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In the short time that I've been a member of the community I've noticed that the OP sometimes doesn't tag their question with the RDBMS (go figure :)). Community members often ask for this information in the comments and/or the OP leaks the data via their question or comments. I have edited a question to add a tag 5 to 10 times in the short time I've been a member. At the same time there are community members with more rep/seniority who surely noticed the missing tag and had the information to apply the proper tag before I did.

I'm not trying to say that everyone should add RDBMS tags to questions. I understand several factors can be in play such as; time constraints, effort/reward/community benefit judgments, a feeling that it is not their place, low perceived value based on the substance of the question, I don't have the rep to see they already did edit to add the tag, etc.

My question is there a purposeful reason why they are not editing the question to add the tag? Or worded differently; is there a reason why adding a tag is detrimental? I only see benefits from the tag which makes me wonder if I'm missing something, because most things are a give and take.

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  • I'm not trying to suggest that these tags should be required as suggested in this meta question.
    – Erik
    Aug 13, 2015 at 18:08

1 Answer 1

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Is there a purposeful reason why they are not editing the question to add the tag?

Maybe some people are hesitant about bumping questions to the front page, or perhaps they just don't want their name on the question in the 'modified by x minutes ago' position.

I frequently notice people (not just you!) editing in the database product tag when it is provided in a comment or elsewhere, often when it was quite a distance from the question itself. This is a very good thing.

Perhaps the number of such tasks exceeds the available person-power sometimes? Perhaps you're especially skilled at finding product tag candidates? Anyway, keep up the great work.

Is there a reason why adding a tag is detrimental?

I cannot think of any drawbacks to adding the proper product tag(s) to a question. Tags help people and search engines find questions (and answers).

We could sometimes be better at adding top-level tags (e.g. ) whenever we add a version tag (e.g. ), but that is a separate topic.

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  • Ok good. I was just worried I was missing something. I wasn't thinking people were slacking or I was the only one doing this work. I certainly understand that there are lots of reasons why the tag might be missing. :)
    – Erik
    Aug 13, 2015 at 18:31
  • @Erik Well, it's always possible I'm missing something too :) By the way, there is no subtext or implied criticism to any part of my answer - I think we're doing a pretty decent job in this area, and your efforts are genuinely appreciated.
    – Paul White Mod
    Aug 13, 2015 at 18:39
  • I didn't think you were criticizing me. I just wanted to make it abundantly clear that I'm not criticizing others. In some circles posing this kind of question could be perceived negatively/accusatory and text can be misinterpreted.
    – Erik
    Aug 13, 2015 at 18:48
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    @Erik "in some circles...": true, but not here ;)
    – Jack Douglas
    Aug 13, 2015 at 19:17
  • @Erik keep up the good work. We mods agree this is good site hygiene.
    – jcolebrand Mod
    Aug 18, 2015 at 14:40

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