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[KChan]

So, as you lovely Lords and Ladies might have noticed, our beloved forum features a nice, shiny Tagging System instead of topic descriptions, giving us a whole boatload of neat options when it comes to sorting and finding content. In order for this system to work properly, however, we quickly realized that we would need a consistent system that everyone uses. After all, if everyone is tagging the same things differently, things will get missed when we try to search for various tags. Hence, the Tagging System. Read on for information about which tags to use, how this affects the Universal Continuity System, and more!

• Features and Functionality
  
• Tagging New Topics
  
• Thread Types and What They Mean
  
• Continuity Tags
  
• Character Participants
  
• How to Tag Threads and Set Prefixes
  
• Searching for Tags

[KChan]

Features and Functionality

On the old software, the topic descriptions we had were informative, but largely cosmetic. You could read them in the forum view, but that was about it. However, with our current tagging system, our treasure trove of fictional content has never been more convenient! With tags, and our new rules for using it, you can:

• Look for open RP threads to join
  
  
• Search for threads a specific character - or group of characters - was participating in
  
  
• Search for threads that took place at certain times - from weeks, to days, to specific times of day. For example, you'll be able to search for the [W2] and [D2] tags together, giving you every thread that takes place on Week 2, Day 2, regardless of the time of day it's tagged with.
  
  
• Find out what a certain character was doing on a given day
  
  
• Anything else you can think of!

When you want to find something, just use the Advanced Search feature - by clicking on the gear icon next to the search box at the top of the page - to search for any combination of tags you feel like trying. Take it for a spin and see for yourself!

[KChan]

Tagging New Topics

Under the old system, we would put the topic's abbreviated position in the continuity in brackets, distinguish whether the topic was for certain characters, and that was about it. However, in order to make full use of the functionality I described above, we'll need to follow a better system. And so, when creating your topics, please tag them in the following order:

• The Thread Type
  
  
• The Continuity Tags
  
  
• Any and all characters involved in the thread, including your own. Don't worry, you can add more as they join by editing your original post.

• Be sure to use proper capitalization! Tags aren't case-sensitive, but it looks sloppy for some to be capitalized and others not.

What do I mean by thread type, you ask? What are continuity tags? Read on to learn more!

NOTE: Throughout the rest of this guide, I will be typing tags in brackets, like [this]. Do not use these brackets in your tags! The brackets are just to demonstrate that I'm referring to a tag. When tagging, write only the text you want in the tag, NOT the brackets, and the forum will do the rest. Thank you!

[KChan]

Thread Types and What They Mean

Because the tag system also allows for prefixes, the first thing any in-character should be tagged with is is Thread Type. There are three primary thread types:

• Open - Anyone is welcome to join these threads.
  
  
• Private - These threads are usually pre-planned for certain characters. If the original participants in the thread want to include more characters, they will extend the invitation themselves. Do not join these threads unless your character has been invited.
  
  
• Ask - For threads whose status is more complicated than simply [Open] or [Private], simply flag your thread with the [Ask] type. If you wish to join a thread of this type, contact the player who started the topic and ask for permission, or for more information.

When tagging topics, please make sure that the first tag is ALWAYS the thread type. Otherwise the prefix won't display properly, and the admins will have to spike some random skaa edit the topic ourselves to fix it.

For threads that are open, but only to certain types of characters, you can add a tag for a secondary thread type after the primary type. This is optional, and entirely up to you. The secondary types are:

• Noble - Threads tagged [Noble] are intended for noble characters and any other character that might reasonably interact with them. For example, a skaa thief masquerading as a noble as part of a scam and an obligator witnessing a contract can both participate in [Noble] threads.
  
  
• Skaa - The same as [Noble], but for skaa and any character that would reasonably be interacting with them. Examples include Ignas, the rebellion leader, and Julian Casuana, a spy. Neither are classified as skaa, but both have good reasons to be present in typically skaa-only environments.
  
  
• Ministry - This is for Ministry characters only.
  
  
• Inquisition - Just like the [Ministry] tag, but exclusive to members of the Inquisition.

It should be noted, of course, that any character of any type may participate in any thread if he or she is invited to do so. These secondary types are intended as guidelines for autonomously joining open threads, not an ironclad rule about who can and can't be involved in a particular scene.

[KChan]

Continuity Tags

Under the old topic description system, continuity tags were a singular unit contained in brackets. For example, [1.2.LM] would translate to "Week 1, Day 2, Late Morning." But if we were to continue that tagging scheme, users would only be able to search for very specific times of very specific days. We wouldn't be able to look at all of a certain day, for example. However, [Week 1] [Day 2] [Late Morning] is kind of ridiculous to type out as individual tags, and takes up a lot of space besides. And so, from now on, our continuity tags are now three separate tags, in this order:

• The week, marked by the letter W. For example, you would tag a Week 1 thread as [W1], a Week 2 thread as [W2], etc.
  
  
• The day, marked by the letter D. "Day 5" becomes [D5], and so on.
  
  
• The time, using its usual abbreviation as defined in the Universal Continuity Thread:
  
  • Pre-dawn [PD]
    
  • Early Morning [EM]
    
  • Midmorning [MM]
    
  • Late Morning [LM]
    
  • High Noon [HN]
    
  • Early Afternoon [EA]
    
  • Midafternoon [MA]
    
  • Late Afternoon [LA]
    
  • Evening [EV]
    
  • Nighttime [NT]
    
  • Late Night [LN]

Using the bolded examples from above, a thread on Week 1, Day 5, Early Afternoon will now have the following three tags, in this order: [W1][D5][EA]. Easy, right? Tagging like this, we can now search for any of those three tags individually, or together with any other tag.

[KChan]

Character Participants

This is the third portion of our tagging system, and is relatively straightforward. In addition to tagging characters who are invited to participate in a closed thread, we ask that members tag all characters involved in a thread, including the character(s) who made the original post. If you have an open thread and more people join, just edit the first post to add their names to the tag list! This is so people can search for a particular character's thread, without having to search through the old accounts' profile activity or other cumbersome workarounds. The long and short of it is, if a character appears in a thread, his or her name should be in the tags. Make sure you include first AND last names if they have them!

[KChan]

How to Tag Threads and Set Prefixes

The last part of this guide will show you how to put tags in your new topics, how to set a topic prefix, and what the whole thing will look like when it's done. First, go to post your new topic, and you should see this screen. Note that the tags go exactly where the topic descriptions used to be. Easy, right? Everything else, of course, works exactly the same as it always has:




Now, when it comes time to tag your topic, type the appropriate tags into their field on the posting form. Make sure, when tagging, that you use commas to separate your tags. This is the only way the forum software recognizes for creating individual tags; hitting the spacebar just gives you one tag with more than one word in it, and hitting enter will cause the forum to attempt to post the thread before you're ready. In this example, I'm tagging the thread as completely [Open], with no restrictions. Since Camille is the only person involved thus far, she's the only character tagged. The continuity hasn't been determined yet, so I left it blank. Had I added it, it would of course have been right after the [Open] tag and before [Camille Deveaux]. Note that I capitalized the tags and used Camille's full name! Also, make note of the check box underlined in red. We'll be moving on to that next.




Now, with our tags all sorted out, we're ready to set the topic prefix. If you saw the checkbox in the above screencap, you'll already know where I'm going with this: make sure it's checked. This is the big reason I stressed putting the topic type first; the forum will make that first tag into the prefix, and it would be pretty weird to have [Camille Deveaux] as a topic prefix, don't you think?

Anywyays, you'll be able to see very easily what your topic prefix will be, because when the box is checked it will change color. Hopefully, by the time you're reading this, it won't be blue anymore. If it is, we're working on it. Either way, take a look:




Once everything is squared away and you're ready to put your topic up, go ahead and post it like normal. You should see the topic, with the tags clearly listed right there with the rest of the thread's vital information:




Still wondering what all this "Prefix" nonsense is all about? Look below for your answer! Enabling that prefix allowed for the thread's [Open] status to be prominently displayed next to the topic title, without having to actually type the [Open] tag in the name of your thread. For convenience's sake, it will also appear with the rest of the tags as well:

[KChan]

Searching for Tags

Ready to play around with the cool new search options this gives you? Awesome! The Advanced Search feature lets you search for tags - be they one at a time or several at once. Again, be sure to use commas to separate them!




And there we have it, folks. Tagging made easy. I hope you enjoy this awesome new functionality our site offers, and as usual, let us know if you have any questions! Happy Roleplaying!