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wrangletangle
Like all activities, AO3 wrangling has its own vocabulary. You can read some definitions of common terms on the Tagging Introduction. In addition to that list of terms, here are some others I'll use:
Wrangler: A person who organizes tags on the back end. There are about 160 of us as I write this, but expect that number to continue rising. When we organize tags, we call it wrangling.
Freeform: Tags in the Additional Tags category. Does not include fandoms, characters, or relationships, but does include just about everything else.
To Canonize/Canonizing: The act of making a tag canonical. Canonical tags show up in the filters and in the drop-down menus when you're posting your work.
To Syn/Synning: The act of making a tag into a synonym of a canonical tag. Synonyms don't show up in the filters themselves, but works tagged with them will appear when the canonical is filtered.
To Metatag/Metatagging: The act of making a tag into a metatag of another tag (or multiple other tags). I will explain metatagging on a future post.
To Subtag/Subtagging: The act of making a tag into a subtag of another tag. Subtags are the opposite of metatags.
Ambiguous: These are tags that can have multiple meanings. For example, Sam is ambiguous because there are hundreds of Sams in fandom, and they're all distinct individuals.
To Disambig/Disambiguating: The act of making new canonical tags that are not ambiguous and subtagging them to an ambiguous tag. For example, Loki is an ambiguous tag because there are lots of characters with that name, while Loki (Marvel) and Loki (Norse Mythology) have been disambiguated, and both are subtags of Loki.
Unwrangleable: Sometimes users put tags in a category where they can't be wrangled, such as relationships in the fandom box or freeforms in the character box. If we can't find an appropriate canonical to syn the tag to, we will mark it unwrangleable. It will still exist in the database, but it will only be visible to wranglers if the wrangler explicitly chooses to view unwrangleable tags. Users can still see these tags on works.
Unwrangled: This is different from unwrangleable! An unwrangled tag is one that has not yet been moved into an appropriate fandom. Most wrangling involves moving unwrangled tags into correct fandoms, then canonizing or synning those tags if appropriate.
Unfilterable: A tag which has been moved into a fandom but not made into a canonical or a synonym. Most freeforms are unfilterable and will remain that way.
Rule of 3: A guideline that sets the minimum for how many times certain types of tags should be used before they're canonized. Detailed explanation.
Bookmark-only tag: A tag that is only used on bookmarks. If a tag is used on both works and bookmarks, it doesn't count as bookmark-only.
No Fandom: A special, magical fandomfull of unicorns and rainbows where tags not related to any particular fandom can be dumped, to be handled (or ignored) by a small subset of super-wranglers. More on this later.
Megafandom: An extremely large fandom, usually one that acts as a metatag for other fandoms. Example: Transformers - All Media Types is a megafandom that covers the entire Transformers franchise. CLAMP - Works is a megafandom for every CLAMP manga ever created. Just being a metatag doesn't make a fandom a megafandom - the number of works and subfandoms also contributes. (Megafandoms don't get special status, they just require lots of wranglers, in most cases. Some megafandoms also have internal wiki pages so wranglers can coordinate.)
Unhook for the Rake: As the Tag FAQ says, the Rake is an imaginary beastie that deletes unused tags that are neither canonical nor synonyms once a day. If a tag is neither canonical nor used on any works or bookmarks, we remove all its connections to other tags. This essentially leaves it free to rake. I think of it as tossing the tag on the floor for some Dummy-like bot to come and suck up. Maybe an AI-infested Roomba or twelve. ^_^
I'll use these terms a lot, so please feel free to reference this post or the Tag FAQ whenever you need. If there's something you don't understand, or if you would like me to add another term to this list, just drop me an ask.
Today's freeform: Languages and Linguistics
Wrangler: A person who organizes tags on the back end. There are about 160 of us as I write this, but expect that number to continue rising. When we organize tags, we call it wrangling.
Freeform: Tags in the Additional Tags category. Does not include fandoms, characters, or relationships, but does include just about everything else.
To Canonize/Canonizing: The act of making a tag canonical. Canonical tags show up in the filters and in the drop-down menus when you're posting your work.
To Syn/Synning: The act of making a tag into a synonym of a canonical tag. Synonyms don't show up in the filters themselves, but works tagged with them will appear when the canonical is filtered.
To Metatag/Metatagging: The act of making a tag into a metatag of another tag (or multiple other tags). I will explain metatagging on a future post.
To Subtag/Subtagging: The act of making a tag into a subtag of another tag. Subtags are the opposite of metatags.
Ambiguous: These are tags that can have multiple meanings. For example, Sam is ambiguous because there are hundreds of Sams in fandom, and they're all distinct individuals.
To Disambig/Disambiguating: The act of making new canonical tags that are not ambiguous and subtagging them to an ambiguous tag. For example, Loki is an ambiguous tag because there are lots of characters with that name, while Loki (Marvel) and Loki (Norse Mythology) have been disambiguated, and both are subtags of Loki.
Unwrangleable: Sometimes users put tags in a category where they can't be wrangled, such as relationships in the fandom box or freeforms in the character box. If we can't find an appropriate canonical to syn the tag to, we will mark it unwrangleable. It will still exist in the database, but it will only be visible to wranglers if the wrangler explicitly chooses to view unwrangleable tags. Users can still see these tags on works.
Unwrangled: This is different from unwrangleable! An unwrangled tag is one that has not yet been moved into an appropriate fandom. Most wrangling involves moving unwrangled tags into correct fandoms, then canonizing or synning those tags if appropriate.
Unfilterable: A tag which has been moved into a fandom but not made into a canonical or a synonym. Most freeforms are unfilterable and will remain that way.
Rule of 3: A guideline that sets the minimum for how many times certain types of tags should be used before they're canonized. Detailed explanation.
Bookmark-only tag: A tag that is only used on bookmarks. If a tag is used on both works and bookmarks, it doesn't count as bookmark-only.
No Fandom: A special, magical fandom
Megafandom: An extremely large fandom, usually one that acts as a metatag for other fandoms. Example: Transformers - All Media Types is a megafandom that covers the entire Transformers franchise. CLAMP - Works is a megafandom for every CLAMP manga ever created. Just being a metatag doesn't make a fandom a megafandom - the number of works and subfandoms also contributes. (Megafandoms don't get special status, they just require lots of wranglers, in most cases. Some megafandoms also have internal wiki pages so wranglers can coordinate.)
Unhook for the Rake: As the Tag FAQ says, the Rake is an imaginary beastie that deletes unused tags that are neither canonical nor synonyms once a day. If a tag is neither canonical nor used on any works or bookmarks, we remove all its connections to other tags. This essentially leaves it free to rake. I think of it as tossing the tag on the floor for some Dummy-like bot to come and suck up. Maybe an AI-infested Roomba or twelve. ^_^
I'll use these terms a lot, so please feel free to reference this post or the Tag FAQ whenever you need. If there's something you don't understand, or if you would like me to add another term to this list, just drop me an ask.
Today's freeform: Languages and Linguistics
