Auto Tagger v1.0
When a user submits a new thread this product will automatically take keywords from the thread title and use these as tags.
As an example, if a user submits a thread with a title of:
Fish Food for Cats
The thread will be automatically tagged with:
* Fish
* Food
* Cats
If the user also submits an actual tag of "Fish" this will not be duplicated. Additionally this product hooks in before vBulletin processes tags so any rules you have setup for this will be respected. It also checks if you have tagging enabled, if not the product does nothing.
Installation
Installation is contained in a single vBulletin product file, so follow these steps to install:
1. Download the product XML file linked below to your local machine.
2. Goto "ACP -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products".
3. Click "Add/Import Product".
4. In the "Import Product" section, click the browse button and select the downloaded XML file.
5. Click "Import"
Configuration
Configuration for this product can be accessed via:
ACP -> vBulletin Options -> New Thread Auto Tagger
Each configuration entry has a description against it, so I won't rehash it all here. However the following configuration items are probably worth mentioning:
Disable Auto Tag if Tagged?
If this option is enabled and a user submits tags with their post then the title keywords will not be added.
Use Smart Quotes?
If this option is enabled (default) then the auto tagger will treat quoted terms as a single tag. For example if a user submits a title of:
This is a great technical website
The tags will be:
* great
* technical
* website
However if they submit a title of:
This is a great "technical website"
The tags will be:
* great
* technical website
In summary the other configuration values allow you to:
* Globally enable or disable the product (default is off).
* Exclude forums by id
* Exclude usergroups by id
* Exclude user by id
* Exclude words from the search words stop list (default is on). This excludes words like can, by, do, etc (open includes/searchwords.php for a full list). I would strongly recommend not disabling this, however you could and then use the following:
* Define your own list of exclude words.
Other Information
While testing this I have run it against thread titles from my own site, as a result of this the system will automatically exclude/remove the following terms:
* 's
* -
* ,
* "
* !
* ?
If people start to use this I am sure other scenarios will arise, so as and when this occurs post the details here and when/if I get a chance I will update the product accordingly.
At the moment this product is most definately in beta testing, once I and the people using it are happy with the product then I may consider releasing a hack that will tag all existing threads. Releasing this right now would probably cause more trouble than it is worth.
Parsing the thread text for tags is an extremely unlikely addition as this would require some fairly heavy processing to ensure quality of tags.
One thing the product does not do which you may want to consider is change the "Separate tags using a comma." phrase used on the new thread post screen. You might want to consider changing this to something like "Separate tags using a comma, do not include words from your title". This depends on your personal preference and how you have the product configured.
Disclaimers
Obviously the input this product uses comes from human beings, therefore it is almost impossible to code for every single possible scenario. As such there is always a possibility that a specifically crafted submission may cause problems. I strongly suggest running this through some tests before committing to installing this on a live forum.
Ahh yes, one final thing - this is the first time I have created a product XML file, I have tested and install this and all seems fine - but it would be great if somebody in "the know" could cast an eye over it for obvious errors/issues.
When a user submits a new thread this product will automatically take keywords from the thread title and use these as tags.
As an example, if a user submits a thread with a title of:
Fish Food for Cats
The thread will be automatically tagged with:
* Fish
* Food
* Cats
If the user also submits an actual tag of "Fish" this will not be duplicated. Additionally this product hooks in before vBulletin processes tags so any rules you have setup for this will be respected. It also checks if you have tagging enabled, if not the product does nothing.
Installation
Installation is contained in a single vBulletin product file, so follow these steps to install:
1. Download the product XML file linked below to your local machine.
2. Goto "ACP -> Plugins & Products -> Manage Products".
3. Click "Add/Import Product".
4. In the "Import Product" section, click the browse button and select the downloaded XML file.
5. Click "Import"
Configuration
Configuration for this product can be accessed via:
ACP -> vBulletin Options -> New Thread Auto Tagger
Each configuration entry has a description against it, so I won't rehash it all here. However the following configuration items are probably worth mentioning:
Disable Auto Tag if Tagged?
If this option is enabled and a user submits tags with their post then the title keywords will not be added.
Use Smart Quotes?
If this option is enabled (default) then the auto tagger will treat quoted terms as a single tag. For example if a user submits a title of:
This is a great technical website
The tags will be:
* great
* technical
* website
However if they submit a title of:
This is a great "technical website"
The tags will be:
* great
* technical website
In summary the other configuration values allow you to:
* Globally enable or disable the product (default is off).
* Exclude forums by id
* Exclude usergroups by id
* Exclude user by id
* Exclude words from the search words stop list (default is on). This excludes words like can, by, do, etc (open includes/searchwords.php for a full list). I would strongly recommend not disabling this, however you could and then use the following:
* Define your own list of exclude words.
Other Information
While testing this I have run it against thread titles from my own site, as a result of this the system will automatically exclude/remove the following terms:
* 's
* -
* ,
* "
* !
* ?
If people start to use this I am sure other scenarios will arise, so as and when this occurs post the details here and when/if I get a chance I will update the product accordingly.
At the moment this product is most definately in beta testing, once I and the people using it are happy with the product then I may consider releasing a hack that will tag all existing threads. Releasing this right now would probably cause more trouble than it is worth.
Parsing the thread text for tags is an extremely unlikely addition as this would require some fairly heavy processing to ensure quality of tags.
One thing the product does not do which you may want to consider is change the "Separate tags using a comma." phrase used on the new thread post screen. You might want to consider changing this to something like "Separate tags using a comma, do not include words from your title". This depends on your personal preference and how you have the product configured.
Disclaimers
Obviously the input this product uses comes from human beings, therefore it is almost impossible to code for every single possible scenario. As such there is always a possibility that a specifically crafted submission may cause problems. I strongly suggest running this through some tests before committing to installing this on a live forum.
Ahh yes, one final thing - this is the first time I have created a product XML file, I have tested and install this and all seems fine - but it would be great if somebody in "the know" could cast an eye over it for obvious errors/issues.
