Tags provide the equivalent of folders, and allow semantic context to be affixed to tiddlers without despoiling the title. While it's true that much of what you do with Tags could possibly be done with fields, tags have been bestowed with special visibility and powers right out of the box. They're automatically part of searches. If you change a title that is used as a tag TW will offer to change it in tag and list fields. If you click on a tag, it will show you all tiddlers tagged with that tag, and allow you to change the list order.
A common searching style for me when I can't find a tiddler, is to search for a related tiddler that I can remember. Then click on a tag that might relate it to the one I can't find and see a list of tiddlers -- one of which is likely to be the right tiddler. The problem mechanically with using links is that there is no core mechanism to update your links if you change your title. The only good work around is to use PMario's unilinks, which allows you to make changes via the subtitle field and never have to touch the title again. -- Mark On Monday, September 10, 2018 at 9:00:49 PM UTC-7, h0p3 wrote: > > There are several vanilla mechanics in Tiddlywiki I've just not found a > good use for yet (I'm kinda slow sometimes), and I feel like I'm leaving > delicious computational dimensionality and automation just sitting there on > the table. Tagging is one of those obvious mechanics I'm not using at all. > > Since my wiki primarily isn't a collaborative work (I'm the author), I > don't seem to benefit from controlled vocabulary or a folksonomy. Yet, I > believe I am ignorantly blind about the value of tagging in Tiddlywiki. > I've tried using them before, but they've never seemed to really do > anything for me. > > Naively, I've been able to comfortably survive using search, marginally > taglike-equivalent tiddler title naming conventions, and effective > linking+transcluding. Sometimes it feels like the more structure I give to > my wiki through links, the less likely I am to benefit from tags. Further, > search is so fast and flexible, I'm having a hard time finding cases where > tagging (a non-trivial task) is worth the effort. > > * What is an obvious example of tagging being the best and irreplaceable > tool for the job? > * When do tags outperform linking with advanced search? > * What do tags help me model that I can't already? > * What constitutes a good tag? > * How many tags in a wiki and/or per tiddler are optimal? > > I assume the vast majority of TW users abuse tags very hard. There appears > to be plenty of tooling devoted to tags. I feel like an idiot for finding > no good use for them, and I want to spellcast with whatever magical powers > they contain! I've been told by a couple people who use tags (including > someone with an MLIS) that they aren't sure how I would benefit from tags > in the long run. Perhaps tags aren't always useful, they are just one > method which might not suit my usecase. I have no idea, but I'm trying to > understand. > > Help a fool out, please. I want to think smarter not harder with tags. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/tiddlywiki. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tiddlywiki/b34eaac6-a828-423a-af93-b823bdd97357%40googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
