Some polls and reclists are organized around certain ideas that may or may not be represented by tags. In cases where they are, there is not always a complete overlap between games on the poll/list and games with the appropriate tag(s).
Would it be possible to set up an optional list of tags to be applied to every game that’s added to a poll or list, if the creator of the poll/list specifies those?
If the list of associated tags is shown prominently (e.g. immediately following the poll desription), that might be helpful to people responding to a poll to decide whether their vote belongs or not.
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As an example of why this might be useful, here’s some data taken from the recent public backup:
+------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------+-----------+
| gameid | author | title | poll | tag |
+------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------+-----------+
| 2gh8bselanlyh6g | Michael Gentry | The Lost Islands of Alabaz | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 2scn26v0lqtbf6m | Goodbye Doggy, Meri and Mark | Goodbye Doggy | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 391mqbh6cnqtuw8m | Charles Moore, Jr. | Frankenfingers | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 4bmqk187943zmwze | Chip Hayes | Tinseltown Blues | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 4x7nltu8p851tn4x | Ryan Veeder, Jenni Polodna, Adam Whybray | Cragne Manor | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 6dj2vguyiagrhvc2 | Jason Devlin | Vespers | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 8a1iccjhv36jnr9o | Zachary Hodgens | Dude, Where's My Scapula? | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 8vqvmt2hpur1z44 | Amanda Walker | Dark and Deep | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 8wshll8h7o7gj6p7 | Stefan Vogt | The Curse of Rabenstein | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 94fj4mfrxzhzpp9s | Mathbrush | Never Gives Up Her Dead | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| awdcacv1wqw13ozq | Anonymous | Monk by the Sea | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| bw3bnlf4ho8gqq1v | C.E.J. Pacian | Castle of the Red Prince | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| cm51y3d4iwcf8fuv | Duchess | The Old Sherwood Cemetary | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| d93xs619qx1au1ua | Jason Ermer | Moon-Shaped | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| etul31tqgl3n22nl | One of the Bruces and Drunken Bastard | Mentula Macanus: Apocolocyntosis | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| f9alz4xib19fzc2n | Ryan Veeder | Ryan Veeder's Authentic Fly Fishing | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| gsripq9e10b6cadu | Penczer Attila | Chronicle Play Torn | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| idjyjhf5eitd95jd | Charm Cochran | Sundown | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| k6yq5koj2zjzstpt | Jon Ingold | The Mulldoon Legacy | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| mx72qeuuisvp76qg | Robb Sherwin | Chicks Dig Jerks | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| n9gxlhm4pc0xqn2y | Al Cline (as Clyde Falsoon) | The Triskelion Affair | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| nfsbsqbs3kds1uy9 | Phil Riley | Bureau of Strange Happenings | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| npxjxi6n9oak7zo7 | Marco Innocenti | Wolfsmoon | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| of7uef482oz9vve7 | Tristin Grizel Dean | Midsummer's Eve | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| op0uw1gn1tjqmjt7 | Michael Gentry | Anchorhead | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| pgklownuffqn25nh | D. A. Leary | The Horror of Rylvania | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| svjqd97dx1otn6o1 | Ryan Veeder | NEST | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| t5cerzh97qwhoyxt | John Olsen | Rings for Bony Fingers | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| uypivcl9k0axj | Caranmegil | Reg and the Kidnapped Fairy | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| vq6c0kmaj7qxl0s3 | David Whyld | Goblin Hunt | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| xf5y04yekcrqtnc | Chandler Groover | Toby's Nose | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | <missing> |
| 5jg88rf4n25rzvvz | Garry Francis | The Witch's Apprentice | <missing> | graveyard |
| 6ei8gpr6a73vf5w0 | Joanna Houston (as Josephine Wynter) | Vestiges | <missing> | graveyard |
| c69gm6cz31e7jszx | guava and Loaf and Mehitabel and snorv a | Gravenimage | <missing> | graveyard |
| kyob0vwgrx360yl0 | Peter R. Shushmaruk | Enter the Dark | <missing> | graveyard |
| y83yyfyhjwhmrlm | Adina Brodkin | Graveyard Strolls | <missing> | graveyard |
| 4gvxr278ukyobiy | SV Linwood | Dr Ludwig and the Devil | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
| 6ygpowwk3melmsfs | Garry Francis | Search for the Lost Ark | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
| 9zlxggntiap0wjrv | Ryan Veeder | The Little Match Girl 4: Crown of Pearls | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
| h3ovvff22smlmmc | J. J. Guest | Renegade Brainwave | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
| o3crh1f9rmli24o9 | Bitter Karella | The Legend of Horse Girl | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
| yeriagiwygnuvbhh | Ryan Veeder | Winter Storm Draco | dc383lezgfrs3q6c | graveyard |
+------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------------------------------+------------------+-----------+
The poll identifier is for
+------------------+-----------------------+
| pollid | title |
+------------------+-----------------------+
| dc383lezgfrs3q6c | Games with graveyards |
+------------------+-----------------------+
In this case, being included in the poll and having the tag tells pretty much the same thing about the game. However, of the 42 games involved with at least one of the two, only six (1/7) have both.
If the poll were to auto-assign the tag graveyard, then the tag would have complete coverage of the 42 games shown.
Here’s another similar example, for a poll titled “IF with a sense of wonder” and the sense of wonder tag:
+------------------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+
| gameid | author | title | tag | poll |
+------------------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+
| 1aliwzro4e48mdlt | Suzanne Britton | Worlds Apart | sense of wonder | <missing> |
| cbz4l9rvvkbahh | jsmonzani | A changing greenhouse | sense of wonder | <missing> |
| 00e0t7swrris5pg6 | Peter Nepstad | 1893: A World's Fair Mystery | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| 3q8lfs4x52le1vu0 | David Given | Changes | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| 5xzoz5wimz4xxha | C.E.J. Pacian | Superluminal Vagrant Twin | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| 8l9cdcd1tbt77hfl | Lynnea Glasser | Creatures Such As We | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| aearuuxv83plclpl | Emily Short | Counterfeit Monkey | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| ez2mcyx4zi98qlkh | Aaron A. Reed | Blue Lacuna | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| fcm1ikz9ttr6i99a | Jacqueline A. Lott | The Fire Tower | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| g0fl99ovcrq2sqzk | Lynnea Glasser | Coloratura | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| kbd990q5fp7pythi | Wade Clarke | Six | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| km1xagfje83xzkbp | Brent VanFossen | She's Got a Thing for a Spring | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| l63f3uuzl1x8a1 | Joey Jones and Melvin Rangasamy | Calm | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| pwyjp54iubdq70p0 | Ivan Cockrum | Sunset Over Savannah | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| rcrihauxixy48svr | Andrew Plotkin | So Far | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| u6wzkckne4zsafyl | Emily Short | City of Secrets | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| wfms4lves15ao642 | John Ziegler | How Prince Quisborne the Feckless Shook His Title | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| ykccumi5xc5rltev | Andrew Plotkin | Hoist Sail for the Heliopause and Home | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| z02joykzh66wfhcl | Brian Moriarty | Wishbringer | <missing> | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| 10387w68qlwehbyq | Yoon Ha Lee | The Moonlit Tower | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| 6yfiv4b8agk38rmb | Caelyn Sandel (as Venus Hart) | Light My Way Home | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| ahhlbqy5f39wd1x | Ryan Veeder and Emily Boegheim | Robin & Orchid | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| pl3vd1t864vw7czy | Wes Modes | Bear Creek, Part 1 | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| t61i5akczyblx2zd | Dan Schmidt | For a Change | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
| t67ufq9wv98yv4p | Holly Gramazio | How To Be A Blackbird | sense of wonder | 56kdbvgsm6fwmcow |
+------------------+---------------------------------+---------------------------------------------------+-----------------+------------------+
I was thinking the same thing after I made this graveyard poll. I was still new to ifdb, but it also occurred to me that many of the games entered are not by the game maker but an archivist and when the game is entered, very few get tagged. I felt the tag list is neverending and I can see where an author might choose to omit a tag.
I think of the poll section as a means to be more community-based instead of just a means to sort and classify. Maybe this isn’t how others utilize it.
Polls are great. As you point out, they gather input from the whole IFDB community. I’m not pointing these out as somehow problematic polls!
What I’m pointing to is that there’s an opportunity to take advantage of the actions that people are already doing when adding games to polls in order to improve tag data. (Tag data is pretty messy, and there have been some discussions about how to improve it by making it more consistent.)
Not all polls would necessarily need to apply tags, but some of them certainly seem like they could do so in a way that’s beneficial.
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