Tags and Categories

Tag

When you shop for clothes you look at the tags to learn the size, material, and more on the items. Tags work the same way for blog posts, they give information about the topics covered. They help readers find articles of interest.

This post is tagged “tags”, “categories”, “Blogging”, “WordPress”. Tags are thus for the public. On most blogs readers find them at the top or bottom of a post. Like this:

When a reader clicks on such a tag, other articles with the same tag are shown. Readers can also set up tags they wish to follow in the WordPress Reader.

“Categories” are a tool for the blogger. They help you organize your posts by, well, by “category”. You can set up a menu item for a category. When the item is clicked a page is generated that shows posts that were marked with that category. This is most useful if you blog about several distinct topics, say “travel”, “photography”, “cooking”, you, or your readers can then see the related posts without having to sort through others. Take a look at the menu bar on this blog. If you click “Posts on Blogging” you get my posts on that subject, but only my posts! Similarly if you click on one of the links shown in “This entry was posted in” at the bottom of my post, you get just my posts on that topic.

To recap, “tags” are topics assigned by many bloggers and the Reader will find posts on that topic from all bloggers. “Categories” are your own and keep the reader in your own site.

When you use the WordPress.com online editor you can assign categories and tags in the sidebar as shown in the illustration on the left.

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The category and tag links on WordPress blog posts provide a quick way for readers to find related articles. More than one category can be shown on a post. If you posted with a category that you later decide is not appropriate, is is easily removed or changed.

Sign in to your WordPress Dashboard. On the left find the Posts link. Click on it to expand the menu. Click on the next Posts link. This will bring up a page listing your posts. Move the pointer to just below the title of the post you wish to modify. This makes several option links visible. Click the Edit link.