What's the difference b/w tags and categories?

[SG1]

Is there any real benefit to also implementing a tag system or tag cloud versus a category for blog entries?

Some have said that it helps with SEO but I don't see how that is when you can include the same keyword tags by creating a category with those same keywords.

[RetroNetro]

Well I think categories are more generic, for example, you could have a category named "HTML" and make posts about HTML in that cat, but then you can use tags to provide more specific links to posts that include things such as anchors, tables and so on...

There is probably a more elegant explanation than mine.

[HAWK]

Tags are used more frequently for searching.
If I wanted to find a blog post about a very specific subject I would seach for tags. I would use categories if I was already in someone's blog so that I had a general idea of what type of posts I was going to find.

[icovey]

Hey HAWK,

When you say "I would search tags" what do you mean? How do you search for tags?

Excuse my ignorance...

Cheers,

[HAWK]

Check out technorati.com (for example). You can filter your search on blog tags.

And no need to excuse your ignorance... that's what forums are for!

[vgarcia]

I think it depends on the kind of architecture/hierarchy you want to portray on your site. For example, I think a more traditional company or topic-focused blog should stick to well-defined categories that make it clear what they talk about at a quick glance. On the other hand, for someone's personal blog that rambles on from one topic to the next, tags work better because 1. there may not be enough posts on any one particular topic to warrant a category, and 2. a tag cloud's more random approach lends itself to the random kinds of posts you'll find.

Tags and categories can be similar, but I like using them in completely different ways depending on the site.

[The New Guy]

2.0 vs 1.0

[icovey]

Thanks HAWK.

As far as I can see from my site's listing on Technorti the tags are generated from my categories. Is there something I need to do to generate tags from topic titles etc or is the a WP Plugin?

Cheers,

[Mittineague]

I use the "Simple Tags" plugin and it works well.
http://www.broobles.com/scripts/simpletags/

[r937]

Tags and categories can be similar, but I like using them in completely different ways depending on the site.

ever used 'em both at the same time?

[ses5909]

ever used 'em both at the same time?

I think a lot of people do. No harm in having both. I may have a category called Travel but then I tag it with Vail, skiing, snow, etc.

[vgarcia]

ever used 'em both at the same time?

You can; most blog software supports tags and categories at the same time. However, I generally don't like doing it because their purposes overlap so much.

[r937]

However, I generally don't like doing it because their purposes overlap so much.

yeah, just imagine how the users must feel

[icovey]

I use the "Simple Tags" plugin and it works well.
http://www.broobles.com/scripts/simpletags/

Thanks for that Mittineague. I'll give it a go.

Cheers,