rel-tag-other-evidence

Evidence of tagging with other schemas

rel-tag requires URLs in the format example.com/optional/path/to/tag; but other tagging behavior exists "in the wild". This page is for capturing such behaviors.

Tag as query string

• NaviTraveller (Lincoln Memorial)
  • <a href="/search.php?tag=Lincoln">Lincoln</a>
  • URL: http://www.navitraveler.com/search.php?tag=Lincoln

• Urban Dictionary
  • <a href="http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drink">drink</a>
  • http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drink

Tags in WikiMedia categories

• Wikipedia (Microformat)
  • <a href="/wiki/Category:Microformats" title="Category:Microformats">Microformats</a>
  • URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Microformats

Tags in element content

• Destination out (already using rel="tag")
  • <A rel="category tag" title="View all posts in Anthony Davis" href="http://destination-out.com/?cat=111">Anthony Davis</A>

Potential tag spaces

(using one of the above schema)

• Google
  • http://www.google.com/search?q=Lincoln

Brainstorming

In order to accommodate tagging behavior seen in the wild, it may be necessary to have multiple methods of marking-up tags:

• rel-tag
• Using the element contents:
  • <a class="tag" href="http://destination-out.com/?cat=111">Anthony Davis</a>
  • Advantage: visible data used.
• Using the element title:
  • <a class="tag ufusetitle" title="cheese" href="http://example.com/?cat=cheese">All sorts of cheese</a>
  • Advantage: compatible with other proposed uses of title attributes (replacing the abbr-design-pattern).
• rel-tag, but treat certain other characters (question mark, equals sign, ampersand, colon) as equivalent to slashes. TobyInk 00:37, 28 Aug 2007 (PDT)
  • <a class="normalise-url" rel="tag" href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cheese">cheese</a>
  • Advantage: Allows other URL schemes to be used easily. Many arbitrary URLs can have (for example) ?dummy=cheese tacked on at the end to meet the required format.

This would require parsers to be updated, and to have an agreed hierarchy (say, rel-tag trumps element value, trumps title) in case more than one method is present. The methods used here would be backwards-compatible.

(Class names are for illustrative purposes only.)

Further reading

• Only darkness has the power

Related pages

• rel-tag
• rel-tag-faq
  • See also rel-faq
• rel-tag advocacy - encourage others to use rel-tag.
• rel-tag-spaces - sites suitable as using as targets for rel-tag links.

The rel-tag specification is a work in progress. As additional aspects are discussed, understood, and written, they will be added. These thoughts, issues, and questions are kept in separate pages.

• rel-tag-feedback - general feedback (as opposed to specific issues).
• rel-tag-issues - specific issues with the specification.
• rel-tag-other-evidence - tagging schemas other than those used in rel-tag