When I started the blog back in 2018 I found the use of tags and categories very useful and appealing: I could neatly position my posts into a handy area on which to return to in the future. Then, as the months rolled by, I found that I had created a large volume of categories and a ridiculously huge collection of tags, many of which seemed to repeat and clash with other ones. And so, it continued until 2021.

But in this month – in the celebration of the blog’s third birthday – I have decided on undertaking a spring clean in an attempt to bring greater order to the category / tagging system. This should, hopefully, bring about greater order and clarity, and might mean that I can have one tag for a topic rather than several. For example, ‘The Nazis’, ‘Nazis’, ‘Nazi’, ‘Nazi Germany’, ‘Third Reich’ can be lumped in as one: ‘Nazis’! Whilst I will be removing some very niche tags: I’m looking at you ‘A-level Results U-Turn’!

Back in the fresh days of the blog I read a few articles from blog specialists outlining the use of tags in order to attract readers (along with other terms, such as “CEO”, etc); however, my intention here isn’t to promote but rather to clarify. I feel I would sleep happier knowing that the posts were in the right categories and that the tags were consistent and clear. So, let the bonfire of the tags begin! As with Savonarola in 1497 Florence, I will pile high the superfluous tags and will burn them to ashes.

However, I have just realised something. By bringing Savonarola into this have I now created the occasion for the birth of a new tag: ‘Savonarola’? And so it begins again…