There are all sorts of strange words on this site that might not be obviouse as to what they mean.

Some are here because the software that runs the site is quirky and old (Also covered here) and some are here because thetechnology of the web is quirky and relativly new.

This page will try to clear up some of the worst of it for you.

Tags

Some people talk about or even tag thier posts here. What does that mean?

"Think of a tag as a simple category name. People can categorize their posts, photos, and links with any tag that makes sense." --technorati.com

What makes a tag special is that the text in the link and the text after the last / in the url are the same. (And there is a rel="tag" in the html too).

Lets imagine we want to tag something "thanet council"

<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/thanet+council" rel="tag">thanet council</a>

The domain we link to could be any one that is formatted correctly but technorati.com/tag/ is by far the most popular.

Tags help to get stories listed in the right places so that other people can use them. Many blog platforms support them (see also blog) so that you just type the words.

taxonomy

This is the "I'm better than you" way that the softwares early authors called the category system. It is simply a posh word for category (more or less).

other words used include topic, subject or tag (depending on the plugin).

Try not to let it bother you and one day it might stop being so strange.

Blog

Any patform that allows posts with the newest at the top.

Most blogs are personal platforms for self expression and are the new big thing just now. Many allow visitors to comment and many syndicate their content via XML.

If some or all of that went over you head - don't worry 85% (so I am told) have the same reaction. What is important is that with a little help to get started they are very easy to use and give you great freedom and a voice.