TagTeam basics

From Harvard Open Access Project
Revision as of 17:56, 7 November 2014 by WikiSysop (talk | contribs)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Preface

Here we describe how to use TagTeam. First we introduce some TagTeam terminology, and then we go through each of the basic tasks that you can perform with TagTeam, such a creating a hub, creating and modifying tags, subscribing to feeds from elsewhere, managing the feeds generated by TagTeam itself, and searching.

TagTeam terms

  • A TagTeam project is a hub. The person who creates the hub is the hub owner. The hub owner can add others to the project and give them various roles or privileges. Hub members with suitable privileges can tag web pages for the hub, modify the tags used by any project taggers, have the hub subscribe to feeds published elsewhere, modify the feeds to which the hub subscribes, and create hub feeds based on combinations of tag feeds and input feeds.
    • Hub inputs take three forms: (1) tags applied to external web pages, (2) feeds to which the hub subscribes, and (3) tag records imported from other tagging platforms such as Connotea. Hubs store their inputs from all three sources for deduping, back-up, export, modification, and searching.
    • Hub outputs take four forms: (1) an output feed for each hub tag, (2) an output feed for each input feed, without modification, and (3) an output feed modifying an input feed, (4) an output feed combining any tag feeds and/or input feeds, with or without modifications.
  • An item is the unit of TagTeam information. If you tag an article for a TagTeam hub, the item contains the URL of the article, all the tags you applied to the article, the "description" of the article you may have added at the time of tagging, the fact that you were the one (or one of the ones) who tagged it for the hub, and similar information. (Hence, we sometimes call items "tag records".) The item does not include the text of the article itself. When a hub subscribes to feeds from elsewhere, those feeds deliver streams of items to the hub. When a hub publishes its own feeds, those feeds deliver streams of items to feed subscribers.
  • The bookmarklet is the button on your browser bar that lets you tag web pages. If you have permission to tag for a hub, then you can find the bookmarklet in the "Bookmarks" tab. Near the top of that page is an underlined phrase "Add to TagTeam". Just drag that phrase to your browser bar. If you don't have permission to tag for a given hub, you will not see that phrase on the hub's Bookmarks tab.
  • A filter is a rule for modifying tags. Hub members with suitable privileges can create filters, for example, to replace deprecated tags with approved tags, to replace misspelled tags with correctly spelled tags, and so on. TagTeam can apply filters to individual items, to individual input feeds, or to the entire hub. Filters can be prospective (modifying all tags made in the future) and retroactive (modifying all tags already stored in the hub). Hub owners can use filters to tidy up a chaotic collection of tags, and to manage the evolution of a folksonomy of user-defined tags into an ontology or standard vocabulary of project-approved tags.
  • A remix feed is a feed published by TagTeam consisting of some combination of other feeds. If your project has many tags, for example, A, B, C, D, and E, then a remix feed could contain just the items with tags A, B, and C, or just the items with A and B but not C. If we remember that TagTeam can subscribe to any existing feed from elsewhere, that every TagTeam tag generates its own feed, and that every TagTeam search generates its own feed, then we can see the power of remix feeds. TagTeam can create remix feeds based on any boolean combination of input feeds, tag feeds, and search feeds. Hub owners can carefully craft certain remix feeds and offer them to users. Or users with suitable privileges can create their own.

What you can do without signing up or signing in

You can access TagTeam without signing up for an account or signing in. You can view all hubs. You can also select any tab on any hub and view its information in read-only mode. However, to create a new hub or make any changes to an existing hub, you must create an account and log in.

You can request permission to tag for someone else's hub without signing up for an account or signing in. However, you must have a TagTeam account before you can be approved.

Setting up an account and logging in

To start:

  • Go to TagTeam and click the Log in link on the upper right corner of the screen.
  • When the log-in or sign-in screen appears, take one of the following actions:
    • If you already have an account, fill in the Username or email and Password fields and click Sign in.
    • If you do not have an account, click the Sign up link.

Once you have an account, you can create your own hubs, tag for your own hubs, add members to your hubs, and give members different rights or permissions.

Creating a new hub

To create a new hub:

  • Log in to TagTeam.
  • Click the New hub link.
    • Fill in the required Description field. If you like, fill in any of the optional fields for Title, Nickname, Description, and Tags.
    • Click Create hub.

Requesting permission to tag for someone else's hub

If you want to tag for a hub owned by someone else, you will need the owner's permission. Likewise, if others want to tag for one of your hubs, they will need your permission.

To request permission to tag for a certain hub:

  • Log in to TagTeam and navigate to the desired hub.
  • Click the Contact tab in the left sidebar.
  • On the "Contact the owners of this hub" screen, do the following:
    • Fill in the Name and Email fields. The Name field is optional, but we recommend filling it in. Hub owners are more likely to approve your request if they know who you are.
    • Select "Request to collaborate" from the Reason drop-down list. When "Ways you'd like to collaborate" list appears, check any desired selections.
    • Fill in the Message field to explain your request.
    • When done, click Submit.

The hub owner should then reply to your request by email. Note that these requests must be approved by the human hub owner, and if the owner is busy or traveling, this may take some time. Follow up with the hub owner if you do no hear back within a reasonable time.

Adding and using the bookmarklet

If you have permission to tag for a hub, then you can install the bookmarklet for tagging. A "bookmarklet" is a button on your browser bar to execute a certain command, usually a command relevant to the page you're currently viewing through the browser. In this case, the command is to tag that page for TagTeam.

To add the bookmarklet to your browser:

  • Log in to TagTeam and navigate to the desired hub.
  • Click the Bookmarks tab.
  • Drag the Add to TagTeam link to your browser's tool bar, where it will become a clickable button.
    • Note that most browsers let you edit the name of the bookmarklet button, for example, to make shorter and save space on your browser bar.

Once you install the bookmarklet, you can start tagging. When you're viewing a web page that you want to tag for TagTeam, simply click on the bookmarklet and fill in the bookmarklet form.

  • If you mark some text before you click the bookmarklet, then that block of text will appear in the bookmarklet's "description" field. Otherwise the "description" field will be blank and ready for you to fill in.

If you have permission to tag for more than one TagTeam hub, then by default the bookmarklet form will add the next item to the most recently selected hub. You can specify a different hub with the drop-down list near the top of the bookmarklet form.

Tagging

There are two ways to tag for a given hub:

  1. From within TagTeam
  2. From another tagging platform

Using TagTeam as your tagging platform

  • Create a TagTeam account if you haven't already done so. After you create an account, you can create TagTeam hubs, tag items for your own hubs, and tag for hubs owned by others if the owners give you permission to do so.
  • To tag for one of your own hubs, create the hub, install the bookmarklet, and start tagging. Go to a web page you want to tag, click on the bookmarklet, and fill in the bookmarlet form.
  • To tag for a hub owned by someone else, request permission and wait to be approved. Then install the bookmarklet and start tagging.

Using a tagging platform other than TagTeam

You can tag for TagTeam from any tagging platform that generates RSS or Atom feeds for each of its tags. For example, CiteULike and Delicious do this. Suppose you want to tag for TagTeam from Delicious. The basic idea is that you create a special tag for Delicious which means "send this item to TagTeam". Then you ask a TagTeam hub to subscribe to the feed that Delicious generates for that special tag.

The primary benefit of this feature is that a social tagging project can recruit participants who remain free to use the tagging platform of their choice. They needn't use TagTeam at all, and the needn't agree on any other single platform. If they use tagging platforms that generate RSS feeds for their tags, then a TagTeam hub can gather their project-related tags together in one place.

Here's how to tag for TagTeam from another tagging platform:

  • Create a special tag for items you want a TagTeam hub to include.
    • Your special tag may be any string of characters accepted as a valid tag by your chosen tagging platform.
    • It should be a string that other users of your favorite tagging platform are unlikely to use, such as add2hubx, jane-add2hubx, TagTeam14159, or TTzebra.
  • Determine the URL of the RSS or Atom feed generated for your special tag by your chosen tagging platform.
    • If your chosen tagging platform generates a feed for your individual use of that tag, and a separate feed for everyone's use of the same tag, then use the former.
  • request permission to tag for a given TagTeam hub.
    • In your request, indicate the name of the tagging platform you want to use and the URL of the feed for your special tag.
  • When you are approved, the hub owner can subscribe to the feed generated by your special tag.
  • From your chosen tagging platform, use your special tag for all the items you want the TagTeam hub to include, and omit it from all the items you want the hub to exclude.
  • When you apply your special tag to an item, you may apply any number of other tags as well. If you do, then the TagTeam hub will harvest all the tags you applied.
    • For example if you use your special tag plus tags A, B, and C, then TagTeam will add the item and mark it with your special tag plus tags A, B, and C.
  • If you use your special tag for too many items unrelated to the hub topic, the hub owner may unsubscribe from your feed.

One purpose of a TagTeam hub is to publish carefully curated feeds relevant to the hub topics. Requiring permission for tagging lets hub owners prevent spammers from undermining the value of project feeds. Hub owners who notice spamming can revoke the spammer's permissions.

Modifying tags

In TagTeam, a "filter" is a rule for modifying tags. TagTeam supports three kinds of filter:

  1. An item-level filter changes a tag for one item only. If the item originally had tag A, and the filter changes A to B, then the item is then tagged with B and not A.
    • To see the filters on a particular item, click on the item to display the tag record, and then click on "Filters" in the left sidebar.
  2. A feed-level filter changes a tag for an entire input feed. If the filter changes tag A to tag B, then any instances of tag A arriving through that feed in the future will automatically be converted to tag B inside TagTeam.
    • To see the filters on a particular feed, click on the Inputs tab, then click on the particular feed, and then click on "Filters" in the left sidebar.
  3. A hub-level filter changes a tag throughout a hub. If the filter changes tag A to tag B, then any items arriving in the future, from input feeds or manual tagging through the bookmarklet, will automatically be converted to tag B inside TagTeam. In addition, all instances of tag A already in the hub will be converted to tag B.
    • To see the hub-level filters, go to any hub-level view, such as the hub front page or the Items tab for that hub. Then click on the "Filters" tab in the left sidebar.

In most tagging platforms, users can only modify their own tags. In TagTeam, the hub owner and users with permission can modify any tags in the hub. This is the power enabling a TagTeam research project to manage the evolution from a folksonomy to an ontology, or from user-defined tags to a standard vocabulary of project-approved tags.

TagTeam always allows user-defined tags. Using filters, project managers can convert any tags to any other tags, but they cannot limit taggers to a predetermined set of tags.

Filters can be deleted. A filter changing tag A to tag B takes effect as soon as it is created. If deleted, the instances of tag B added or created by the filter revert to instances of tag A. Permission to create filters includes permission to delete them.

Users may only create filters with the permission of the hub owner. Permission to tag is not the same as the permission to filter. To request permission, see the section on Requesting permission to tag for someone else's hub, and ask for permission to create filters, not just permission to tag. The following instructions assume that you already have permission to create filters.

Modifying tags for a single item

To modify a tag for one item only:

  • Click on the desired item.
  • When the item's summary screen appears, click the Filters tab in the left sidebar.
  • You'll then see three options:
    • Add a tag to this item
    • Remove a tag from this item
    • Modify a tag on this item
  • Click the desired option. You'll then see a dialog box where you can specify the tag to add, remove, or modify. * Fill in the dialog box and click Submit.

TagTeam displays a confirmation message at the top of the screen after completing the desired action.

If you use this method to change tag A to tag B, it will only change for that individual item. Other occurrences of tag A in the same hub will not be affected.

Modifying tags for all items in a feed

To modify a tags for all items in a feed:

  • From the home screen for the hub, click on the Inputs tab in the left sidebar. You'll then see a list of input feeds, or feeds from elsewhere to which this hub subscribes.
  • Click the title of the desired feed.
  • Click the Filters tab in the left sidebar.
  • You'll then see three options:
    • Add a tag to all items in this feed
    • Remove a tag from all items in this item
    • Modify a tag on all items in this feed
  • Click the desired option. You'll then see a dialog box where you can specify the tag to add, remove, or modify. * Fill in the dialog box and click Submit.

TagTeam displays a confirmation message at the top of the screen after completing the desired action.

If you use this method to change tag A to tag B for all items in the feed, then it will change all previous occurrences and all future occurrences in that feed. For example, if the feed delivers another item with tag A in the future, then TagTeam will automatically change it to tag B upon its arrival. Other occurrences of tag A in the same hub, outside this individual feed, will not be affected.

Modifying tags for all items in a hub

To modify tags for all items in a hub:

  • From the home screen for the hub, click on the Filters tab in the left sidebar. You'll then see a list of hub-wide filters already created for that hub.
  • Click the title of the desired feed.
  • Click the Filters tab in the left sidebar.
  • You'll then see three options:
    • Add a tag to all items in this hub
    • Remove a tag from all items in this hub
    • Modify a tag on all items in this hub
  • Click the desired option. You'll then see a dialog box where you can specify the tag to add, remove, or modify. * Fill in the dialog box and click Submit.

TagTeam displays a confirmation message at the top of the screen after completing the desired action.

If you use this method to change tag A to tag B for all items in the hub, then it will change all previous occurrences and all future occurrences in that hub. For example, if any item in that hub is given tag A in the future (for example, in an incoming feed or by a tagger using the bookmarklet), then TagTeam will automatically change it to tag B upon its arrival.

Subscribing to tag feeds from other platforms

To subscribe to feeds from other platforms:

  • Navigate to the desired TagTeam hub.
  • Click the Input tab.
  • On the Input tab, specify a URL for the desired feed type in the New Input Feed field.

The format of the URL depends on the platform from which you import and the type of feed that you want to import. For example, you can import the following types of feeds from other platforms:

  • Feeds for users
  • Feeds for tags
  • Feeds for items tagged by a specific user

To determine the format of the URL, go to the specific platform and look at any help information or user documentation. You can also use a search engine.

For example, to subscribe to feeds from Delicious, use the following URL formats in the New Input Feed field. In these formats, angle brackets (< >) indicate placeholders for which you supply specific values.

  • URL of a Delicious feed for a specific user: http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/<USER_NAME>
  • URL of a Delicious feed for a specific tag(s): http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/tag/<TAG[+TAG...+TAG]>
  • URL of a Delicious feed for tag(s) supplied by a specific user: http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/<USER_NAME>/<TAG[+TAG...+TAG]>

Remixed feeds

A remixed feed allows hub owners to create their own custom aggregations of feed items by adding (or removing):

  • All the items from an input feed
  • All items that have a specific tag
  • and individual items

A remixed feed is constructed by pulling together all the additions to a feed and then removing all the removals. A remixed feed will not contain the same item more than once even if that item is included in multiple item sources.

Viewing a remixed feed

To view a remixed feed:

  • From the list of all hubs in TagTeam, located the desired hub and click its title.
    For example, locate the hub for the Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) and click its title.
  • On the left, click the Remixes tab.
    The Remixed Feeds screen appears.
  • On the Remixed Feeds screen, click the name of the remixed feed.

The following tabs appear on the left:

  • Items: displays items contained in the feed
  • About: contains a brief description of the feed
  • Inputs: shows the tags, searches, and items used to create this feed
  • Removals: shows the feeds, tags, and items that are removed from this feed before publication

Creating a new remixed feed

  • From the list of all hubs in TagTeam, located the desired hub and click its title.
  • On the left, click the Remixes tab.
    The Remixed feeds screen appears.
  • On the Remixed feeds screen, click the New Remixed Feed link.
    The Create a new remixed feed screen appears.
  • On the New remixed feed screen, supply the following:
    • Title
    • URL key
    • Description
    • Limit (how many items to show in this feed)
  • Click Create new remixed feed.
  • On the left, click the Inputs tab to specify tags, searches, and items to include in the newly created remixed feed.
  • Click the Removal tab to indicate items to remove from the remixed feed.

Searching

This section summarizes searching in TagTeam.

TagTeam uses the Apache Lucerne query parser. For additional details about searching, see http://lucene.apache.org/core/2_9_4/queryparsersyntax.html.

Searching by phrases and keywords

TagTeam supports searches by keywords, such as "Google," and phrases, such as "Google Chrome."

Wildcard searches

  • For a single-character wildcard search, use the symbol "?".
    Example: To search for "test" or "text", use "te?t".
  • For a multi-character wildcard search, use the symbol "*".
    Example: To search for "testing" or "tester", use "test*".

You cannot use "?" or "*" as the first character of a wildcard search.

Boolean searches

TagTeam supports searches containing the Boolean operators AND, "=", OR, NOT, and "-". Boolean operators that are words, such as AND, must be in all capital letters.

Fuzzy searches

To do a fuzzy search, use the tile symbol "~".

Example: If you search for "roam~", TagTeam finds terms such as "foam" and "roams".

Copyright and licensing

  1. The Harvard copyright statement only covers the code, not the content or data.
  2. Harvard has chosen to make the code free and open source. The code is at GitHub under an Affero General Public License (AGPL).
  3. When users enter original content, they retain ownership of it. But as a condition of using the software, they grant TagTeam a license to use it. See the details in Section 6.3 of the terms of service.
  4. When users enter content they don't own, they warrant that they have the rights necessary to share it through TagTeam. See the details in Section 6.4 of the terms of service.
  5. Some data arise from the use of TagTeam, such as the date when certain items are tagged. Insofar as these data are copyrightable by TagTeam, TagTeam releases the data into the public domain through a CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Insofar as these data are copyrightable by users, users also agree to release the data into the public domain. See the details in Section 6.6 of the terms of service.