This short tutorial defines the 3 most basic and new concepts you definitely need to know:
- Categories
- Topics
- Tags
This guide is part of the Transition Tutorials.
Summary
Four new categories and 32 new tags guarantee a more straightforward and focused Connect, so finding interesting content has become a lot easier.
The new structure
Transitioning from old to new Connect can be a challenge, but this table will help you settle in quickly:
It is actually quite simple.
What we used to call a post or a thread in old Connect is now called a Topic. A Topic can also be called a Discussion or Conversation.
The old boards like Photography, Travel, and How-to are now replaced with these 4 new categories:
- Connections & celebrations
- Google Maps contribution stories
- Google Maps tips & tricks
- Meet-ups
Tags are new smart keywords used to further specify the content of a topic.
Topics
Topic = Discussion is a series of messages grouped together in a meaningful conversation with a title, beginning with an Original Post, followed by replies in chronological order.
Categories
Categories are the primary way of organizing content after the redesign. In the old site, we had sections like Food & Drink, Local Stories, and Highlights. These are now gone. Instead, you need to select a category and one or more tags before you can write a new topic.
You can read more about the new categories here.
Tags
A tag is a keyword used to further describe a topic. Each topic can have multiple tags. Tags can aid us in finding more relevant and engaging content faster.
You can read more about the new tags in What are Connect tags and how to use them?
In this screenshot of a topic title, you can see how the tags How-tos and Reviews are chosen for this topic. They are shown below the title with a light grey background.
You can always click/tap on a tag to find more content using with the same tag.
Depending on the chosen category, a limited list of tags will be available.
Open âAvailable Tags under each Categoryâ below to see which tags belong to each of the 4 new categories.
Available Tags under each Category
This is a quick overview of the tags available when you create a new topic. As you can see, the list of tags is very different from category to category.
Connections & celebrations
The following 4 tags are available in the category Connections & celebrations:
- Letâs celebrate
- Gratitude post
- Introduce Yourself
- Leaderboard
Google Maps contribution stories
The following 9 tags are available in the category Google Maps contribution stories:
- Food & drinks
- Nature
- Attraction
- Culture
- Museum
- Accessibility
- Local business
- Gallery
- Street art
Google Maps tips & tricks
The following 12 tags are available under Google Maps tips & tricks:
- How-tos
- Street View
- Connect forum
- Map editing
- Photography
- Best practices
- Lists
- Reviews
- Road editing
- Videography
- In the news
- Points, levels & badges
Meet-ups
The following 7 tags are available under Meet-ups:
- Food & drinks
- Map editing
- Photography
- Accessibility
- Local business
- Road editing
- Videography
Further details worth noting:
The word tag is also used for mentioning a user. Such tags are always shown with an @ in front of the username. Exactly like in old Connect.
You can add extra tags and categories by hitting the #-sign and start typing. Then select a category or tag from the drop-down list.
The term post is also used now. It covers both topics and replies.
You may also be interested in:
This is the end of this tutorial. Enjoy the new Connect!
Credit: The oil painting shown at the top is Beach at Trouville by Eugène Boudin. Painted in 1864/5. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington.