ReTagging Questions

Question

I have a few questions regarding changing tags from "magento-1.7" to "ce-1.7.2.0"

1. Should we always do it for new questions? - I guess the answer here is yes,
2. Should we do it for old questions or at least add the new ce style tag? - If so when do we stop?
3. Should we always ask for clarification of magento version when someone asks a questions?
4. Is there a way to migrate tags?

Answer 1

yes, yes, it's always up to author and it is highly recommended to precisely specify the version however nobody should be forced to.

Answer 2

David, first: thanks for heading to meta to ask this questions! I'd like to think I sort of helped prompt it since I rejected some of your tag edits. Sorry! :/

I think that we really need to settle on tags used to indicate versions, and then migrate the deemed old tags as appropriate. I'm not sure if there is a way for anyone (maybe mod only) to retag all questions from one to another, but there is a way to mark a tag as an alias of another.

As they are relevant, here are two links to meta questions where version tags came up fairly early on:

• Does magento-1 tag make any sense?
• How should we manage magento versions?

Something pointed out by Tim in a comment on the 2nd post…

If you specify a ce-1.3 tag people will ask you for a clarification. because different versions of 1.3.x.x (and 1.4.x.x also) have significant changes.

In comments on an answer further down the same page…

People obsess with all the dots because the bruhaha around 1.4.2 or 1.4.3 or whatever it was when the magento-verse passed too close to a dwarf star and altered course forever. 1.7 is 1.7 and that's about all that's needed since 1.5. A better tag would be to highlight BIG and dangerous changes between versions; major or minor

I will point out a few things:

• There are major differences between EE 1.12.0.0 and EE 1.12.0.2 in the Mage_PayPal module. We (re)discovered this when we recently launched our PayPal providing saved credit card functionality atop the original integration. It made a big difference because the config system for the base totally changed (and to top things off you can't specify minor release in EE compatibility on Connect) — The same (I believe) goes for CE 1.7.0.0 as compared to CE 1.7.0.2
• We all know that CE 1.8 was just released, and with the release some stuff included in the alpha was removed due to issues which have been being ironed out in the EE 1.13 core as it's been deployed into production environments. This is all fine and dandy, until these changes pulled from the initial 1.8 release are henceforth included in the CE 1.8.1.0 release as I expect them to be.

Both of the above are examples of continued usefulness of having the full version number be used in tags. Once 1.8.1 is released (and assuming the plans don't change) I would expect questions will start being asked about URL key related changes…and if you specify only 1.8 it will not be clear to readers which version the OP is using or asking about, but will make a difference as far as the solution goes.

I am personally fine with longer tags like "magento-1.x" but also see the merit of using shorter tags which include the full version. Or more correctly stated, I see including the full version number as necessary. Maybe we should try and encourage including both a generic major release number tag as well as a minor release version tag.

For now though, the "magento-1.x" tags have had their descriptions changed (for quite a while now) to read something like this:

This tag is redundant and shall not be used. Please use ce-1.7.x.x tag instead.

If we decide to "reopen" the magento-1.x" tags for use, then I'm totally fine with it. However, if a user tags a question with a specific version number, I would much prefer to see the generic tag added as opposed to replace the original and more specific tag.

To answer the question about whether or not there are methods to migrate tags: I believe there are ways as I see evidence of such on the tag synonyms page, but I'm not sure all users can do so. But, all users can suggest synonyms for tags here: https://magento.stackexchange.com/tags/synonyms

Answer 3

I've noticed a lot of users making these 'edits'. I agree with Tim that it's better to be precise in specifying the version but as for the moment the magento-1.7 tag is user 3 times more than the ce-1.7.2.0 tag.

Instead of phasing out either one of the tags perhaps the best thing would be to 'improve' the edit by adding them both when a users requests to replace one for the other?

Answer 4

So since I raised the question I will add my opinion/answer to the list :)

We deal with a wide variety of users which means we have a wide range of knowledge on this site. I would always suggest to make it as easy as possible for the lowest level of knowledge to get something out of this site. (Not that I am saying that a wrongly tag version would stop an answer).

So If I was a non developer and just a shop owner that had a problem maybe I would not know what version I have or if it was community or enterprise, it could happen. So where would I find this version number, well I would put forward that they would look in the admin area. In the admin section footer of community it looks like the following:

Magento ver. 1.7.0.2

So maybe the magento tag would be best suited for all. Just an opinion happy for everyone else's ideas :)