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Meta Use tags instead of posts to describe sites?

I don't know the technical constraints on tags in terms of implementation, but as a matter of UX I think proposal are a better fit for tags. The current model of using posts (which appear similar ...

posted 1y ago by matthewsnyder‭ · edited 1y ago by matthewsnyder‭

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#2: Post edited by

matthewsnyder‭ · 2023-07-23T20:42:47Z (over 1 year ago)

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I don't know the technical constraints on tags in terms of implementation, but as a matter of UX I think proposal are a better fit for tags.
The current model of using posts (which appear similar to questions, but without the answer) provides some features that proposal don't really need:
* Comments. These are normally used to debate this or that detail of the proposal. These should be asked as questions tagged with the proposal in this meta section.
* Tagging. There doesn't seem to be much use case for tagging proposals. They will only ever be tagged with their own proposal tag, which seems like redundant busywork.
* Sorting. The sort filters don't really make sense for proposals. I don't see much need for someone to keep sorting the proposals page by age or score (which is not even supported by the proposal posts themselves). Normally the volume of new proposals should be small enough that sorting them is not a big problem.
Whereas if we used tags instead, there are certain advantages:
* Instead of having to maintain a description and tag for each proposal, we only maintain a tag, so it is more [DRY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself).
* It eliminates a section of the proposals site, which simplifies the site.
* The Incubator Q&A section can become the default landing page for proposals, which is more appropriate: For each proposal, you would expect multiple incubator questions to be posted, so users would use the incubator section more.
Some challenges for switching to tags:
* We already have a handful of proposals, someone will have to copy/paste their description into the proposal.
* Edit history is less obvious for tag descriptions.
* It is [harder](https://meta.codidact.com/posts/288633/288706) for new users to edit the descriptions

I don't know the technical constraints on tags in terms of implementation, but as a matter of UX I think proposal are a better fit for tags.
The current model of using posts (which appear similar to questions, but without the answer) provides some features that proposal don't really need:
* Comments. These are normally used to debate this or that detail of the proposal. These should be asked as questions tagged with the proposal in this meta section.
* Tagging. There doesn't seem to be much use case for tagging proposals. They will only ever be tagged with their own proposal tag, which seems like redundant busywork.
* Sorting. The sort filters don't really make sense for proposals. I don't see much need for someone to keep sorting the proposals page by age or score (which is not even supported by the proposal posts themselves). Normally the volume of new proposals should be small enough that sorting them is not a big problem.
Whereas if we used tags instead, there are certain advantages:
* Instead of having to maintain a description and tag for each proposal, we only maintain a tag, so it is more [DRY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself).
* It eliminates a section of the proposals site, which simplifies the site.
* The Incubator Q&A section can become the default landing page for proposals, which is more appropriate: For each proposal, you would expect multiple incubator questions to be posted, so users would use the incubator section more.
Some challenges for switching to tags:
* We already have a handful of proposals, someone will have to copy/paste their description into the proposal.
* Edit history is less obvious for tag descriptions.
* It is [harder](https://meta.codidact.com/posts/288633/288706) for new users to edit the descriptions
But admittedly, I think perfecting the site UX is less critical right now than gaining sufficient activity and getting some proposal wins (graduating some proposals into full sites with a healthy userbase). I think even the current situation is usable enough, and I don't see it as being a blocker to this. So although I say tags would be better, perhaps it doesn't matter either way for the near future.

#1: Initial revision by

matthewsnyder‭ · 2023-07-23T20:40:44Z (over 1 year ago)

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I don't know the technical constraints on tags in terms of implementation, but as a matter of UX I think proposal are a better fit for tags.

The current model of using posts (which appear similar to questions, but without the answer) provides some features that proposal don't really need:

* Comments. These are normally used to debate this or that detail of the proposal. These should be asked as questions tagged with the proposal in this meta section.
* Tagging. There doesn't seem to be much use case for tagging proposals. They will only ever be tagged with their own proposal tag, which seems like redundant busywork.
* Sorting. The sort filters don't really make sense for proposals. I don't see much need for someone to keep sorting the proposals page by age or score (which is not even supported by the proposal posts themselves). Normally the volume of new proposals should be small enough that sorting them is not a big problem.

Whereas if we used tags instead, there are certain advantages:
* Instead of having to maintain a description and tag for each proposal, we only maintain a tag, so it is more [DRY](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself).
* It eliminates a section of the proposals site, which simplifies the site.
* The Incubator Q&A section can become the default landing page for proposals, which is more appropriate: For each proposal, you would expect multiple incubator questions to be posted, so users would use the incubator section more.

Some challenges for switching to tags:
* We already have a handful of proposals, someone will have to copy/paste their description into the proposal.
* Edit history is less obvious for tag descriptions.
* It is [harder](https://meta.codidact.com/posts/288633/288706) for new users to edit the descriptions

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