Should we preserve these tags?

Question

This is an offshoot of the Rats nest of tags question. Because of the number of tags involved, I don't want to flood Meta with individual tag cleanup requests. This question is a little in the style of the manufacturer tags; it's intended to serve as a bulletin board for tag disposition guidance.

This question pertains only to selected tags that are candidates for elimination.

Question:

Which, if any, of these tags should we keep:

workflow collaboration gtd restrictions analysis

The list will grow as we work our way through these.

Each tag will be "recommended" in a separate answer. It is really just presenting a case for the tag rather than an actual recommendation one way or the other. This format presents the tags in a consistent way, so upvotes will always be a vote to preserve it, and downvotes a vote to eliminate it.

Comments can be used to share thoughts on the tag's usage, arguments pro and con for keeping the tag, and any suggestions for retagging.

Please vote and comment on the answers since that's what will drive action on each tag.

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Update: The following tags have been cleaned out based on your input:

learning (see comment on question below)
tutorial instances

Answer 1

Keep gtd (19 Q's after initial cleanup, 16 followers)

This was the subject of one of Raystafarian's tag cleanup requests (Be done with [gtd]) that led to the Rat's nest of tags question. He closed it as a duplicate, so I want to make sure that the tag gets addressed.

Getting Things Done is a productivity/time management method described in a book of the same name. The GTD method rests on the idea of moving planned tasks and projects out of the mind by recording them externally and then breaking them into actionable work items.

• The majority of the tagged questions are off-topic software requests. There are only six questions, plus one that's closed as a duplicate, that are on topic. However, as long as the off-topic questions remain on the site, their tags should be appropriate.

• The tag is about a method, not a particular application, and not many people are familiar with it. The questions could be retagged with a more generic tag, like time-management.

• A more generic tag would probably be better at attracting answers in many cases. For some questions, however, the only answers of interest to the OP are ones that reflect the GTD approach (which could be included in the question, rather than a tag).

• The tag has a surprising number of followers, so it should not be cavalierly dismissed.

Answer 2

Keep instances (12 Q's before any cleanup, 0 followers)

Another tag I can't make a case for. To me, it's completely meta. Anybody who wants to add a case, you're welcome to it.

We also have single-instance and multiple-instances tags (6 Q's, 0 followers, and 72 Q's, 0 followers, respectively). I would think any questions for which an instance tag is warranted should be one of these, instead.

Answer 3

Keep analysis (70 Q's before any cleanup, 4 followers)

This is an undefined tag that has been used for everything imaginable.

• There are a lot of questions where it is only decoration, like Excel problems, and it should be removed from these.

• There may be a collection of questions where an analysis tag might add something, but I suspect it should be replaced with something less ambiguous. Please comment with recommendations.

Answer 4

Keep collaboration (44 Q's before any cleanup, 0 followers)

Collaboration is the use of processes and tools that allow multiple people to work in concert to accomplish a shared goal. Relative to SU, collaboration typically requires special tools or infrastructure to integrate the actions of multiple contributors.

• On some questions, collaboration is incidental to the actual issue. The tag should be removed from these.

• The tag should be removed from questions about simple file sharing.

• A number of questions are about how to use a particular application or resource, like a specific messaging app or sharing service, to facilitate collaboration on some task. I could see the tag adding focus and helping to attract users with experience doing this.

• Some applications include a feature or provision to support multiple-user input on the application's documents. [collaboration] is relevant in this context. If the application is typically used by a single person, knowledge about the collaboration features might be limited and I could see the tag being useful to attract experienced users.

• On the development side, there's overlap with version control. That is actually the focus of a few of the collaboration questions. To some extent, it's useful to have tag names that correspond to the vernacular of the users; it isn't the end of the world if programmers have a version control tag and document writers have a collaboration tag, and there's overlap. Please comment with your thoughts.

Answer 5

Keep learning (41 Q's before any cleanup, 9 followers)

Sorry, it's just not in me to make a case for this meta tag. It's basically off-topic and irrelevant to the site. Anyone else who wants to do it is welcome to have at it.

That said, there's 41 questions and 9 followers, so I didn't want to just clean this up without public comment.

Answer 6

Keep workflow (49 Q's before any cleanup, 2 followers)

Workflow is a planned and repeatable series of activities used to accomplish a recurring task. In addition to general use, it's an integral concept in SharePoint.

• Some questions are decorated with [workflow] only because they're asking how to do something. The tag should be removed from these.

• General questions about how to efficiently accomplish something that must be repeated a lot could be retagged with something like automation if [workflow] is eliminated. Or, [automation] could be cleaned up by retagging relevant question with [workflow]. (Please comment with advice on this.)

• Does [workflow] help to attract knowledgeable answerers when it's relevant, or does it add no value to the subject matter tag?

• On Sharepoint questions, is it useful to add a [workflow] tag? We have a total of 300 SharePoint questions, 4 of which also have a [workflow] tag. It isn't clear whether [workflow] is a great search aid or it's useless because nobody thinks to add it. We need input from some of our SharePoint experts on whether this tag would change who responds to a question.

Answer 7

Keep restrictions (80 Q's before any cleanup, 1 follower)

Another tag I can't make a case for. To me, it's completely meta. Anybody who wants to add a case, you're welcome to it.

Answer 8

Keep tutorial (59 Q's before any cleanup, 3 followers)

The tag has no definition but it is a commonly used term. It generally refers to detailed instructions that teach someone how to do something.

• The tag is used when the OP wants an answer with comprehensive instructions (which could be stated in the question rather than a tag). It does serve to screen responses in that answerers who aren't interested in leaving detailed instructions "need not apply". However, it's also used for requests to be pointed to learning materials.

• Requests for learning materials are off topic, but I believe that's more focused on acquiring general knowledge about a subject area than asking for detailed instructions, and asking for links to external information. Still, a "tutorial" tag has an off-topic flavor.

• The tag has three followers. I can only guess that these are people who like to create tutorials and see the tag as an opportunity to do that.

• Some of the questions could be retagged with documentation, although the terms aren't synonymous. A lot of documentation needs a tutorial.