I have to say I get frustrated by too many categories. When we have lyr/tune/chord add/req, not to mention origins and dtstudy, we have too many categories to split song information into. It works fine if the first person to discuss the song is the one who picks the thread tag, but it drives me batty to see people answer requests by starting an additional "add" thread.

If at all possible, please keep information on a song in a single thread, so it's easy for people to see the entire discussion. I do combine some threads if it makes sense, but it's a tedious process because I have to move messages one at a time.

I saw a chords request just now, in the thread on Let Ramensky Go. I decided to try a different tack this time - I moved the chords request message to the existing thread, but added a "chords" tag to the old thread title. Let me know how you think that works.

We don't want to make out thread categorization too rigid and squelch discussion, and yet we want to help people find their way around. It's a delicate balance. Jeff and I keep trying new methods. I do most of the grouping and categorizing by myself, because I've found it gets confusing if different people do it with different philosophies.
I think it's great, because I get exposed to all this new music information as I do my categorizing and grouping.

Maybe some pointers about thread categories would be helpful:

• The Folklore category is for non-music information that relates to folk music - language, customs, etc. Our harvesters should not expect to find songs in "folklore" threads, although they aren't prohibited.
• The Origins category is for the origins/history of songs. Please don't use "origins" if you're requesting lyrics. In general, "Origins" is a tag we add to a thread once we find it has substantial song origins information, but the tag is available for those who really do want to request origins information.
• The Obit category is for dead people, not the death of your conscience, or your cat, or whatever. We'll move the non-music obituaries to the non-music side of the Forum when we feel it's appropriate.
• Tech is for non-music tech stuff, particularly computer problems.
• Lyr/Chord/Tune Add/Req - please try to keep all information in one thread, even though the tag on the existing thread may not be the one you want. Don't start an ADD thread to reply to a REQ thread. For that matter, don't start ANY thread to reply to another thread.
• Use BS for all non-music information, keeping in mind the few exceptions listed above.
• If you don't see a category that fits, leave the category blank, or type up a tag that will fit. Since there are so many spirituals posted, it would be nice to have a "spirituals" tag (but that's something you can type yourself).
• Don't try to be "cute" in your choice of thread tags. As you can see from comments above, people actually do make use of the tags to find things. If you use improper tags, somebody has to change them. We have over 600,000 threads, and it takes a lot of work to keep them organized.

We may add some tags to our dropdown list, and we may remove some. I've occasionally lobbied Max and Jeff to have a "song" category instead of all the add/req's, but I haven't prevailed yet (and I'm not totally satisfied with "song"). We try to make sure that the tags we use are both brief and understandable. We won't use "NM" instead of "BS" because it's not immediately understood.

-Joe Offer-