Tags administration

Tags work because anyone can add one. Tags stop working for exactly the same reason: within a year you have 'VIP', 'vip', 'V.I.P' and 'important', all meaning the same thing and none of them filtering correctly.

Merging exists because this is expected, not exceptional.

Who this is for

Admins, and whoever ends up owning data hygiene.

Before you start

• Permission to manage tags.
• A look at your current tag list — the duplicates are usually obvious once you sort them.

Merge rather than delete
When you find three spellings of one tag, merging moves every record onto the survivor. Deleting the duplicates instead simply strips the label off those records and loses the information. Merge is almost always the operation you want.

Keep tags useful

1. Agree what tags are for
   Tags are best for cross-cutting labels that do not fit a field. If something has a fixed set of values, it should be a dropdown field, not a tag.
2. Review the list periodically
   Sort your tags and read them. Near-duplicates and one-off tags used once stand out immediately.
3. Merge duplicates
   Pick the spelling that survives and merge the others into it. Every record keeps its label.
4. Retire tags nobody uses
   A tag used twice two years ago is noise in every picker. Remove it once you are sure nothing depends on it.
5. Watch tag analytics
   Usage tells you which tags are load-bearing and which are clutter, which is a better guide than opinion.

What you get

• A tag list short enough that people pick the right one.
• Filters that return everything they should, because there is one spelling.
• History preserved when duplicates are merged rather than deleted.
• Evidence about which tags are actually used.

Frequently asked questions

Tag or custom field?

A field when there is a defined set of values or you need validation and reporting. A tag for looser, cross-cutting labels that do not belong to a single structured attribute.

What happens to records when I merge two tags?

They move onto the surviving tag, so nothing loses its label. That is why merging beats deleting duplicates.

How often should we tidy tags?

A quick review each quarter is usually enough. The cost of leaving it is that people stop trusting tag filters, at which point the tags are decorative.

Should everyone be able to create tags?

Letting anyone create tags is what makes them useful and what makes them sprawl. Tag creation is permission-gated, so you can tighten it if sprawl becomes a real problem.