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2/16/2011

I Need Your Input On Blog Categories

My labels are a little out of control, so I have to give up on the idea of just using the standard blogger label cloud:


(Sadly that isn't even all of them...just scroll down!)

And now I need your help!! 



I am working on a way to make my labels more useful to everyone.  This is my 4167th post, so it isn't a small task.  Because it is going to be a pretty large project, I want to get it as close to right the first time as possible.  I am in the process of making a category page and wanted some suggestions from you.

I am really curious what you think would work best for you.  I can't promise I can pull it off, but I would love any suggestions that you have! If you have something that you would like to see, something that works for you, or even just something that drives you crazy when looking for something on my blog, please leave a comment and let me know.

Until I get it all worked out, there is a search bar on the left hand column that will hopefully be some help to you.  And if all else fails, shoot me an email and I can help you track down the post you are looking for!

23 comments:

Holly said...

Holy cow.....that's just insane. Maybe you could just have one label that reads "awesome blog material!". Love all your ideas and posts.

Julie - Happy, Frugal Mama said...

I see a number that you can combine. Do you really need separate categories for "cookies" and "cookie swap"? What about donuts and then you have doughnuts vs. donuts. Why not just have donuts? And how about just sports instead of the having a separate category for each one?

Lorie said...

Thanks Holly!!

Julie, some I am in the process of relabeling (like donuts) and the silly version of the label will eventually disappear. Thanks
For the the suggestions!!

Christine said...

Hey Lorie!
I think you could organize a lot by holiday. If I am looking for Valentines Day, I want to see cookies and crafts and everything all together. But you could also add all the recipes to their own category as well, like cookies.
I also think all the DIY decor things could go together.
Good luck friend! Let me know if I can help!
Christine

Eternal*Voyageur said...

You could label all jewelry, clothes & accessories under "fashion". Stuff for kids under "kids". Stuff for the home could be labeled by room. Recipes could be under "recipes".
Try to narrow it down to no more than 20 categories. For anything that doesn´t fit, there is always the "random" category.

Anonymous said...

I will be reading the comments for suggestions too. My categories are out of hand as well. I reaaly like the search function and it has helped me find whatever I've needed so far. Good luck. LOVE your site and I appreciate your dedication to bringing us great ideas.

Unknown said...

That's too funny! and over 4k of blog posts! That's just amazing! I think you should first print out the image of this big cloud and save it for yourself as a keepsake of all the hard work you've invested! That's a huge accomplishment!
As for categorizing, I would agree with Christine and organize lots of it by holiday. Of course you could throw all recipes and food into a category. All wearables into a category (clothes and jewelery together if you wanted to keep it broad) Gift / gift ideas into one and I love searching blogs by "tutorials" so that might be a fun category too.
Best of luck and thanks for all you do!!

rebecca @ older and wisor said...

I agree with the others: simple is better. Decor, each holiday, baking, party stuff....if I've got Easter on the brain, I'd love to find crafts and food and whatever else related to that holiday all in one spot, not search them out individually across different categories. No matter what you do, you're going to be sitting in front of that computer for a LONG TIME. GOOD LUCK sister!

(and thanks for the continuing inspiration and all the hard work that requires!)

Mandy Beyeler said...

I can't wait to see what you do - I have no ideas, because I too want to organize my old posts...

Kelli W said...

Good grief that is a lot of labels! You are going to be SUPER busy! I love being able to search by holidays for inspiration. I also came over looking for a cookie about a week ago and I couldn't find a label for cookies:) I used the search box and found it just fine though!

Unknown said...

I started using something called a blog topic sphere, you can pick how many different topics you want to put on it and how big to make it. It puts in the topics most recently written about and then people can search at the top of where to go. Or you could also just have a separate page with the list of topics that people could go to if they are looking for something in particular.

Janell said...

Keep thing simple. For example, you don't need a category "almond rocca" where "treat" or "candy" would suffice. (Well, unless you're planning on collecting the 20 uses and applications of almond rocca. In that instance, you can justify its own category.) Similarly "crescent rolls" and "croissants" might be better served under "bread."

My Crazy Deliciousness said...

Seems how this has become my absolute favorite blog that I check like 5 times a day (yes I have no life) I would love to put in an input. Like others have said I would seperate by holiday, recipes, kids, sewing, fashion...etc. I have seen some blogs that have like 5 categories at the top (by like the home, get to know us..blah blah) and then you click on each one of those and it has all the sub-categories in them. For example, make a holiday tab, and then it will take you to a new page of all the holidays that you can have, click on the specific holiday, and then it could have all the crafts, recipes,and so forth. Anyway, just an idea.

Jessi said...

Sounds like you got some great advice, and a whole project on your hands! If they are Christmas cookies, will you tag that as Christmas, and cookies? Something to think about. Maybe if you do the multi-label, you can limit it to two, so there isn't a ton of overlap.

Kelsy said...

I agree about the holiday categories. I just found your blog before Valentines Day and I spent a lot of time reading through a lot different tags to see Valentines stuff (I'm not complaining about it though, I really enjoyed it!). That might be an easy way to simplify. Good luck, and thanks for trying to make your sight as user-friendly as possible. :)

Anonymous said...

That's an ambitious task, sister! I agree that I would like to see categories by holiday and have everything in that holiday. For example, "Valentine's Day" would have all the V-Day recipes, crafts, decor, fashion, etc.

Then you could have non-holiday categories of fashion, crafts, recipes, decor, etc.

Can I make one more suggestion? I hope this isn't too bitchy ... but I don't like how you just started doing the "read all about it" link. I like the old way better. I have to click on the link to see if it's something I would like adn then, if I don't like it, my life sucks. (haha.) I like to have a summary so I can decide if I want to click on the link.

I love this blog. Keep up the good work!

-Mary-

Anonymous said...

That's an ambitious task, sister! I agree that I would like to see categories by holiday and have everything in that holiday. For example, "Valentine's Day" would have all the V-Day recipes, crafts, decor, fashion, etc.

Then you could have non-holiday categories of fashion, crafts, recipes, decor, etc.

Can I make one more suggestion? I hope this isn't too bitchy ... but I don't like how you just started doing the "read all about it" link. I like the old way better. I have to click on the link to see if it's something I would like adn then, if I don't like it, my life sucks. (haha.) I like to have a summary so I can decide if I want to click on the link.

I love this blog. Keep up the good work!

-Mary-

chris said...

keep it simple...baking, cooking, holidays, boys, girls, family...good luck!

Angela said...

If you are doing a new page, I would archive by month. I don't have a blog, but I love to go back to the beginning of one; when I find one I like. It is so nice when the archvies are easy to find. Then you could do something like your personal Top 10 for 2011. I'm just amazed at how much effort you put into your blog. I love it and it's always one of my go to blogs for ideas.

Christy said...

I love your category names, it's one of the first things I noticed as well! I've read through the suggestions, and I love the idea of holidays being separated, then crafts, do it yourself, parties and showers as tabs you can click on. I can't wait to read the next 40 k post!

Caro said...

Think GENERAL Categories!!
You dont need, let's say Halloween, Halloween party, Halloween party food, Costumes...
You can put all of them in Halloween. I think it'd be far better.

And if you add a thing so we can search your blog, then it's even easier.

Seriously, make your life easier and put them in vaguer categories than that! :)

Anonymous said...

I agree with many above about collapsing some categories, but perhaps you can tier them and then cross-reference? For example, have a Holiday category that has sub categories of recipes, decorations, christmas trees, etc. That way if someone wants to get specific they can.

Can you give your posts more than one tag? That way a christmas cookie recipe can be categorized under Recipes/Cookies as well as Holiday.

Am I blind or do you not have a way for me to jump to a certain month/year? That would also be helpful. If I wanted to cruise through holiday stuff, I might want to jump to December 2010 and work my way through. I thought of this when I was hunting for a post you posted on New Year's Day this year (don't ask how I remember the date). I was sneaky and realized I could edit the date in the URL and jump to the month and day I wanted.

Tauni said...

Sheesh. I am an incessant labeler so I totally get why your tags look the way they do...I recently went through and reorganized my posts and I still don't know that I am happy.

Right now I have a category for creating, cooking, holiday, home...But, so many things fall into all of the categories...

Good luck with this one!