Title: How to Properly Use Tags Author: Ipstenu (Mika Epstein) Published: January 15, 2015 Last modified: January 31, 2015 --- [ ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/) [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/) 7:39 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 Tags: [Support ( 12 )](https://make.wordpress.org/support/tag/support/) # How to Properly Use Tags This came up in this week’s slackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/) chat. Using tags can be a fine art, and we may end up doing a tag-scrub some day soon, to get more people into helping triage posts in the forums. Tags usually aren’t used properly, and it’s _OKAY_ that the masses don’t. This is actually a great job for someone who wants to get involved in support. By reading a post and determining it needs specific attention, you can improve the chances of someone getting help promptly. When you see a post, look at what the poster is asking and try to use a tag that makes logical sense for the issue. To help you get started, we have some standard tags that we use and encourage their appropriate use. **Team Tags** The following tags are used by the various make/teams on WordPress.orgWordPress. org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. [https://wordpress.org/](https://wordpress.org/) to track posts that need their attention. * AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” ( i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Accessibility) – `a11y` * Questions about the theme review process – `thememod` * Questions about the pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory [https://wordpress.org/plugins/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/) or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party. review process – `pluginmod` * Moderator please come fix this – `modlook` * Not Safe For Work – `nsfw` * WordPress.comWordPress.com An online implementation of WordPress code that lets you immediately access a new WordPress environment to publish your content. WordPress. com is a private company owned by Automattic that hosts the largest multisite in the world. This is arguably the best place to start blogging if you have never touched WordPress before. [https://wordpress.com/](https://wordpress.com/) theme not in the .org repo – `wpcom-theme` **Proper Use of Modlook** Don’t use it if you are a moderator. This should go without saying. Be very careful with ‘modlook’ – Abuse of that tag will get your posting rights revoked. It should be used to flag moderator attention for things like duplicate posts, spam, abuse, harassment, etc. It is _not_ to be used for getting help faster. That just gets you negative attention. When you use ‘modlook’ try to use it in conjunction with another tag. For example, if the issue is a spammer, use ‘modlook’ and ‘spam’ tags. If the issue is the post has personal information (like passwords) use ‘modlook’ and ‘private info’ – Basically try to make sure if a moderator is reading the post, they’ll see _why_ the post needs attention. This is especially important when we’re talking about duplicate posts 🙂 If you’re tagging spam and think it may not be obvious who is the spammer( things like ‘buy viagra!’ are pretty obvious), put the username of the spammer as another tag. Just in case. The mods will delete the tags once it’s handled. It’s also a great idea to actually reply to the legit posts. Telling someone “I’m alerting the moderators to this post. Never post your passwords in public!” is totally awesome! Keep in mind, we do not remove URLs from posts unless there’s a good reason. And by good reason we mean abuse, harassment, or legal reasons. Asking a URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www. wordpress.org be removed, or a post deleted, because someone is upset that Google picked up their URL in it’s search is not a good reason. If you don’t want something to be searched by google, don’t post it in a public forum. **Plugin/Theme Tags** This one is simple. TagTag Tag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. a post to match the slug of the plugin or theme that’s having the problem. For example. If someone is having a problem with Akismet, tag the post `akismet`. If it’s Hello Dolly, tag it `hello-dolly`. Pay careful attention to that plugin slug! Complicated plugins like https://wordpress. org/plugins/joes-awesome-twitter-widget may have the name “Joe’s Totally Wicked Cool Twitter Widget Plugin!” on the plugin page, but that slug of `joes-awesome- twitter-widget` is what you want to use for the tag. If the theme is one downloaded from WordPress.com, use the tag `wpcom-theme` **Company Tags** If someone specifically mentions a hosting company, make sure that company is tagged. Many hosts keep people on payroll in order to monitor posts tagged for them. The same goes for things like theme and plugin shops. It’s helpful to them to have, for example, `GoDaddy` or `StudioPress` tagged. **When in doubt …** Don’t tag 🙂 Come on over to the [#forums](https://make.wordpress.org/support/tag/forums/) room in Slack and ask us for help. Someone’s almost always around. [#support](https://make.wordpress.org/support/tag/support/) ### Share this: * [ Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=threads) * [ Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=mastodon) * [ Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=bluesky) * [ Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=facebook) * [ X ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=x) * [ LinkedIn ](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/how-to-properly-use-tags/?share=linkedin) 1. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8665de9d64b89c443dd37c03c7def3788f5c5fab2b696bc81bb4705d0fa238f9? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 2. [Matthew](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kidsguide/) 8:30 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 3. What about the dupe tag. I think that should still be maintained. 4. * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8665de9d64b89c443dd37c03c7def3788f5c5fab2b696bc81bb4705d0fa238f9? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [Matthew](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kidsguide/) 9:37 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 * Sorted this out in SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform [https://slack.com/](https://slack.com/). The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at [https://make.wordpress.org/chat/](https://make.wordpress.org/chat/). * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27180c82524020e7339e2b30818b6d8ab004c54f730f12b1434b1e365be0e175? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/) 10:42 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 * Answer: It is. Just use it AND modlook 🙂 5. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8665de9d64b89c443dd37c03c7def3788f5c5fab2b696bc81bb4705d0fa238f9? s=32&d=mm&r=g) 6. [Matthew](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kidsguide/) 10:40 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 7. There should be a `close` tag for topics that should be closed. 8. * ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/27180c82524020e7339e2b30818b6d8ab004c54f730f12b1434b1e365be0e175? s=32&d=mm&r=g) * [Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ipstenu/) 10:42 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 * If you’re a mod, you can mark a post resolved. modlook and close would work fine 🙂 - ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8665de9d64b89c443dd37c03c7def3788f5c5fab2b696bc81bb4705d0fa238f9? s=32&d=mm&r=g) - [Matthew](https://profiles.wordpress.org/kidsguide/) 10:44 pm _on_ January 15, 2015 - Ok, thanks! Comments are closed. # Post navigation [← Kicking off helphub](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/kicking-off-helphub/) [Support Team summary for January 15th →](https://make.wordpress.org/support/2015/01/support-team-summary-for-january-15th/)