Change to linking of post categories
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When users click on a category in a post, they are taken to to listing of all tags that match that category (on any WordPress blog), just like if they had clicked on one of the post’s tags. This is not what I expect to happen. Ideally, I want users to click on a category and see all posts (on my blog only) that are assigned to that category. (I would like something similar to happen for tags, but at least linking to a global tag search makes some sense for tags – a global tag search from clicking a category doesn’t make sense to me.)
I know that I can add the Category widget and users will be able to access categorized posts that way, but is there any chance of changing the default behaviour for categories in posts? This was previously discussed here and it appears I’m not the only one who finds this behaviour odd.
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In my opinion there is little to no chance wordpress will change the operation of the tags/categories. It benefits wordpress, and from a search engine standpoint it benefits bloggers also.
In some themes, with the paid CSS upgrade, you can hide the tags/categories on the posts, but that is about all there is really, and on some themes, the tags/category display on posts is included with other post metadata, so hiding tags/categories in some themes hides author, date and in some cases also the post title.
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By the way, I’ve been here over 2.5 years and this has produced many heated discussions during that time, and it hasn’t changed.
One thing you can do is put a text widget in the top of the sidebar explaining that if they want to see posts on your blog with a particular category or tag then they have to use the sidebar widget. I did that on one of my blogs that is now private.
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Thanks for your reply thesacredpath.
I don’t see how it benefits WordPress. I see how it harms them (by confusing readers with an inconsistent user interface, and by apparently annoying bloggers), but I really can’t see any benefit. The tags and categories can still be globally searched at WordPress (if that is what people want to do) and will still show up just the same on Technorati, etc.
I hear your advice that it is unlikely to be changed, but I’m still willing to take a stab at it – is there a better place to ask about this?
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I didn’t realize clicking on categories in posts took you to results across all blogs.
I think that is VERY COOL – great tool for allowing me to search for other blogs talking about the same things. It’s nice to have that functionality and have the categories sidebar widget specific to just my blog.
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Search engine optimization. They get more hits on the tags pages which means more people click on links to posts on your blogs, which means that then wordpress can show them ads. When someone comes to a post on a blog here at wordpress.com from a search engine, then sometimes wordpress places ads into your blog post. That is how they help pay for the bandwidth and all the servers and internet connections they have to pay for and maintain.
You can certainly send your thoughts to support, but all answers I’ve heard about in the past go something like, “thanks for your comment, but at this time we have no plans to change this.”
Your other choice is to self-host your blog. Hire a webhost, register and pay for a domain name, download and install the software from wordpress.ORG onto the web host, and export all of your posts, etc., to the new blog. That way you are in complete control.
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@thesacredpath
I think WordPress is great and provides an excellent service for free. I’m not planning to self-host because of this issue, but I will take the time to send an email to support because clicking a category really shouldn’t end up at a global tag search. If I get a meaningful response, I will post it here.I’m not sure that I agree with the hypothesis that directing readers to a global tag search increases WordPress’ ad traffic. Surely readers of my blog would be happier if they were better able to navigate my blog? Happy readers return and are more likely to see any ads WordPress might include in my blog. I’m not saying that you’re wrong, but I don’t know if there’s any way to prove it either way.
@tcmacrae
It is pretty neat. I don’t know why a tag search isn’t an option on the WordPress.com blog search. -
One point of clarification: the only time people may see ads is if they come from a search engine. If they type your url into the address bar, or have you bookmarked, they will not see ads.
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Aaaah, interesting, I did not know that! Given that clarificatio, your hypothesis seems much more plausible. You are a wealth of knowledge, thesacredpath!
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