Tags (also known as #hashtags) are like behind-the-scenes organizers, helping to categorize your site's content and make it easier to find. For example, if 15 users tag their content with #2021conference, all 15 pieces of content can be viewed simply by clicking the tag.

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Tags overview

There are three types of tags:

1. User-created tags - All users can define and tag their content (e.g., discussion posts, news articles, etc.) with their own keyword(s).
2. Formal tags - These are tags specifically defined by Super Admins to reflect an organization's approved tagging taxonomy. These tags are organized into Tag Groups, and each Tag Group can be made available to your users or limited to admins only (i.e., you can control whether users can apply the tags in a Tag Group or only admins can).
3. Topic tags - These tags are used specifically in your Topic Community. We're going to focus on User and Formal tags in this article, but you can refer to the Understand Your Topic Community article to learn more about Topic Tags.

How tags work

Regardless of whether you want to define your own tag or apply a Formal tag, the process is the same:

1. In the body of content (e.g., news article, discussion post, library entry, etc.), initiate the tagging process by typing "#" and then start typing the desired keyword(s). As you type, a list of existing, suggested tags will appear (if any exist). These can be Formal tags your organization has defined or previously created user tags.
2. Select a suggested tag or continue typing to create your own (if allowed).

3. After selecting or creating your own tag, it will become a hyperlink users can click to view all content associated with it. As more and more content is tagged with the same tag(s), it will become easier and easier to find, with more and more associated content.

NOTE: Do NOT use spaces when typing, as this will prevent hashtag creation. Also, if adding your own tag, press Enter after spelling it out to create it.

NOTE: You can also include #hashtags in Discussion posts made via your email client. For example, if you include #CommunityManagement in your Outlook message, the system will convert it into a hyperlinked tag after it is sent.

How tags help your community

Because tags enable both users and staff to easily curate content, it's not only an excellent way for your users to help organize and track content in your Higher Logic community but also for organizational staff to promote specific content, like upcoming events, conferences, meetings, etc.

EXAMPLE: If your annual conference was fast approaching, it's likely you'll begin generating content about it, like Discussion posts, news articles. You could include the #2021conference tag in each piece of content to easily group them together. Users could then click the hyperlinked tag in your Discussion post, news article, etc., to view ALL content tagged with it, making it easy for them to stay updated about your upcoming conference.

Searching tagged content

There are two ways to view content associated to a specific tag:

1 - Using the search bar

If you know a tag's name, you can enter it into the search bar to view its associated content. For example, I want to view my community's content with the Formal tag Food Supply. I can do so by entering tags:"food supply" in the search bar:

The search results display the content associated to this tag:

2 - Clicking tags

In addition to manually searching via tags, you can also click a tag within a blog article, discussion post, library entry, etc. to browse its associated content.

Just like searching tag keyword(s), clicking a tag displays its associated content in the search results:

Admin options

Tagging community content

In addition to inserting tags within content, like the body of a news article or discussion post (see How Tags Work above), admins can also add tags to the content entry itself.

As shown below, most content entries include an Add a tag link you can click to tag the content with any available user-created, Formal, and Topic tags.

Enable/disable user-created tags

Super Admins can control whether users can create their own tags and use existing user-created tags. Why would you want to disable user-created tags? If your organization only wants users tagging content with Formal tags, ensuring every tag belongs to your approved tagging taxonomy.

To disable user-created tags:

1. Access the Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Tags and Mentions > Tags.

3. In the User Created row, select Edit Group from the Actions menu.

4. Toggle the Is Active option to YES or NO to enable or disable user-created tags. Then, click Save.

• If Is Active = No, users will no longer be able to create their own tags or select any previously created user tags.

NOTE: Disabling user-created tags only prevents users from using existing tags and creating new ones; it has no impact on tags currently applied to content.

Block specific words from being tagged

If needed, Super Admins can prevent users from adding specific tags (e.g., you want to prevent users from tagging curse words or other vulgar language).

To do so:

1. Access the Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Tags and Mentions > Tags.

3. Click the User Tag Exclusions tab.
4. Type the word you want to prohibit in the first field, and then click Add. All prohibited words are listed in the area below, and you can remove them from the exclusion list at any time by clicking their X button.

Because I added "crap" to my exclusion list, users will now see that #crap is "not permitted" if they try to add it. If they press Enter to attempt to create the tag anyway, the system will simply not turn it into a hyperlink.

Manage Formal tags

Formal tags are organized and created within Tag Groups, much like how files are organized and stored in folders.

To manage your Formal Tag Groups and tags:

1. Access the Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Tags and Mentions > Tags.

Create New Formal Tag Groups

1. Click Add.

2. Complete the fields below.
3. Click Save to create your Tag Group.

Field	Description
Tag Group Name	Give your new Tag Group a name fitting for the types of tags it'll contain. This name will appear in the title of this tag list.
Admin Only	Decide whether only admins can apply tags from this Tag Group. If set to NO, your users can apply these tags as well.
Is Active	Controls whether the Tag Group is active or inactive: If YES, its associated tags can be applied to content. If NO, its associated tags cannot be applied to content. NOTE: Making a Tag Group inactive has no impact on tags currently in use, only the prevention of further tagging.
Tag Group Type	Because you're creating Formal tags, select the Formal Only option. NOTE: You can learn more about Topic tags in the Topic Communities article.

Create & manage Formal tags

Click a group's Edit Tags button to manage its existing tags and create new ones.

Create a tag

1. Click Add.

2. Complete the following fields:

Field	Description
Tag Name	Provide a keyword or term that accurately describes the types of content the tag is applicable to. Tag names help organize and describe content across your site, making it easier for your users to search for and find it.
Tag Aliases	Here, you can enter any keywords or terms that should be considered the same as the tag. This serves two purposes: It helps to reduce the number of tags you need, as you can group words that are similar to the tag under the same umbrella. Searching on an alias tag returns content tagged with the Tag Name. This prevents similar content from being flagged with different tags, therefore causing it to not be returned in the same search results. EXAMPLE: If you create the Topic Tag "EngagementStrategy" and create aliases for "engagement" and "gamification," a user searching either of these two aliases will return "EngagementStrategy" content instead.

3. Click Save to add the tag to the group and return to the previous page or Save and Add Another to add it and immediately add another tag.

View tags in use and tagged content

You can run two reports to easily view every tag in use across your site. From these reports, you can also jump directly to the tagged content.

To access these reports:

1. Access the Admin interface.
2. Navigate to Settings > Tags and Mentions > Tags.

Report on all tags in a Tag Group

Click the Actions menu associated to the desired Tag Group, and then select Report.

On the resulting page, each tag in use from the chosen Tag Group is listed. The number of times a tag is used is shown in the Used Counts column, and you can click these numbers to view the content tagged with it. A link to the content is also provided, making it easy to jump to tagged content.

NOTE: Clicking a tag's Delete button doesn't delete the tag, it simply removes it from the content it's applied to.

Report on a specific tag

If you want to focus on the usage of a specific tag, access the Tag Group it belongs to by clicking its Edit Tags button.

Each tag in use from the chosen Tag Group is listed. To report on a tag, select Report from its Actions menu.

On the resulting page, each usage of the tag is listed, along with a link to its associated content. This makes it easy to not only see how frequently a tag is used but also access its tagged content.

NOTE: Clicking a tag's Delete button doesn't delete the actual tag, it simply removes it from the content it's applied to.