’d say it’s easier said than done 😀
I don’t even have the categories listed on my (old) main blog anymore since the list got so long, it was embarrassing 😀 Then again, I started that blog pre-tagging, so my categories took on what tags should have been doing… and there’s not yet an easy way to consolidate the two (ie, all posts in category x –> assign tag y. Maybe you could do it raw in mysql? Eesh…)
@ yuletide:
There are several category/tag management Plugins that will help you sort your category mess. Look under Category Management in WordPress Plugins To Help You Administer Your Blog for suggestions.
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