Can you change the name of a tag? I recently came across the tag sage, which I think should be renamed to sagemath to be more clear.
Is it possible to change the name of a tag? If so, how?
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$\begingroup$ AFAIK moderators can rename tags. See, for example here. (Perhaps also this seems related.) For a regular user the option to rename tg is suggest it on meta - and if the suggestion gains sufficient support, then the moderators will probably do it. (Although occasionally it is useful to remind them about that.) And moderators can also merge existing tags see here for some details about merging. $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakJan 17, 2017 at 1:40
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$\begingroup$ BTW it seems to me a bit unclear whether this question is meant as a general question (=how to rename a tag?) or a specific suggestion (rename sage to sagemath) or both. $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakJan 17, 2017 at 1:42
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$\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak Should I make a separate question for that? I don't want to fill up meta with all of my questions though. $\endgroup$– suomynonAJan 17, 2017 at 1:42
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$\begingroup$ Would it be allowed if I changed this question to the proposal? $\endgroup$– suomynonAJan 17, 2017 at 1:44
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$\begingroup$ I guess both solutions are reasonable. (The question has only a few views, so tweaking it a bit does not change too much.) If the information from my comment about merging and renaming is sufficient for you, you can simply edit this question to make it clearer that it is mainly about this specific renaming. Another option might be to post the proposal in the recent tag management thread. $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakJan 17, 2017 at 1:48
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$\begingroup$ @MartinSleziak I'll just leave this question and post it in the tag management thread then. Thank you for your help $\endgroup$– suomynonAJan 17, 2017 at 1:49
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1 Answer
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The OP posted the specific suggestion about (sage) and (sagemath) in a separate post: Tag management 2017. I will post here what I know about the more general question:
Is it possible to change the name of a tag? If so, how?
Related question on meta.SE: How to rename a tag?
As far as I know this can be done only by moderators.
Mods can rename tags. See also this answer.- Mods can merge two tags, which removes one of them and replaces all occurrences by the other one. So this works basically as renaming the tag. Some details about merging are explained in this answer.
- Tag synonyms can be suggested also by regular users if they have sufficient reputation in the master tag. Moderators can approve (or create) synonyms by a single vote. (Synonym can also be approved by regular users, but it needs enough votes to get to score +4.)
You can find more details also here: What are tag synonyms and merged tags? How do they work?
There are more subtleties to it (mainly relevant in the cases where we would want to cancel existing synonyms), but one of the differences between synonym and rename/merge is that in the case of synonyms both tags still exist in the system. If the tag is renamed (or merged without synonymizing) only one tag remains. The details about these differences are better explained in the two meta.SE posts I linked above. You can find here a rather recent case when merging two tags have been used to remove a tag silently (without bumping).
So if a regular (non-diamond) user sees a tag which, in their opinion, should be renamed, the right thing to do is to suggest this in meta. (As you did in the linked thread.) In cases when you are not sure about the renaming, you can ask for advice either in Tagging chat room or in Math Mods' Office before posting on meta.
If the suggestion gains enough support on meta, moderators will likely rename the tag. (I assume that moderators occasionally check tag management threads and they help to implement suggestions which gained enough support - especially in the case if it is the suggestion which cannot be done without moderator invention.)
answered Jan 17, 2017 at 2:10
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$\begingroup$ "Mods can rename tags." They actually cannot literally rename a tag (or I never found out how to do this). But via judicious merging an equivalent effect can be achieved without much effort and bumping. $\endgroup$– quid ModJan 17, 2017 at 2:26
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$\begingroup$ @quid The linked answer by Jeff Atwood explicitly says: "ask here on a meta for a moderator to do it as a rename or merge which does not bump questions". Maybe I misunderstood the answer. This wording can be probably understood in two ways: A) He uses both words rename and merge as two possible names for the same thing. B) He mentions two possible actions by moderators. (But does not explain the difference between them.) I interpreted the answer as B), but from your comment I see that he probably mean A). $\endgroup$ Jan 17, 2017 at 2:34
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$\begingroup$ @quid I found a meta.SE post which confirms what you said: How to rename a tag? I hope that after the edits, my answer is more-or-less correct. (As I never was a moderator on a SE site, the answer is based on what I read on various meta sites and on what I've heard from diamond users - not on the firsthand experience.) $\endgroup$ Jan 17, 2017 at 10:57
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$\begingroup$ Thank you, for the update, and, sorry for the nit-picking. But then I know you like to be precise, so I hope it was not out-of-place. $\endgroup$– quid ModJan 17, 2017 at 11:23