# Now that we're getting Search...



## Firehazard (Feb 2, 2009)

I recently asked about our impending conversion to a tags-only organization system.  The answer was that at some point before Ferrox launches, the old flat lists we use to classify submissions (Category, Theme, Species, Gender) will be automatically converted into tags.  So it got me to thinking: In the next few weeks, we're going to be given the ability to search for anything on the site.  With that, the old category-limiters on the browse page will no longer be necessary.  And if we get rid of them, the old flat-list structure of classifying submissions will also have no real purpose that tags won't already serve.

SO...

What I'm thinking is, the next minor upgrade to FA v3 (the current site) should be to first remove the category limiters on the browse page, strike the drop-down lists from the New Submission page, and edit the submission view page accordingly.  Then, code the flat-list-to-tags conversion script.  Finally, schedule a day to take down the site, run the script, and drop the irrelevant tables from the database.

All of this can be done long before Ferrox is ready and should be a relatively minor job.  And it'll give us more time to get used to the lack of drop-down lists and ease us into the changes Ferrox has in store (if nothing else, so we don't have people bitching about every new feature all at once).

What say you all?


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## net-cat (Feb 2, 2009)

... yeah... _should_ be a simple job. You haven't seen the current code base.

The transition to ferrox won't be a "five-minute conversion" by any stretch of the imagination. We're thinking a day or two for the conversion if everything goes as planned. That's when the conversion will be done, not before.

(Especially since the keyword lists for this code, as far as I know, are still stored in a TEXT field rather than a separate table with a many-to-many bridge, as would be required to do have a proper tag filtering system.)


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## Hanazawa (Feb 2, 2009)

since this is kind of related, I'll toss in that the tags box that's currently available should specify if tags should be separated by commas or not.


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## thoron (Feb 3, 2009)

I personally think the drop down system should be kept and the tag system be used to make more refined searches.


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## Eevee (Feb 3, 2009)

I don't see any problem with making e.g. Pokemon/Digimon/Sonic into tags, no.

But hierarchy is good too, and I wonder if we want something like dA's categories for at least classifying by medium?


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## Quiet269 (Feb 3, 2009)

Eevee said:


> I don't see any problem with making e.g. Pokemon/Digimon/Sonic into tags, no.
> 
> But hierarchy is good too, and I wonder if we want something like dA's categories for at least classifying by medium?



Dear Lord... Pleas do not use Deviant Arts system... It is soo convoluted and messy that I can never find what I want  I actually have to search for a similar pic then check what category it is (usually 5-10 clicks deep lol)


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## Firehazard (Feb 3, 2009)

Quiet269 said:


> Dear Lord... Pleas do not use Deviant Arts system... It is soo convoluted and messy that I can never find what I want  I actually have to search for a similar pic then check what category it is (usually 5-10 clicks deep lol)


THIS.

Our set of available tag categories definitely needs some expansion, but "theme" covers most of the bases.  "Medium" would probably cover the rest.  I dunno; can anyone think of any others that might be useful?

Biggest issue is that most submissions are relatively lacking in the way of useful tags.  That's part of why we ought to remove the dropdowns from the submission process _before_ the changeover; it'll encourage people to start using tags for those things instead, like they were supposed to since like 2006.  In fact, here's an idea: We have an "Official Day of the Tag" and encourage artists to draw stuff to promote it -- kind of like how a lot of people drew special stuff for our re-launch back in August.  We can have a custom site banner, and a news post, and stuff.  It could coincide with the day we remove dropdowns from the submission process.

I really don't know what else we can do to ensure that everything is sufficiently, short of making people re-import their entire galleries like we did for the relaunch in late '05.  And we'd get crucified if we tried pulling a stunt like that.


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## Quiet269 (Feb 3, 2009)

What would REALLY be nice is this:

Remove the Drop Down Boxes to an extent.

Add in a tag box. This is a list of commonly used & approved tags. Have this organized by category so you can pick a bunch of tags you know people will search for for your pic. Then have a separate "Custom" Tags field that allows for 5 or so tags that you can insert if what you are looking for is not already on this list.

This Custom Tags field is smart, it will do 2 things. First it will compare the tags you used to the master list, and once a week or month it will auto note showing you areas where you used a custom tag and didn't need to. This will help train people to use the right tags.

Second it will log the tags used, and start creating a list. When 25 or 50 or 100 of the same tag is used then it is added to a list of tags that an admin can review and add to the list.

Once that tag is added to the list the next time someone uses the tag they will be informed that it was added to the list and can now be found under _____.

This will allow for a merger of both systems, and create a smart way for people to get additional tags added to the list.

Of course as time goes on there will be less & less need for review,  but at first I would suggest assigning someone to specifically review and approve the  tags

EDIT: and yes I do realize this will be similar to DA's categories layout, but I think it will be a lot more intuitive.


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## PriestRevan (Feb 3, 2009)

thoron said:


> I personally think the drop down system should be kept and the tag system be used to make more refined searches.


 
Well yes, I agree with this. Sometimes I just want a general search.

But the refined searches will help people find exactly what they're craving for.


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## Eevee (Feb 5, 2009)

Oh, I wouldn't clone dA's _hierarchy_; I can never find the right damn thing, either.  But the system interests me.

Tags should be for content, imo.  Genre/medium is a far more fixed thing.


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## Quiet269 (Feb 5, 2009)

That makes sense


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## Batabii (Feb 5, 2009)

Is there any reason the search results right now aren't sorted in any way? I'd kind of like to have it in some sort of chronological order...


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## Firehazard (Feb 5, 2009)

So, I see we suddenly have "keywords" now?  Just noticed this yesterday.  Isn't this kind of a step backwards?  The system seems to have automatically copied the values of "species" tags into the list, so it's... redundant too.  WTF?

Helped me figure out what all else we could use tags for, though: Character Name and Other (assuming we ditch Keywords, this would be anything that doesn't fit anywhere else).


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## AndyFox (Feb 5, 2009)

Firehazard said:


> So, I see we suddenly have "keywords" now?  Just noticed this yesterday.  Isn't this kind of a step backwards?  The system seems to have automatically copied the values of "species" tags into the list, so it's... redundant too.  WTF?



I'm curious about that too. Another thread was started asking what we should do with the field (http://forums.furaffinity.net/showthread.php?t=35804 but there was no answer.

Are we suppose to use this *instead* of tags? Are custom tags like "Theme" going to automatically be copied here when Search happens? Will keywords replace tags? I'm confused.


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## Batabii (Feb 5, 2009)

I would like to exclude categories as well. For example, what about multi-fetish pics? Say I want to find all Hyper pictures that aren't in the Hyper category...


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## Little_Dragon (Feb 5, 2009)

A bit glitchy at the moment, but not bad, so far.

Really needs a sort-by-date function, though.


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## oniontrain (Feb 5, 2009)

AndyFox said:


> I'm curious about that too. Another thread was started asking what we should do with the field (http://forums.furaffinity.net/showthread.php?t=35804 but there was no answer.
> 
> Are we suppose to use this *instead* of tags? Are custom tags like "Theme" going to automatically be copied here when Search happens? Will keywords replace tags? I'm confused.



I PM'd Dragoneer about it, he's usually good about answering those. I'll post the response on the forums


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## Kitch (Feb 5, 2009)

...any chance we could get the ability to mass-delete private messages?


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## Eevee (Feb 5, 2009)

Kitch said:


> ...any chance we could get the ability to mass-delete private messages?


What on Earth does that have to do with anything in this thread?

And actually, with the way FA treats notes right now, you shouldn't really be allowed to delete them at all.


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## oniontrain (Feb 5, 2009)

OK He posted a journal about it http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/616451/

Mystery solved


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## Little_Dragon (Feb 5, 2009)

Just finished keywording all my submissions.  Don't know how long it'll take the index to update.

For the convenience of everyone who wants to avoid seeing my work, remember to exclude the keywords "Poser" and "3D" in your searches.


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## Devious Bane (Feb 5, 2009)

Karma's a bitch, look what happened with my first search:
http://g.imagehost.org/0992/ItBroked.png


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## Armaetus (Feb 5, 2009)

Now only if we can have all the "popular" artists and less known artists to key up all their crap, even if it's 500 submissions + scraps.


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## Firehazard (Feb 9, 2009)

This... feels like a step _backwards_.


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## muddypaws (Feb 9, 2009)

I did see it's up!

Yahoo - Thanks FA staff. You don't know how much of an asset that is.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.


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## humbird0 (Feb 10, 2009)

Here's a clever idea.
Have the system be tag-based.
Keep the ability to add your own tags.
And when submitting, the drop-down lists are still available for common search terms.
But... The drop-down lists actually _*add tags*_ when you click the submit button,
instead of storing the data separately.

Likewise, when searching, you still have the option to use drop-down lists, but they actually just add tags to the search when you run it.


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