Search Qualifier for Category

Forum Admin
1

@peternlewis, in general I like the new Forum Category names.

However, some of the Forum Search qualifiers seem to be broke.
These do not work:

  • #questions
  • #plug

All of the others work using a # and then the first word of the Category name, like:
#macro

###Don't work

2

None of them “work using a # and then the first word of the Category name”. You can use either

#"Category Name" (in search, but not in text I think).

or

#categoryslug

A “slug”, if you don’t know the term, in this context means the name as used in the URL.

The slug names for the categories have not changed. So #macro works because the slug for the “Macro Library” category is still “macro”. #general works because the slug for “Questions & Suggestions” remains “general”.

If you type #ques, the forum software will popup amn overlay offering you the “Questions & Suggestions” category and will produce #general.

I’m not planning to change the slugs because a) it would break all existing URLs related to them, and b) they aren’t that bad.

It would be nice if you could do #“Questions & Suggestions”, but you can’t - it works in searches I believe.

3

This does NOT seem to work for me in the Search box:

However, for some strange reason, this does work:


"Tips & Tutorials" is a new Forum Category.
Here is what works for me in the Search box:

<img src="/uploads/default/original/2X/0/014ee9983900ef9c9d2e9228039182d017dea808.png" width="492" height="259">

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

###Suggestion

To make it easy to remember and for all to use, I suggest that you change the Category Search Slug to be the first word of the Category Name for all Categories.

I think the only Category this really affects is the "Questions & Suggestions" Category.  While this will break any links that currently use "#general", I suspect there are very few of those.  The benefit of consistency and ease of use outweigh the minor inconvenience of broken links for "general".
4

Sorry, it is category:"Questions & Suggestions" not #"Questions & Suggestions"

5

IMO, that is too verbose to be useful.

I don't think most user are going to bother typing that much.

What do you think about my suggestion of "#<first word of category>" ?

6

Its academic what I think, it’s really a question only of what Discourse supports (and to a much much lesser degree, what we could ask the Discourse folks to support - I have tried on this subject and do not seem to be making much headway).

In any event, users don’t need to type that, they simply type #que and select from the popup and it will insert (sadly) #general.

Also, for the search, you can click on the Options link to get the Advanced options and enter the category in the appropriate field.

7

So, do I understand correctly that you cannot change the “slug” for a Category?
That was my suggestion.

My only concern is how to select a Category in the Search box, making it as intuitive and easy as possible. I don’t use, and have not seen others use, Category links in a post.

8

@peternlewis, if I understand what you and @JMichaelTX are discussing, I believe this was corrected last April:

And the slug field, of course, is just to the right of the category name field when you “edit category.”

HTH

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9

I have changed the slug for Questions & Suggestions from general to questions (and changed Macro Library to macros (plural). Discourse does indeed create a redirection for the old links.

1 Like
10

Thanks, that will be a big help.

Why? Peter, I think that is confusing.
IMO, it is best to use the first word of the Category Name to be consistent.
That will make it much easier to explain to others.

11

Because its plural, it contains macros, not a macro.

But ok, whatever, I changed it back.

1 Like