Comments, Questions, Concerns For Tags

Because there are different tags, this section will be broken up into each Tag there was a comment on as well as "General" section for those that had a general comment about the tagging system.

FO

"FO is not generally used in relation to XS. Ive never seen it used on any XS forum and I've been on most of them since 96."

Okay!

Video

"I think videos on this subreddit are pretty stupid. It seems to mostly be "watch me stitch something!" (which is stupid) or a hidden form of advertising or a terrible how-to video. Maybe this stems from me using reddit on mobile and watching videos on mobile isn't my favorite thing to do."

"I really don't feel videos add to the sub. That one [USER NAME REMOVED] posted hers twice and actually really irritated me. "

Watching the way Video posts get voted on our subreddit it seems most users agree with you - they typically don't get upvoted very much, if at all. The main reason for the video tag was for people to share video tutorials they found for cross stitching, though we also allow flosstubers assuming they don't get too in-your-face with advertising of their own store or channel.

Reviews

"reviews are like, "ok here's my review! here's how i felt!" they follow a template and feel so forced, but I'm not sure how to fix that.. I appreciate that someone would take the time to do a review though. "

Following a template is a true enough statement, but we feel the questions are open ended enough that a person has enough wiggle room to get their point across and share the good, the bad, and the ugly about what they're reviewing.

Chat/Pic

"I think Pic often gets confused with WIP or FO. Maybe roll pic into chat for a single "misc" category?"

You're right, sometimes PIC does get confused with WIP or FO. Especially if someone finds a cross stitch "in the wild" and doesn't have source information for it - you see an obvious FO tagged as a Pic - it can get confusing! Basically the thing to remember is "FO is for if you made it or know the source info" "Pic is for finding a wild cross stitch and sharing it!"

"Anything that isn't tagged otherwise could be considered chat."

That's not a bad way to look at it! You're pretty much always safe with a Chat tag!

"I feel as though Pic could be covered by Chat."

It's a possibility, but for now we think there are enough differences in the content posted by users with the PIC and CHAT tags to keep them separate.

"Though if someone reads the sidebar they'll know what [PIC] is for, I don't think it's intuitive to know you can't use it for an FO or WIP."

The Pic tag is primarily used for hauls, pet pics, assistance with certain issues that arise during stitching, or finding a cross stitch in the wild that you don't have the source info for. We have received a lot of grief regarding having to post a source in an FO, but we give you an easy out, there are no rules saying you can't post an FO as a PIC if you don't want to include the source. Pretty much the only things we look for with a PIC tag is: is it remotely related to cross stitch? and is it appropriate? If people want to post their FOs or WIPs with a Pic tag - have at it.

"Pic of.... Collection? Supplies? I would imagine FO and WIP cover most pictures. But maybe not."

Yep! Collection, hauls, help, pet pics - those are all the things that fall under the Pic tag! FO and WIP do cover most of the pictures posted to the subreddit, but not all.

Pattern

"Not sure when you'd just pic vs fo, WIP or pattern. If Pattern links are included in WIP and fo posts, why do we need a separate pattern tag? Not a fan of straight up reviews that are separate from WIP or fo posts."

The Pattern tag is reserved for free and ready to download patterns. This one seems to have a lot of confusion around it. The purpose of the pattern tag is not to request new patterns or to share a pattern that you made/designed (unless giving it away for free). This tag is meant to be an easy way for users to find free downloadable patterns.

WIP

"Never entirely clear on if WIPs require a pattern source"

WIPs do NOT need a source :)

General Comments/Questions

Tag Love

"None of them are confusing, you explain them in the right sidebar, people just need to slow down and read the rules. "

"I love tags. Love em gooners. "

"Maybe cross stitched are predisposed to cherish organization and logic, but I like the tags. "

"I like the tags as they are. They are clear and concise. "

"I'm very glad for their implementation. "

"Very helpful when browsing over lunch. "

"Honestly... the tags are amazing and clear. I don't understand why some people don't seem to get it even after all this time. But meh... I appreciate them. Perhaps a tag for constructive criticism or designers or something to get some critique. I find myself wanting feedback on my stitching so it'd be nice to use a tag to elicit those interested in providing that into the post. "

We've gone back and forth on a Constructive Criticism tag. For now we've decided that all posts are open to CC unless the OP posts in the title or a parent comment that they do not want any.

Tag Hate

"I hate the tags and being required to use them in posts. I don't use them to navigate the sub because I generally look at everything anyway, and am more interested in the subject of a post than what tag it has. "

"Don't seem necessary. The rules seem overly strict for a creative sub "

"I don't browse by tags so I'm not a fan of them but I understand why they are in place. They do make the page look busy/cluttered imo. "

"They should not be required to post. If a poster wants to use tags then that's fine. But a post should not be rejected for not having one. "

"tagging requirements for every post is a bit annoying. I don't mind the FO and WIPs because sometimes it can be hard to tell if a piece is finished or not; but do we really need tags for just posting a question? "

You'll find, especially in smaller subreddits, tagging is a big thing. It helps the users find what they're looking for and it helps the mods mod a lot easier. Not to mention the aesthetics of every post having a designated title before it. It could be because a lot of the mods are on other subs that require tagging when posting, but tags just don't seem like that big of a deal or that difficult to us. We are trying to work on a way to tag after-the-fact to hopefully resolve some of the disdain for tagging posts.

"It would be nice to be able to tag a post after-the-fact if I forget. Would be nice to have a "Question" tag like /r/sewing has for fabric questions and pattern questions. "

We're working on a way to be able to tag that way! Our Question tag is our Chat tag. We thought it would be way too busy if we implemented question, help, pattern request, and so on tags so we combined them all into one Chat tag :)

"I don't like the autodelete for untagged posts. A bit frustrating for new users. Overall it helps navigate. I'm not really interested in a lot of WIPs except maybe to pick up the pattern, but it's a small enough sub I end up looking through most of the posts anyways. "

Reddit is a learning curve. Subreddits are their own learning curve as every sub is run different with its own sense of community and set of norms. The mods are always here to help anyone that needs it and we have had several people reach out to us wen confused about posting. When in doubt - message the mods! We'll help ya out :)

"I never filter the sub using tags. Because there is not a barrage of activity in our sub, I can still read every post in a short amount of time after not checking for a couple of days. I really hate when a mod posts that someone used a tag incorrectly or automod filters it out. Just let the person fix it in the comments, or have a way for mods to add it themselves. "

We tend to believe "A learning experience for one is a learning experience for everyone." I think what people get hung up on is "Mods = Principal" You are not "in trouble" if we comment on one of your posts. You are not getting sent to the office, we aren't calling your parents. We're just letting you know the sub norms and rules that we have here. We are people too that love cross stitching and sometimes we just want to have a conversation like that with the users, but they have a hard time looking past the "Mod" and having a conversation. We try to be polite in ever case of "Modding" we have to do - if some people get offended or take it wrong - we can't really help that.

Tag Suggestions

"Semi-related but CAN WE PLEASE GET USER FLAIRS, THAT'D BE REALLY COOL"

They're comin!

"Tutorial tag, AMA (ask me anything) cross stitch related only tag, timelapse gif of cross stitchers at work"

A tutorial tag could be a possibility. The rest are mostly covered under Chat or Pic.

"Tags for finishing (washing, mounting, framing)"

That could be a possibility.

"There should be tags for "beginner," "cartoon," and "video games" so they can be excluded."

Whoa. That would be many tags. And no.