User:Auk/Tag Model

With all the tagging "hype" going around, I thought I'd put in my forty-two cents.

Main principles:

• Worse is better (in terms of user organization, not implementation)
• Multiple descriptors (tags) for each tagged page (bookmark)
• Keep the bookmarks functioning as closely to the current model as possible; make it bookmarks, but in "many folders at once".

Tag Page/Add Bookmark (dialog)

The Tag Page dialog should present both a text and a mouse interface. Keep text box and checklist in sync. Clear tags button.

The Tag With text box should present 'tag autocompletion from the created tags

[...]

UI elements in approximate order (left to right, top to bottom):

• Name: or Title: text field
• Tag With: or Tags: text field
• Clear Tags button *
• checklist expand/contract toggle
• tags checklist
• New Tag button
• Cancel button
• Add, Tag or Tag Page button

\* debatable order

Tag suggest

When tagging a new page, Firefox should scan the page for frequently used words and attempt to match those to the user's tags.

At a loss of sufficient existing tag match, Firefox should generate/suggest tags based upon it's text scan.

The word frequency limit should have a static absolute minimum, and a dynamic upper limit depending on several factors; is the browser a fresh install,

[...]

Tag Manager

The management interface should be maintained in a seperate window. The Searching and browsing interface should be an in-window XUL document.

[...]

Mockup soon.

Bookmarks/Tags menu

Title: Tags or Bookmarks? Tags is takes up less space, and is kewler! Bookmarks keeps in line with the current model, though. (Imagine grandma "Firefox lost my bookmarks!" After the next automatic upgrade.)

The content of the menu should be almost identical to now, but only completely untagged items (or perhaps a threshold of two tags) show in the main space.

Custom-orderable? No. Worse is better in user organization effort. Alphabetically is the way to go, so it doesn't break user's spatial memory.

On hierarchy

In effect there are three options:

• User-mandated manual hierarchy (like F-Spot)
• Generated pseudo-hierarchy (like the proposed Epiphany patch)
• Sheer flat-file tags (why bother?)

User-mandated

Hierarchy text-delimitor

When typing in the Tag With text field, a user (likely a power user, but possibly a novice if we have a good autocomplete) may want to tag something Computers → Programming. What is the best method for this? Suggestions:

• Computers->Programming (hyphen-greaterThan)
• Computers:Programming (single-colon)
• Computers::Programming (double-colon)
• Computers/Programming (forward slash)
• Computers\Programming (backslash)
• Computers.Programming (dot)
• Visitors add more here.

Tag bumping

When a user decides their Computers tag has grown too full, they may want to split it up into several smaller levels. All the pages previously tagged with Computers will now be tagged with Computers → Programming or Computers → Usability. There needs to be a detector for tagging something with both a sub tag and that sub tag's parent, and revert to the sub tag only.

Or do we want to prevent this at all?

Auto-generated pseudo-heirarchy

This brings up fewer logistical issues than the manual method, but brings up one trumper dilemma — imagine all the grandmas being baffled: they keep moving around in the menu, but they stay put in the Tag(/Bookmarks) Manager!

Metadata

This info should be used in search rankings. Stuff to be stored:

• Datetime added
• Datetime last visited
• Visit Frequency
• Decription (Pull from <meta/> on web page, but also make user editable)
• Visitors put suggestions on talk page.

Page previews

I think an excellent way to ease recognition is with graphical previews of a page. This is as simple as snapping a shot when the user tag a page, and displaying it as a thumbnail in the searching and management interfaces. Some issues brought up are:

• Performance when storing a bunch of thumbnails in RAM, and on the hard drive. To minimize footprint,
  • Thumbnails should not be stored (or even initially created) any bigger than will be displayed. Minimizes on file size and rendering costs of scaling. Sacrifices some size flexibility.
  • Thumbnails should be entered into memory when they are viewed and removed from memory when they pass out of the screen for a short length of time (2-6 sec?).
  • PNG!
• Differing screen sizes and proportions (Either detect the screen proportions and snap the thumbnails accordingly, or just set a standard average proportion [How about 110x90?] for all screens and let it go.)
• Need a really good scaling mechanism, that doesn't make an inksplatter out of text.

Bookmarks toolbar

Best implemented with a special flag. Placing this tag (checkbox, DnD?) on a parent tag (e.g. Computers) would make all of it's children visible (Programming, Mozilla, Usability) under the Computers drop down on the toolbar. Placing this flag on Programming or Mozilla directly, however, would make those tags visible as drop downs on the toolbar root level.

Why not have a "meta-tag"? Because you cannot tag other tags. There would consequently be no way to show several tag drop downs in the bookmarks folder. (Akin to placing a folder in the Bookmarks Toolbar Folder w/ current system).

History integration

See User:Auk/History_Model#Bookmarks_integration.

Trash can

Instead of permanently deleting a URL (potentially selected by accident or that you never thought you'd need again) the "Remove" command should ship that bookmark/tag off to the trash can. Removed item retain all thier associations, but are disabled from searches and menus.

Entries should be deleted permanently from the trash can when (I'm not sure which):

• they have sat for a certain length of time
• a prescribed number or memory (because of preview thumbnails) limit runs over
• have a pref between the above
• Visitors put suggestions on talk page.

Terminology

"Tag" applies to the descriptors for tagged pages; "tagged page" & variations are cumbersome; what is a good noun for a page that is in the tag index? Possibilities:

• bookmark
• page
• Visitors add more here.

References

• Epiphany Hierarchical Bookmarks Patch
• F-Spot, a image manager with manual heirarchal tags