3 replies to this topic

[jonbey]

OK, so I am using Wordpress. So far I have been a bit haphazard with it to say the least. Now that I have learnt that you can make custom category and tag pages, it got me thinking. This could produce an effective way to aid site navigation and structure. My idea:

Have a set group of categories (I do this already), say 10 maximum. Maybe fewer.

Then for each category a set of tags which will only ever be used in that category (posts can still have several tags, but one set of tags will be designated to categories, and these can only be used once).

eg.

Category A : tag 1, tag 2, tag 3, tag 4, tag 5 (call them master tags)
Category B: tag 6, tag 7, tag 8, tag 9, tag 10 (more master tags)

And so on. Then

Post 1 will be in Category A and have tag 1 + 4 others that are not "master tags"
Post 2 will be in Category A and have tag 2 + 6 others.
Post 3 will be in Category B and have tag 9 + n others.

etc. etc.

Then for the menu/navigation, the top level will list the categories, then the drop down will list the tags in those categories. This will cover all posts from the menu (or indexes of posts, i.e. category pages or tag pages).

Each category page will then highlight the top articles on the right, with recent below, and on the left the main 5 tags - images/info, link to tag page etc.

Each tag page will list the most popular in that tag, then recent, then point to other items within the category that are of interest.

So, with some careful tagging, all new posts are then populated across all navigations, cat pages and tag pages.

Does that sound like a good plan or what?

Right, hands up for volunteers to implement it for me while I go to the pub.

It should actually be easy to implement, as all I need to do is chose the tags I want to use, then delete them if they are already used, then reapply to the articles I want to tag, which can be done in bulk after sorting be category.

Edited by jonbey, 02 September 2010 - 11:28 AM.

[Michael_Martinez]

I think you're going to find that no matter how good the navigation, on any large Website people are going to rely on the site search tool the most to dig deep. Site search is really important.

[EGOL]

Site search is really important.

I agree.... over 10% of the people who land on my homepage use search (and that is with no dropdowns hiding links and LOTs of visible content).

Your plan sounds logical, jonbey... can you easily toss out part of it or all of it and see how it works - and keeping careful analytics and records to compare the new plan to your current traffic patterns.

Edited by EGOL, 02 September 2010 - 02:24 PM.

[AbleReach]

Here's something I wouldn't mind having as an option in WordPress's back end: limit which tags I can use, based on category.

The flip side of of limiting the number of tags you use in any given category is a built in focus, for the writer.

Let's say you're looking for writing ideas and have made a list of keywords. I'm not a big fan of writing without passion - just churning out keyword-related words tends to make crap. However... let's say you're using this list to keep you on track, and you are interested in the topics - and also have interesting things to say.

Once the list is made... what next?
If, as an author, I want to write a series of articles about topic #1, and I know there are 10 top keywords in that topic, having a choice of only those ten keyword tags would help me keep on track. It'd be like a built-in, impossible-to-lose to-do list, whenever I sat down to write about topic #1.