Here's a recap of last week's tagging workshop for those who missed it! We've edited the transcript a bit to take out some of the "chat chatter." Thanks to everyone who came, it was a great workshop! The admin comments (kfarrell and iheartmoustaches) are in italics to make them a little easier to find. Since it was an Online Workshop, with admin answering questions over a live webcam feed, we've summarized the admin's answers, if they weren't also written out at the time.

If you need a refresher on tags, and how to use them, read Christine's tagging guide.

Iheartmoustaches: let's talk about the item above
Iheartmoustaches: i think it would be better off if it was listed within the housewares section rather than everthing else
kfarrell: you might also add the tags "floral" "business cards" and "organization"
kfarrell: and "shabby chic" can be combined into one tag

DreamWhimsy: I have a question about using the words Shabby Chic as it is a trade mark?
kfarrell: You can't use trademarked words to tag your item, unless you used that particular product in your item. So you can tag it as "Cheerios" if you made it from a recycled Cherrios box, but you can't tag something as "Tiffany's" if it is merely in the style of Tiffany's.

magickalrealism: yep, Shabby Chic is trademarked.
magickalrealism: http://www.uspto.gov/main/trademarks.htm

RowleyBaby: what is cgge?
kfarrell: CGGE is an Etsy street team, the Creative Glass Guild of Etsy
Iheartmoustaches: she has it tagged with "pot holder" but most people think of a pot holder as something you use to pick up a pot rather than set something on
kfarrell: so pot holder is probably not appropriate on this one
kfarrell: this is also tagged as "quilt," is that a type of mosaic pattern?
abitabite: the pattern
abitabite: yup
RowleyBaby: it's a log cabin quilt pattern
RowleyBaby: like one square from a quilt
kfarrell: you'd be better off with "log cabin quilt" than "quilt" sinuglarly, so it won't show up when someone is searching for a quilt
Iheartmoustaches: you could also add the tag "wall hanging"

Iheartmoustaches: so right now she has tags like "baby boy girl" and "frog dragonflies"
RowleyBaby: is it okay to put all of those words w/ each tag?
Iheartmoustaches: it is considered tag abuse to double-tag like this, she should separate her tags into "frog" and "dragonfly"
nancygamon: so each tag should just be one word?
abitabite: two words can be like color colour
kfarrell: you can use two words as long as it's just one idea. So she can use "lady bug" because tagging it as "lady" and "bug" would mean something very different. But she can't use two unrelated words in one tag.
Iheartmoustaches: she might also want to remove the tag "plush" since that is used to refer to stuffed animals.
Iheartmoustaches: "bridal shower gift" is not an appropriate tag, you should use your tags to describe the item but not what it could potentially be used for.
nancygamon: so you can't take something bridal shower gift?
abitabite: what do you mean what it can be used for
abitabite: because i would way my items can be pincushion
abitabite: thats a use?
Iheartmoustaches: In that case, your item is a pincushion, so that's OK. But you shouldn't tag it as a "gift"
TheEbonSwan: So stocking stuffer is right out.
kfarrell: yep, stocking stuffer is out

skygirlstyle: should you use your team names
kfarrell: yes, it is OK to tag an item with a team name

designedbyDiana: the who what when where why how can you elaborate on this?
kfarrell: the "who what where..." etc is meant to help you think of descriptive tags for your items

nutnutgoods: how is tag abuse enforced?
kfarrell: we have a tag admin tool that lets us deal with mis-tagged items
kfarrell: so for tag abuse, support will send you a message letting you know about your incorrect tags, and change them for you
kfarrell: multiple instances of tag abuse may lead to diciplinary action, but you will be given warnings first

designedbyDiana: what about using colors in your item as tags?
artyfakt: or 50s, 60s, etc.
kfarrell: you are welcome to use descriptive colors in your tags. I'd suggest sticking to the basic "red yellow orange" rather than "plum" or any fancy names. Also, you might want to stay away from "fuchsia" as a lot of people have trouble spelling it.

nutnutgoods: is is a good idea to put your store name in the tags?
Iheartmoustaches: You are welcome to do so if you have enough tags

Iheartmoustaches: Since this item is a hand-printed linocut, it is OK to tag this item as "original"

Iheartmoustaches: Other tags she might consider for this item: hand painted, floral, red
abitabite: are the colours in tags how the colour flash thing work
kfarrell: The color picker looks at each image, and creates its own index of what color it thinks an item is. It's separate from the tags.
abitabite: oh neat!
nutnutgoods: cool
skygirlstyle: does it matter what order your tags are in ...more relevant items first?
kfarrell: right now, no. The search does not take into account the order of the tags after the first tag. However that may change, so we suggest ordering your tags with the more general ones first
Iheartmoustaches: She also has the item tagged as "silk" "scarf" and "silk scarf" but the "silk scarf" is redundant.

abitabite: would plush plushie be a good one for twwo tags in one tag box
kfarrell: this is not necessary, because our search engine will pick up both "plush" and "plushie" on a search for "plush." It automatically searches for the plurals of words.
nancygamon: use singular or plural? flower or flowers?
kfarrell: If you have a singular item, you should tag with the singular. If you have multiple items (for example: a tube of beads) you should tag it with the plural. You can also use the plural for items that are usually sold in pairs (earrings, pants, etc)
abitabite: will a search for plushie bring up plush?
kfarrell: No, the search engine can't go backwards from plural to singular.
artyfakt: good to know!

kfarrell: so this item could be tagged with any number of words relating to dog
kfarrell: and also with 'fundraiser' or "charity"
kfarrell: as her proceeds are going to charity

abitabite: when it comes to tagging for street teams should if be all one word like "Menofetsy" or "etsymom"
kfarrell: yes, you should compress them into one word. Unless you're actually selling the men of Etsy.
nutnutgoods: ha!

LilliputianDesigns: Can I tag a little girl's dress with holiday if it's dressy and meant to be worn for the holidays?
Iheartmoustaches: If it has a holiday design on it, then yes. If it is just a nice dress that might be worn around the holidays, then no. You can however tag clothing seasonally, such as "winter" if it's a warmer, heavier dress.

nancygamon: Do you need to tag both singular and plural? Both "bead" & "beads"?
kfarrell: no, you only need one.
nancygamon: if someone searches "bead" will they get items that are tagged "beads"?
kfarrell: yes
lessthanthreedesigns: if someone searches "beads", will they get items tagged "bead"?
kfarrell: no, they will not

abitabite: should people OS tag with thier country
kfarrell: it's not required, but you're welcome to

nancygamon: if you fold a calendar page into an envelope, can you tag the item "calendar" since that's a material?
Iheartmoustaches: It's not abuse per se, but it's probably not helping folks find your item, since they'll be looking for "envelope" and not "calendar"

nancygamon: how to best know then when to list the materials as tags?
kfarrell: think about the types of materials people search for: silver, crystal, wool. Don't list things like glue, staples, etc. It is OK to list materials both under "materials" and "tags"

kfarrell: That's all we have time for today, thanks for joining us!