I realized when writing the first blog post that I needed consideration around this site’s taxonomy of Categories and Tags. As it has been a while (ahem) since I worked with such classification for my own site(s) I really could not remember how Categoreis and Tags differ in the context of WordPress.
Where to turn for information? Old me might have gone straight Google, but new me decided to give bing Chat a crack at explaining in to me.
Here was my initial prompt into the bing Chat box:
“explain to me the difference between categories and tabs in wordpress“
beep-beep-boop {that’s what plays in my head when the chat box responds “Searching for:” and “Generating answers for you …”}
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Categories and tags are both used to organize content in WordPress. Categories are used to group posts that are related to each other by a broad topic. They are hierarchical, meaning that you can create subcategories within categories. Tags, on the other hand, are used to describe specific details of a post. They are more specific than categories and can be used to provide additional information about a post’s content. You can use multiple tags for a single post, but you should only use one category per post²⁵.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/24/2023(1) Ultimate Guide to WordPress Categories & Tags – WPExplorer. https://www.wpexplorer.com/wordpress-categories-tags/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(2) Categories vs Tags – SEO Best Practices for Sorting Your Content. https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/categories-vs-tags-seo-best-practices-which-one-is-better/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(3) The Difference Between Tags and Categories (An Easy Guide) – AIOSEO. https://aioseo.com/the-difference-between-tags-and-categories/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(4) What is a Category? How to Use Categories in WordPress – WPBeginner. https://www.wpbeginner.com/glossary/category/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(5) Categories Vs. Tags | Learn WordPress. https://learn.wordpress.org/lesson-plan/categories-versus-tags/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
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I think that’s pretty helpful. I’m pretty sure I’ve read some of those pages years ago when I started working with WordPress. However, I did not recall that there should be only one category per post.
From a blog Post tagging perspective I felt I needed some examples. So here is my second prompt to bing Chat:
“show me two examples of categories and tags implementations in wordpress“
beep-beep-boop
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Sure! Here are two examples of categories and tags implementations in WordPress:
1. Food blog:
– Categories: Lunch, Dinner, Desserts
– Tags: Vegetarian, Gluten-free, Low-carb
2. Travel blog:
– Categories: Europe, Asia, Africa
– Tags: Beaches, Mountains, Cities¹
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Source: Conversation with Bing, 5/24/2023(1) Ultimate Guide to WordPress Categories & Tags – WPExplorer. https://www.wpexplorer.com/wordpress-categories-tags/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(2) What is Tag in WordPress? – WPBeginner. https://www.wpbeginner.com/glossary/tag/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(3) Categories, Tags, & Custom Taxonomies – WordPress Developer Resources. https://developer.wordpress.org/themes/basics/categories-tags-custom-taxonomies/ Accessed 5/24/2023.
(4) What Are WordPress Tags and How to Use Them Correctly – Hostinger. https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/wordpress-tags Accessed 5/24/2023.
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This is definitely helpful. I created a category called “AI” and for this article a tag called “bing.”