Tagamac

Punakea has been updated to version 0.3.2. This minor update fixes a contextual menu bug and improves compatibility with Leopard.

You can find the full details in the release notes.

It’s a relatively busy day for Tagamac today; besides iGTD and iPhoto, FileSpot, the Spotlight searching utility that is a much-revamped version of MoRU (thanks to all the readers who pointed this out to me!), has been updated to beta 2. The second beta is a minor release that adds capabilities to the contextual menus, allows the user to set where they want smart folders to be saved, and fixes some bugs.

You can download the new beta via the FileSpot download page.

iGTD, that most oft-updated of the apps I’m currently tracking, has received another minor update, bringing it up to 1.4.5.5. This update includes improvements to the Quick Add window, multiple dock badges, support for the Vienna RSS reader, and numerous bug fixes.

For more information, please see the 1.4.5.5 blog entry or the release notes.

Whoa, I am slow on the draw! It took the good people over at the Unofficial Apple Weblog to point out that iPhoto ’08 now has tagging (iPhoto calls it keywords).

Although I have yet to play around with it (I’m not a very avid iPhoto or Garageband user, so I didn’t run out to buy iLife ’08 as soon as it hit the shelves), the TUAW screenshots definitely look intriguing. It’s very gratifying that Apple has implemented basic tagging beyond their very basic keywords implementation of versions past, since this will allow users who aren’t comfortable with advanced tagging to still gain its benefits while others who need something a little more powerful will continue to use plugins like Keyword Manager or programs like Shoebox. If only there were a free trial or an upgrade path; I unfortunately do not have $80 lying around for software that I rarely use anyway.

Sadly, not all tagging software is coded equal. Sometimes tags are thrown in as just one more bell or whistle, intended to plump up a feature-set without being particularly useful. Other times developers don’t understand tags themselves and end up implementing them in a way that is not as friendly as it should be. Sometimes supporting spaces in tags causes other problems (such is the case when trying to roll your own tagging system using Spotlight comments).

In any case, you may well run across a piece of tagging software that does not allow you to use spaces in your tags, which can be a major pain in the nether regions. What you do about it is really up to you (although of course I have some suggestions), but when you decide remember the tagging mantra: consistency, consistency, consistency. Pick something and stick with it. [read more...]

How long has it been since I first launched the site? A week? Two? And it took me this long to notice that my articles weren’t being delivered to RSS readers in full text. Tell me these things, people!

Tagamac now features full text RSS articles. Of course, RSS articles will have ugly formatted images (until/unless I can create a WordPress plugin that inserts inline styles) and if the article falls in a series it won’t include the table of contents, but those hard-core types who never want to leave their RSS reader should now be a bit happier (okay, admittedly I’m one of them). Apologies to all subscribers for taking this long to notice the problem.

I’ve tried to make Tagamac as simple as possible to navigate, but given that it is a blog content tends to get recycled into the dreaded archives fairly quickly. Hopefully with the following tips and tricks, you’ll find it easy to locate that article that was so helpful in the past that you want to reread.

Although I love lists of three, there’s actually four different features of Tagamac that will hopefully make your life easier when it comes to finding content: the searchbar, sections, tags, and series. [read more...]

PackRat, a desktop client for 37signals’ Backpack, is on sale for 40% off today August 7th, 2007 only, available through the MacUpdate promo.

I have never used PackRat or Backpack, and thus can’t recommend either one. However, 37signals has an excellent reputation when it comes to web apps and I’ve heard good things about Backpack, which is essentially an online area for you to store notes, links, to-do lists, and more. Both Backpack and PackRat support tags for your notes, although the tags are basically just glorified categories. May be worthwhile, may be not. I leave it to your discretion.

My vision for Tagamac involves turning it into a resource that helps people with all aspects of tagging: understanding the concepts, finding software, creating a workflow, tagging consistently, etc. However, that’s a lot to cover, and it’s going to take me time to get to everything. While I’m plugging away at it, though, there are people out there who want to know how to tag right now. Quite frankly, in its current inception, Tagamac is not particularly helpful when it comes to jumping straight into tags. I don’t have any software recommendations or workflow advice; so far I’ve mainly been defining and offering basic guidelines.

I will try to get some software recommendations and reviews written in the near future, but it may be some time before I’m able to jump headfirst into real workflows. In the meantime, I’d like to offer some good resources elsewhere on the web that you can use to get your tagging system off the ground. Sadly, I haven’t been able to locate many good resources (which is a big reason I started Tagamac, actually), but at least there’s a few. [read more...]

Although this isn’t really a piece of software, per se, Circle Six Design updated their UTW-RPC WordPress plugin to work with WordPress 2.2.1+. The plugin allows remote editing using tools such as ecto or MarsEdit to assign tags using the popular Ultimate Tag Warrior or Simple Tagging plugins. The WordPress admin area is alright, but I’ve long been a fan of ecto, and this plugin is the magic that allows me to use it.

To download the plugin and for more info, visit the UTW-RPC and AutoTag download page.