Tags panel needs "Add New Tag" option

UX
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We need a “Create New Tag” option on this page:

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I’m aware that we can create new tags using the Composer, but is it the only way?! I don’t think it makes sense to open the Composer to create tags. I mean, the feature could still be there, of course, but it shouldn’t be the only way and especially not even the main way of doing it.

If I’m in a panel called Tags, it would make sense that there’s a button or menu option to Create New Tag. This is the most intuitive approach, in my opinion.

And while we’re at it, why the extra dropdown menu when there’s plenty of space to add the buttons right on the page, and get rid of the menu?

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I’m always in favor of dropdown menus when there’s limited space, but other than that, I’m all for reducing the amount of clicks, and specially, removing friction and confusion caused by hidden options that sometimes may not be immediately obvious and visible to the user.

3 Likes
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No, but you’re right that there isn’t an obvious way.

All the current ways to create a tag are associated with putting the tag to use (attaching it to a new topic, adding a tag as a synonym to an existing tag, creating a tag while creating a tag group). Beyond this, I believe the only other way to create a new tag is through bulk upload.

This has been discussed a bit in Create tags outside of new post — I don’t think there’s any opposition to this feature, it just hasn’t been prioritized.

5 Likes
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Those should also exist, of course.
I thing that the main way, which is on a panel called “Tags”, should have been implemented since day one, because that’s where we can manage all tags. That’s what seems to make more sense to me, along with the creation on topic creation. Much more than the bulk upload, for example.

I think some of the things I’ve been finding in Discourse to be “weird” is more about creating confusion on things that would make sense being in a certain place. And as you can see, these things tend to populate the forum a lot, when it wouldn’t be necessary if there was some logic behind it.

Not trying to sound “rude” or anything, especially because I’ve been loving Discourse and what allows us to do. I just think that some of these things should get a bit more “love and attention” and shouldn’t be put at the bottom of the priority list, just because there’s a workaround and they are not high priority. We as users also like to see “non-priority” things getting some attention to make everything look and run smoother and easier to work with.

For example as much as the old way was not ideal, where the components were presented with those images with the shapes, the new layout is pretty bad, tbh. It’s all cramped and hard to work with, especially in smaller screens. Sure, we can still do what needs to be done, but some of these things (like the components panel) is just a few CSS lines to change width, hide some unnecessary panels, etc.

Hope you guys find time to fix these non-priority things. Unfortunately, from what I see from the post you shared, it’s been 5 years since that topic was created and there’s still no update on that.

Again, I don’t want to sound rude or ungrateful for a platform as good as this, and provided for free. Not at all. I just wish the details also mattered, especially when users feel that things aren’t working as they should.

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If I may… They do. The devs definitely pay attention and put work into them. Believe me that if they didn’t, using Discourse would be a way less pleasurable experience.

The thing is that there’s so many details to pay attention to that they realistically can’t put resources into all of them – even after years.

pr-welcome tags are sometimes used to encourage users to contribute, as Discourse is open source, but some welcomed features need to be thought thoroughly design-wise, and then having an external developer sending a PR is not always the best solution.

4 Likes
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Another issue: I was trying to create the tags using the Composer, I actually need to post the topic. The “Create XYZ…” that shows when a tag doesn’t exist, doesn’t really “create” the tag unless we post the topic. Then we have to delete it, which seems unnecessary if the panel Tags had all the tools for us to Create, Manage, Delete tags.

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I believe they do, don’t get me wrong. My point here is just that we can divide “non-priority” fixes and tweaks into 2: some are not hyper relevant, and some are, because they affect the normal functionality and workflow of a website. When we need to jump around to do something that should be done in a single page, that to me is an indication that there’s something to be fixed. Maybe not a priority like a security issue, for example, but it should be evaluated. The workflow I mentioned is just simple and basic UI/UX, in order to create a smooth experience on the website.

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I don’t disagree :slight_smile:

Other criteria for working on changes/fixes is that unless raised issues are very problematic, or very easy to implement, Discourse prioritizes changes driven by customers’ requests and usually (I think they didn’t deviate from this principle) follows the rule of three:

Which also explains why some issues that seem obvious to someone aren’t worked on, even after a long time.

You’ll find many requests similar to this topic if you dig in inside UX, Feature, and even Bug, and I too have been frustrated sometimes after reporting stuff that was never fixed :see_no_evil_monkey: