criticaltongues:TITLE // Wanna be on top (of things)?SUBJECT // A guide on the using tracked tag

criticaltongues: TITLE // Wanna be on top (of things)? SUBJECT // A guide on the using tracked tags to keep you and your role players updated and organized CATEGORY // Organization AUDIENCE // Administrations INCLUDES // Introduction to tags and tracked tags, benefits of using tracked tags, tips on naming your tags, examples of tracked tags and things to remember about tags. Being an admin of a role play is hard. If you have poor organization skills, things just go from bad to worse. You’ve got applications to read through, pages to update, biographies to post, players to tend to, paragraphs to reply, events to plan. If you don’t know how to manage all of it, it’s easy to get lost and forgetful. To run and maintain a role play smoothly, you need to stay on top of things. Organization is one of the most important component of maintaining a role play. Without it, admins fall behind. Without someone actively keeping tabs on what needs to be done, things can get out of hand. There’s a simple system that can help you stay updated and organized. A built-in gem that’s keeping Tumblr users updated, tracked tags is fast becoming a useful tool for both admins and their members. With a list of tags set, admins are able to prioritize their tasks while keeping their players up to date.Before we get into details about the benefits of tracked tags, I’d like to introduce what tags are first. If you’re well versed on this topic skip to the next part. This is more of a “beginner’s toolbox" where I incorporate Tumblr how to’s and guides to help new users and role players use the website. If you’re new on Tumblr or simply interested about this role playing platform, here’s a quick run down on tags.What are they? Tags are the the words you put at the end of your Tumblr posts. How do you tag your posts? You simply type up your tag, click enter and it’s done. You can keep typing until you’ve got all of the necessary tags. Where can I search tags? On the top right on your Tumblr screen, there’s a search bar with the words “Search tags and blogs". When are they updated? They’re automatically updated! Every time you tag a post, it appears on the tags. Who uses tags? Most people on Tumblr use tags. They can be especially helpful for admins and role players, though. Great! We now have a basic understanding on tagging. We can now search, use and track them. Here are two simple and short how to’s provided by Tumblr.How do I track tags? Enter the tag in the “Search tags” box at the top of your Dashboard. Hit enter. Click “track” in the search box. How do I untrack tags? Click the “Search tags” box at the top of your Dashboard. Click the name of the tag. Roll over “tracking” and click “untrack.” Information on tags was taken from Tumblr’s page “How to Use Tags”. With the mechanics of tags and tracked tags understood, we can now go through the benefits of using this system.For this section, I’ve separated the benefits into two sections: admins and players. This way, it’s easier to navigate your way through each reasoning without having to change into the mentality of an admin and player. Using tracked tags to keep your role play up to date: A list of benefits for admins They’re easy to use and create. After creating your tags, it takes a few clicks to track them. You can either click on your tag and track it there or type up your tag in the search bar on the top right of you screen and track it. Even if you’ve got a few tags, this will take you only a few seconds to do. The best part is that if you don’t untrack your tag, you’ll always have it. They help you keep in mind the important tasks that you have to accomplish on a daily basis. The usual tags used by admins include tracked tags on who to follow, unfollow, and starters from players. This are some important reminders for admins.For a post to be tagged “follow”, they would need to have undergone a process first. Admins need to notice a new application, read it, discuss or think if it’s accepted, send a message to the roleplayer if it is, indeed, accepted and wait for the link to the character’s page. Role plays that get applications on a regular basis need admins who are willing to stay on top of applications.The same thing goes for unfollow posts. Admins would need to look through their master list to see who is active and inactive. With this master list, they have to make sure they have the list of players who are in hiatus, so that they don’t get a warning. Inactive players are sent a message and if they don’t respond within the time frame of the inactivity rule, then they are let go of.Both tasks are important because it helps admins note who is active and inactive. But it also updates players who they should follow and unfollow in an automated way. They help new members transition easily into your role play. Tracked tags can be part of the check list new members can use to quickly and efficiently catch up with the role play. Tags are like “starters" and “open starters" can help new members quickly adapt into the game and role play right away by finding themselves an open starter to respond to. It also makes them more independent. Everything they need to catch up on can be done by tracking tags. This saves a lot of time scrolling for new paragraphs. They are an easy, effective and quick way to keep your members updated. Tracked tags automatically updates your tags every time you tag a post. You no longer have to alert your members on checking a post - Tumblr does that for you. This is a great way to keep role players from different time zones to be on the same page without sifting through the main page or scrolling down their dash. Admins no longer have to send their players a mass message about an important update or event. The simple use do tracked tags will do it for them. You and your co-admin can create a tracked tag to easily communicate with each other on different accounts. This one is a bonus. If you and your co-admin alternatively use different accounts (personal, RPC/H, character blogs), you guys can use a shared tag to remind each other on what needs to be done. Posts can be kept on track easily without having to mix personal and role playing messages. You wouldn’t need to go back and forth accounts to find the message your co-admin sent you. Using tracked tags to keep up to date: A list of benefits for players There is little to no effort required to track the important tags of the role play. With the tags already created and in place by the admins, all members have to do is to track them. This process itself takes only a few seconds and doesn’t need to be touched again. You no longer have to sift through the entire role play to look for things like events, tasks, prompts, and important posts. If you’re updated with your tasks, you no longer have to worry about that tag. Members can focus on looking through prompts and completing them. If there’s an event going on, members can simply look at the latest post done in the events tag and read through it. With tags separated and categorized, it’s easier for members to look through needed posts without having to alert the admin or ask fellow members. While they’re the same to each members, they’re personalized on what needs to been read and what still needs to be read. While posts are published by admins, members don’t read them at the same time. Some might be offline, others in a different time zone. Tracked tags updates them as soon as they log in and with a clicks and moments to spare, they’re caught up with what is important.We’ve now covered the list of benefits. If you plan on using tracked tags, I’ve out together a set of tips on how to apply them to your role play. Tips on naming your tags i. Keep them short. This is important. The shorter the tag the better because it isn’t a hassle for you and your members. It will be easier to remember when using your tags. ii. Use the abbreviation of your URL plus the subject you want to track. Try to use the first letters of each word of your URL. It doesn’t matter if it doesn’t make up a word, the important part is to have the abbreviated form on your URL. You can also just use the first word of your URL if it isn’t too long. iii. Make sure the tags aren’t already in used. You just never know. Maybe another role play uses the same abbreviated URL as yours. If this unfortunately happens, try to keep the two points above while trying to find if other combinations are open. iv. Keep them uniform. Use the same abbreviation to start off each tag and then put in the rest of the tag. Do not change each tag with a different word order. It can be confusing for members to follow different URL tags for no reason. v. Avoid using hyphens between words. Tumblr doesn’t support them in tags, so don’t use them. vi. Try to keep them all lowercase. Although lowercase and uppercase don’t matter when it comes to tags, it’s better to keep them lowercase because it’s easier to read. The number of tags used You decide what should and shouldn’t be used as a tracked tag. However, I suggest keeping the number of tags at a minimum. You do not want to waste your role players’ time by having them track tags that don’t help them. I’d say that 5 tags is enough. More than that can be too much. Do not have more than 7 tag if you have to. Try to keep them reasonable. Remember that these are for your members to keep track of the important things in the role play. Examples of tags are: follow, unfollow, open starter, starter, event and important messages. Examples of tracked tags used by admins Here is a list of role plays that use tracked tags. Each are linked to the page that lists their tracked tags.I-ROLEPLAY // THEHOLLOW-RP // INKEDPETALSRP // LONGLIVERPG // INTHEHEATOFTHENIGHT-RP // INTO-EACH-GENERATION // ESCAPING-RP // MAGICALENEMIESRP You can either make a new page and list all of your tracked tags or you can make a post about it and put it a link on your navigation. Be sure to place the link or list where players can see them. Most importantly, though, make sure to tell your players about your tracked tags. External tips on tags Here are tag information and reminders to keep in mind when creating them. You don’t have to go through each of them but if there’s something you don’t know, be sure to read up about it before implementing it. PSA − How Tags Work Ten Tumblr Tagging Tips 5 Quick Things You Should Know About Tagging Maintaining an organized role play is no longer impossible. Tracked tag are an easy way to keep both admins and their players updated without the hassle. Admins can take care of other important tasks instead of constantly reminding their players of a new update. They’re quick to set up and use. Being up to date has greatly become a lot easier. Players can comfortably catch up on what they’ve missed without scrolling through the dashboard or the role play’s main page. This makes more time for what we’re here to do: role playing. If you’ve got any thoughts, comments on questions, please don’t hesitate to send me a message. Thanks for taking the time to read this guide. -- source link

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