IMPORTANT: Talk of the Sound Category & Section Reorganization

Written By: Robert Cox

Starting today, Talk of the Sound is being reorganized into Sections more like a traditional newspaper. The new sections are nested within Groups: Press Releases, Hot Topics, Sections, Government, Identities, Back Burner Topics, Talk of the Sound. These groups include 2 that are categories unto themselves (Press Release, Talk of the Sound). The other four groups contain within them 50 categories (sometimes known as “tags” or “keywords”).

When a contributor posts a story they are now REQUIRED to pick at least one topic and can pick multiple topics but there is no longer any “Free Tagging”. If the contributor does not see a category they like on the list they would have to ASK to have it added (most likely we would point them to an existing category). However, from time to time, some new issue will come up and that will be added as a Hot Topic.

By assigning a category or categories to an article, that article will automatically be assigned to one of the 50 sections. A reader wishing to see all stories of a particular type can click a link and see only those stories. RSS users can subscribe to a feed for a specific category.

The Press Release tag must be used for press releases and other forms of official announcements from organizations or politicians. Elected officials must also select their level of government (City Hall, Westchester County, New York State, Federal).

The Talk of the Sound is reserved for official/technical announcements by Talk of the Sound.

The Sections tags (News, Sports, Politics, Medicine, Education, etc.) are to be used in a manner similar to a traditional newspaper except for government-related tags have been given their own group (City Hall, BID, Police & Fire Blogger, Westchester County, New York State, Federal, etc.)

The Hot Topic and Back Burner Topic are tags for popular “discussion topics”, broken down into “hot” and “cold”. So, for example, “Capelli LeCount Square” is now a “hot topic”; “Thanksgiving Day Parade” was a “hop topic” but was demoted to a “back burner topic. At some point in the future, “Capelli LeCount Square” will become a back burner topic; the Thanksgiving Day Parade will be promoted to a hot topic in the fall and then get demoted again afterwards.

This organizational structure will be tweaked a bit in the coming days but here is the initial structure:

Press Release

Hot Topics

2010 U.S. Census
Avalon & Hartz Mountain
Capelli LeCount Square Deal
Capelli Target-Kohls Deal
Downtown Parking Fees
Forest City Echo Bay & Armory
GreeNR
Lincoln Desegregation 50th Anniversary
North-South Divide
Open Government
Taxes

Sections

Amusing News
Arts & Entertainment
Community Groups
Economics & Finance
Education
Environment
Local History
Media
Medicine
Obituaries
Opinion
Politics
Religion
Sports
Traffic & Parking
Youth Sports

Government

Business Improvement District (BID)
City Hall
Federal Government
Library
New York State
Police & Fire Blotter
Westchester County

Identities
African-American
Latino
LGBT
Senior Citizens
Veterans

Back Burner Topics
Christmas
City Budget
Firefighter Layoffs
Memorial Day Parade
North Avenue Rezoning
Thanksgiving Day Parade
Ward Acres
Westchester Desegregation

Talk of the Sound