Wrangling Wizardry, part 2 of 4

(Glossary)

Last time, I talked about the database and how it shapes wrangling. This time, I'll talk about what wranglers can do to shape the database (or at least the data in it).

Unlike wizards, all wranglers have the same basic powers. For example, wrangler x-ray vision allows us to view:

* Tags within our assigned fandoms, sorted by category and type (canonical, non-canonical, unfilterable, unwrangleable)
* Unwrangled tags attached to works that use our fandom tags
* A tag's properties and its relationships to other tags

Our magical checkboxes allow us to change the properties of a tag:

* Make a tag canonical
* Mark a tag as unwrangleable
* For bookmark-only tags, change the category the tag belongs to (e.g., from "freeform" to "character")

We can also change how tags are related to one another:

* Make a tag a synonym of an existing canonical
* Make a tag a subtag or metatag
* Add or subtract fandoms from a tag
* Add or subtract characters from a relationship tag

And our magical wrangler diaries allow us to:

* Comment on tags and carry on conversations with other wranglers, mostly about how to wrangle a particular tag or fandom
* See the discussions other wranglers have had recently
* Play in the wrangler chatroom and edit the wrangler wiki

The valiant AO3 coders are working on adding more powers to make wrangling even easier.

(The wrangling staff have extra powers not listed here, but those are not used for everyday work.)

Next up, how wrangling is organized...

Freeform of the day: Superpowers