Using Technorati Tags and Categories on WordPress.com
The problem with using Categories as Technorati tags is you end up with way too many Categories. This defeats the purpose of having categories in the first place. One could argue that tags are more important than categories. But what if you want both. It’s not hard to do but you do have to write HTML code. Not the easiest solution even for those of use who know how. It turns out there is a better way. (See #4) I did some research using the Forums and FAQ on WordPress.com. Here are my notes.
- Embedding Technorati Code into a Widget
- How Do I embed Technorati Code?
- Tagging Bookmarklet for Firefox (IE 7 ?)
- Technorati Tags Bookmarklet Version 0.3
- * Use built-in Tag Generator in Windows Live Writer
My goal was adding Technorati tags in addition to WP Categories without doing a lot of hand coding. Item #4 above is what I’m using here.
- I created a bookmark for the page (#4). Update see #5
- Then right click the bookmark to get its properties.
- I replaced the URL with the code. (I moved the URL to the Description field in case I need it later)
To use in an entry
When I’m finish writing my entry, I switch to the Code tab in the editor and launch the bookmark, which opens a small window.
Follow the directions to create the a list of tags.
When done copy the generated HTML code (Ctrl-C) and paste (Ctrl-V) into your entry and save.
Update 5/31/2007, I found out from Joe Cheng of Microsoft that Windows Live Writer has an ‘Insert Tag’ function built in that not only supports Technorati Tags, but can also be customized. The more I use this program, the more I like it. It has to be the best way of writing blog entries. (I hope to write a review of the new update of Live Writer, so check back.)
Technorati: test, bookmarklet, widget
Filed under: Web
Gotta admit that I just go ahead and add in the categories myself. I’ve used Lorelle’s tagging system in the past but a lot of the computers I use don’t allow one to add in their own bookmarks so I’m stuck.
Plus we have the drop down lists of categories now so it does make things easier.
Have you figured out how to edit WLW tags to have a + between tags instead of adding the %20 ??
I know you can edit the tag info but have not figure out how to do this. So its posting with spaces which I prefer not to do.
Paul,
When I use the Bookmarklet in my browser to add tags it replaces spaces with +.
I didn’t even notice Windows Live Writer uses %20. does Technorati handle them differently?
Anyway it seems like a WLW plug-in might be your solution. There’s a post at:
http://wlwplugins.com/multiple-tag-custom-tagging-for-wlw.php
that may work for you.
Thanks for the question.
A newer WLW Technorati tag generator is discussed at :
http://wlwplugins.com/livewriter-technorati-plugin.php
and can be found at:
http://franksworld.com/blog/archive/2006/09/15/4220.aspx
another is discussed at:
http://wlwplugins.com/insert-technorati-tags.php
and can be found at:
http://www.treeratfishing.com/2006/09/12/wlw-plugin-insert-technorati-tags/
While reading up on these plug-in I found I really enjoyed Cynthia’s blog on Windows Live Writer Plug-ins. Check it out if you get a chance.