Using Tags

Tags are keywords or categories that are used to organize your links. In some systems, tags are single words like "Photography", "Shopping", or "News". In Linkatopia, you can use single words or short phrases like "Web 2.0", "Animal Rights", or "Edgar Allan Poe". Only letters, numbers, periods and dashes are allowed.

Each one of your links can have multiple tags. Simply separate tags with commas. Extra spaces next to the commas are automatically removed.

If in doubt, use a "Popular" tag

If you're having trouble thinking of words to use for tags, take a look at the list of popular tags and see if one fits. By using the same tags that other people are using you'll help create a directory of popular links among Linkatopia members.

Why tags are better than folders

Most people are used to organizing data into folders. When you have a piece of paper that needs to be filed away, you put it in a folder. On your computer, you probably have everything in folders too. The problem is, when you put something in a folder, it ONLY exists in that folder. When you want to find it again, you have to remember WHAT folder you put it in. Of course you could put copies of the item in different folders but you'll fill up your hard drive with copies instead of new files.


Tags are much better than folders for organizing lists. Since each item can have many tags, the same item can exist in many categories. An item can be found be remembering any one of its tags. Look at the diagram above. You'll see that tag A points to item 1, tag B points to all 3 items, and tag C points to items 2 and 3. Each item has 2 tags. The flexibility of this system is why Linkatopia uses tags to organize your links.

Tag descriptions

Since the public tags you create help the entire community find what they're looking for, its a good idea to carefully choose simple but descriptive tags for your links. Tags are limited in length and sometimes one or two words can't really describe a category. Other times, a word can have more than one meaning. For example, does the tag "blues" refer to music or colors?

Linkatopia lets you add descriptions to your tags so people will know exactly what each tag means to you. For example, you might use "CSS" as a tag. Some people may not know what that means, so you could add "Cascading Style Sheets" as your tag description. On your homepage, click [edit tags]. Once the tag editor loads, select a tag, enter a description, and click "Save".

Unused tags are deleted

If you edit your links and use different or new tags, you could end up with old tags that no longer point to any links. Linkatopia automatically removes rags that are no longer in use. You'll never see a tag in your list that has zero links. This helps you stay organized and it keeps our database tidy.