19
votes
Can we increase the maximum tag length?
This can be increased, but only up to a maximum of 35 characters. This means zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance is right out.
I increased the allowed length to 32, thus allowing zen-and-art-...
- 101
17
votes
Author name formats
I've been trying to set some consistent standards for author tag names, e.g. ensuring that we never use just a single name for the tag: thus william-shakespeare instead of shakespeare.
However, to ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
15
votes
When should I use an author tag?
Let's think about this practically. If a Shakespeare expert comes to our site and wants to find questions about Shakespeare to answer, do we want them to be able to find all those questions in a ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
14
votes
Accepted
Tag name conventions: to the or not to the?
Be consistent. Use the full tag name where practical
The reason to use the full title as a tag (where practical) is that's how (some) people are going to search/enter it.
If the tag does not include ...
14
votes
Accepted
Are questions on online literature and e-books on-topic? if yes, then please make tags for them
Yes, these should be on-topic.
As I've already said on a few other scope meta questions, why not? They're written works, and they can be just as interesting and worthy of analysis as paper books. In ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
14
votes
Accepted
What's going on [behind-the-scenes]?
Burninate behind-the-scenes
This is clearly the most appropriate resolution as everything, which currently falls under behind-the-scenes would belong better under a more specific tag.
The only one ...
- 6,281
11
votes
Accepted
I typoed a tag but didn't notice. How can I fix it?
For straightforward corrections like this (no discussion required), you can simply flag the question for moderator attention. Otherwise, a meta post is fine.
10
votes
Do we need such broad tags on questions about specific works?
As a counter to Robert's post, I am of the counter argument crowd.
Many fans of literature (and dare I say "experts") will be interested in a particular language-of-origin. To me, a first-time or ...
- 4,301
10
votes
Is [german-literature] about literature in German or from Germany?
I think we should use language-based tags over country-based tags.
This is because language-based tags are much easier to define. If a book is set in country A, written in country B by an author from ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
10
votes
Accepted
How do I tag questions properly?
This answer will by necessity not cover all cases; when in doubt check the tag wiki excerpts for tags you are considering using, or ask in chat/meta. “Tag wiki excerpts” are the little usage guidance ...
9
votes
What should be our standard tags?
This isn't something we need to discuss. Tags will just appear as people create, edit, and remove them. Besides, there's no way to create a tag without asking a question - so unless you have a ...
- 343
9
votes
What's going on [behind-the-scenes]?
I agree with Benjamin's answer, burninate.
It's weird to say "behind the scenes" about literature to begin with. The term originates from theater and was applied to film because film evolved from ...
- 2,093
9
votes
Accepted
Should we merge and synonymise [history] and [history-of]?
The history tag was only used on one question, which I've now retagged history-of, thus essentially accomplishing a merge. There's no point in synonymising these two tags, since typing history into ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
9
votes
Should tags on a question include the presumed answer?
Tags should describe the question, not its answers ...
After all, that's why questions get tags and answers don't. Tags are meant to enable people to find lists of questions on a particular topic - ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
8
votes
Accepted
How do we feel about genre-based tags?
We shouldn't use genre-based tags.
Not because they're too broad to be useful, or because we should only use work and author tags, but because genres usually can't be objectively defined.
What makes ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
8
votes
Should the LGBT tag just be sexuality?
Sure.
This way we avoid all the arguments about 'q' and the tag covers a larger number of questions. Also, anyone who's an expert in those questions will probably also be knowledgeable about the ...
MithicalMod
- 26.3k
8
votes
Accepted
Should we tag according to language, or according to the type of literature that the authors identify with?
Let's reanimate a forgotten proposal: how about renaming x-literature language tags to x-language? For example, tagging things as french-language or russian-language instead of french-literature or ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
7
votes
Do we need such broad tags on questions about specific works?
Yes, absolutely! Our primary tags should be body-of-literature tags. Tags about individual authors may be useful for fine-grained filtering but they're useless for area-of-expertise filtering.
The ...
7
votes
Is a [title] tag useful?
Seems fine to me. My only thought is just that the tag wiki should be clear in when to use it (only when discussing the title of a novel in a literary setting/analysis/discussion).
- 4,615
7
votes
How should we deal with authors who use pseudonyms?
My first instinct was to make them synonyms. However, I then read DVK's comment (quoted below), and I now think that is not the correct course of action.
Respect the author's wishes and treat ...
- 1,863
7
votes
Should we have country name tags? If so, how should we use them?
My answer is "it doesn't matter at this point, in the context of larger issue of whether we have nation/country/culture/language based tags in the first place".
A bigger, strategic question is, Do we ...
- 4,645
7
votes
Request for a 'novel' tag
I understand the problem (I've also experienced it, as a new user in public beta), but I don't think that a [novel] tag is the solution. It has the potential to get really messy, and is not in keeping ...
- 6,010
7
votes
Is it worth changing [song-lyrics] to [lyrics]?
Nah.
It may be slightly redundant, but if someone types 'song' into the tag spot, they should have the right tag come up. The easier it is to find the correct tag, the better. We want to make the ...
MithicalMod
- 26.3k
7
votes
Is it worth changing [song-lyrics] to [lyrics]?
I was going to say "make it so", but then thought about it a bit more ...
We don't lose anything by having a slightly longer tag name. You might argue that it's redundant, but while small ...
Rand al'ThorMod
- 74.4k
7
votes
Do we want to tag questions by the titles of books (part 2)?
Yes.
Title tags offer a lot more benefit than drawbacks - those include easier navigation, less ambiguity, easier customisation of the site.
Title tags make navigation a lot easier
Obviously one ...
- 8,504
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