Tag Consolidation Guide

This guide documents the standardized tag structure implemented across the College of Design wiki to improve content organization and navigation.

Overview

The tag consolidation initiative was undertaken to create a consistent, intuitive tagging system that reflects the actual structure and content of the wiki. This guide serves as a reference for understanding the new tag structure and how to apply tags to new and existing content.

Tag Philosophy

The new tag structure follows these principles:

1. Consistency: Use the same terms across related content
2. Specificity: Tags should be specific enough to be meaningful but general enough to be reusable
3. Hierarchy: Tags follow a logical hierarchy from broad categories to specific topics
4. Scalability: The system is designed to accommodate future content additions

Tag Categories

Primary Categories

These are the highest-level categories that represent the major areas of the wiki:

• overview - Main entry points and general information
• getting-started - Content for new users
• navigation - Indexes and navigational aids

Software & Applications

Tags for software-related content:

• adobe - Adobe Creative Cloud applications
• creative-cloud - Adobe Creative Cloud specifically
• rhino - Rhino 3D software
• 3d-modeling - 3D modeling in general
• solidworks - SolidWorks software
• revit - Revit software
• bim - Building Information Modeling
• autodesk - Autodesk products
• keyshot - KeyShot rendering software
• rendering - Rendering techniques and software
• cad - Computer-aided design
• airmedia - AirMedia presentation system
• presentation - Presentation technologies
• parametric - Parametric modeling
• modeling - General modeling techniques

Hardware & Infrastructure

Tags for hardware and infrastructure content:

• computer - General computer content
• hardware - Hardware-specific content
• it-support - IT support services
• networking - Networking content
• wifi - WiFi-specific content
• vpn - VPN content
• security - Security-related content
• laptop - Laptop-specific content
• os - Operating system content
• windows - Windows-specific content
• basics - Basic concepts and operations

Printing & Output

Tags for printing and output content:

• printing - General printing content
• papercut - PaperCut printing system
• large-format - Large-format printing
• output - Output-related content
• costs - Cost information
• refunds - Refund policies and procedures

FabLab & Fabrication

Tags for FabLab and fabrication content:

• fablab - General FabLab content
• fabrication - Fabrication processes
• tools - Tool-specific content
• woodworking - Woodworking content
• lasers - Laser cutting content
• cnc - CNC milling content
• drilling - Drilling content
• finishing - Finishing processes
• inventory - Inventory management
• training - Training content
• access - Access control
• orientation - Orientation content
• beginner - Content for beginners
• planning - Planning content
• workflow - Workflow content
• safety - Safety content
• guidelines - Guidelines and procedures
• support - Support content
• troubleshooting - Troubleshooting content
• inventory - Inventory content

Installation & Guides

Tags for installation and guide content:

• installation - Installation content
• guides - General guides

Tag Application Guidelines

For New Pages

1. Identify the primary category - What is the main topic area?
2. Apply primary category tags - Start with the broadest relevant tags
3. Add specific topic tags - Add tags that describe the specific content
4. Consider user perspective - What tags would a user search for?

For Existing Pages

1. Review current tags - Analyze existing tags for consistency
2. Apply consolidation rules - Replace inconsistent tags with standardized ones
3. Add missing tags - Add tags that were previously omitted
4. Test navigation - Verify that the new tags improve findability

Tag Migration Examples

Before and After

Tag Relationships

Hierarchical Relationships

Some tags have hierarchical relationships:

• fablab is a parent of lasers, woodworking, cnc
• printing is a parent of papercut, large-format
• it-support is a parent of networking, computer

Related Tags

Some tags are related but not hierarchical:

• rhino and solidworks are both CAD software
• safety and guidelines often appear together
• training and access often appear together

Future Considerations

Potential New Tags

As the wiki grows, consider adding tags for:

• Specific software versions (e.g., rhino-8)
• User roles (e.g., student, faculty, staff)
• Course levels (e.g., beginner, intermediate, advanced)
• Project types (e.g., prototyping, production)

Tag Maintenance

Regular tag maintenance is essential:

1. Quarterly review - Review tag usage quarterly
2. Remove unused tags - Remove tags that are no longer used
3. Merge similar tags - Merge tags that are too similar
4. Update documentation - Update this guide as needed

Resources

• Wiki Index - Comprehensive index of all wiki content
• Tag List - List of all tags used in the wiki
• Tag Cloud - Visual representation of tag usage