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Going through the current tag excerpts we have in place, I've begun to find that certain tags need certain things — not all (in fact not many) need usage guidance.

For example, I recently added an excerpt to simply stating what wearable technology is. No usage guidance or anything else.

Hardware
Tags for a type of hardware/technology don't need usage guidance because if you're asking about something, you're going to tag what that something is. If you're asking about a computer monitor, you'll tag . It seems pretty straight forward to me. These only need definitions.

Properties
However, tags for a property of hardware such as or should include usage guidance to clarify what they pertain to. I'm inclined to think these don't need definitions though.

Initialisms
These, 95 percent of the time, need their initials to be written out for clarity. Not a lot of people know what things stand for, even tech gurus (e.g., ). They'll need a definition, usage guidance, or both because they can be a property/feature of hardware (e.g., ), hardware itself (e.g., ) or potentially both (e.g., ).

I'm a very organized person, so this is something that catches my attention. I wouldn't put it at the top of the to-do list though.

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A tag wiki excerpt is important. It's the bit of the tag info that comes up in the tag autocompletion box; thus, it's the bit of info that allows users to decide whether it's an appropriate tag.

The guidance in this question is useful guidance, and worth following. There are some additional points to make:

  • When writing wiki excerpts
    you should make sure that the tag is
    • defined (if it needs definition - acronyms are a good example)
    • given usage guidance (use this for ...)
  • When reviewing wiki excerpts
    you should make sure of the above points too - you've got rejection reasons for a number:
    • no usage guidance? Reject it, as "lacks usage guidance"
    • ambiguous? Consider renaming the tag (will need others' or mods' help) or adding to the excerpt yourself; evaluate the edit on its own merits

Full wikis are slightly less critical, and have a greater degree of freedom, so I've largely left them out here.

If you're struggling to write an excerpt, try this general format:

For questions about [X], [short explanation of X]. [Additional details/guidance].

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  • I'm aware of how to write an excerpt. I brought this up because many tags simply don't need usage guidelines, definitions, or something else. Adding for questions about monitors to monitors is repetitive.
    – Adam
    Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 21:51
  • @Adam debatable. Though I won't deny you know how to write excerpts, having reviewed them. This was intended more as general guidance to everyone, rather than aimed specifically at you.
    – ArtOfCode
    Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 22:06
  • Ah, right. Wasn't following you entirely I guess. But yes it's absolutely debatable. I just thought I'd bring it up to everyone's attention to get some ideas.
    – Adam
    Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 22:14
  • Aye, and that's a good idea.
    – ArtOfCode
    Commented Sep 21, 2015 at 22:56

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