Tags are text labels you can add to a story that help categorize stories by content or category. Clicking the tag icon will open a text field for tagging. Type in a tag, then press the space bar. Repeat for all tags you’d like to add to the story.
Note: Adding the same tag more than once does not increase its weight; once is enough. You might, though, tag a story about Western Digital hard drives “wd,” “westerndigital,” and “storage,” or a story about an MIT programming contest “programming,” “competition,” and “mit.” Tags help sort stories, and help you search for related ones. More tags help!
Everyone can see them! Tags are public and flexible (rather than private and permanent). So one day, we might consolidate and change all “canine” tags to “dog,” say, or define new system tags and usurp more namespace. (Don’t say we didn’t warn you!) Because tags on Slashdot are public, and are used to inform the moderation system, tag abuse can hurt your karma. Please tag in good faith.
The Firehose is powerful viewing tool for Slashdot content, from comments and journal entries to RSS feeds and story submissions. You can filter and interact with the Firehose in a number of ways. The plus/minus box on the left side of each Firehose entry lets you vote on that item. A context menu will appear when you click on the plus or minus, giving you the option of adding certain tags. You can also expand the submission if you’d like to add other tags, such as “northdakota” or “spaceflight.” Voting and tagging are helpful; they inform other Firehose users, and help the editors decide which ones make it to the front page.
rglullis