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One of the problems with the tagging system that are magnified on Arqade is the automatic tag removal script that removes tags that have only been used once in the last six months.

There exists a simple setting to disable the tag removal scripts on SE sites. I propose to enable this setting and disable the automatic tag removal on this site. Of course bad tags are harmful, but having the community clean up questions regularly that had their game tags removed is just a waste of time. I'm not convinced that the benefits of the script outweigh the harm and waste of time we know it causes.

As it is a simple setting there is no significant cost for SE to implement this. We, the Arqade community, bear the cost of changing this. We'll have to clean up more tags if I'm wrong about the benefit of the script, but I think the benefits will outweigh the harm by useless tags that won't get deleted. Other options might also be to implement better tools to deal with bad tags, making the automatic script obsolete.

I've proposed a replacement for the script in form of a review queue for tags on Meta.SO, that should ensure that useless tags still get removed.

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    Is there a way to up vote this more than once?
    – Wipqozn Mod
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 23:09
  • Listing out the consequences would be useful to know too. What are our stats on actual useless tags that get auto-culled?
    – Resorath
    Commented Sep 24, 2012 at 23:11
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    @Resorath We don't have that data, only SE has it. We can only observe the untagged questions.
    – Mad Scientist
    Commented Sep 25, 2012 at 5:55
  • I was about to share my meta post on Patents but I see you've found it
    – Zelda
    Commented Sep 25, 2012 at 17:34
  • Funny, I proposed the exact same thing on scifi very early on. It didn't catch on, as far as I can tell. meta.scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/885/…
    – Private Pansy
    Commented Sep 29, 2012 at 7:59

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
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Done. Single-use tags will no longer be automatically cleaned up.

Get familiar with https://gaming.stackexchange.com/tags?tab=new - bogus new tags must now be removed diligently by editing.

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    woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
    – GnomeSlice
    Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 18:43
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    I think I speak on behalf of all on gaming when I say: I love you <3
    – Wipqozn Mod
    Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 18:46
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    Does this apply to other sites as well (like Board & Card Games)?
    – bwarner
    Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 22:56
  • @bwarner no, it's a per-site setting
    – David Fullerton
    Commented Nov 13, 2012 at 23:49
  • It's you. You're the awesome one.
    – Rilgon Arcsinh
    Commented Nov 14, 2012 at 1:45
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    @DavidFullerton Please turn off the tag killer on Science Fiction & Fantasy, we've had that request up for a very long time. I've also posted requests on other sites where the tag killer has been shown to cause harm.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Nov 25, 2012 at 22:15
  • IMO it would be better to require a tag wiki entry, or increase the interval to 12 months. I understand the rationale for Ask Patents, which is a unique site and case. This is a slippery slope for every other site; you can view the data behind the original 6 month rule at meta.stackexchange.com/a/48418
    – Jeff Atwood
    Commented Nov 26, 2012 at 1:04

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