Switching Category thoughts to Tag thoughts
Switching Category Thoughts to Tag Thoughts
This note now covers:
- Why category thoughts may be better as tags
- What changes when converting a thought
- What happens to existing child thoughts
- How tags appear in the Plex
- When to keep thoughts as normal thoughts
- How to perform the conversion
- Why a converted category is not an orphan
Why convert category thoughts to tags?
Category thoughts can be confused with similarly named topics in a help-knowledge base. Converting the category thoughts to Tag Thoughts provides a visual and organizational distinction: they become reusable classification labels rather than ordinary help topics.
What changes when a category thought becomes a tag?
Changing a thought's kind does not delete the thought. Its notes and existing links are preserved; only its role changes.
A Tag Thought is useful when a characteristic can apply across multiple, otherwise unrelated thoughts. A thought can have multiple tags, making it possible for one support request to belong to more than one category.
What happens to existing child thoughts?
Existing child thoughts do not become parentless. Their links remain intact, and the child thoughts are not deleted or disconnected.
However, their visual presentation changes. A Tag Thought generally stays out of the Plex unless it is activated, so the category may look less like a normal branch of the hierarchy. The category still exists as a connected thought; it simply behaves and appears as a tag rather than as an ordinary organizing topic.
How tags appear and function
- Tag Thoughts appear as small icons on thoughts to which they are applied.
- Tags generally stay out of the Plex unless activated, reducing visual clutter.
- A tag can be applied to many thoughts, including thoughts from unrelated parts of the brain.
- Tags can be used to filter and report on thoughts sharing the same characteristic.
- The tag thought can still be opened to gather or review the thoughts carrying that tag.
Recommendation
Convert the category thoughts to Tag Thoughts if the main purpose is to classify support requests and distinguish the categories from similarly named help topics.
Keep them as normal thoughts if the main purpose is to maintain a visibly navigable category branch in the Plex.
For this support-request system, Tag Thoughts are likely the better fit because the categories function as cross-cutting labels rather than as help documentation topics.
How to convert a category thought
- Right-click the thought and choose Change Thought Kind.
- Choose Tag Thought and confirm.
The conversion is non-destructive: the thought, its notes, and its links are preserved.
Important distinction
A category may look less connected in the Plex after conversion, but that does not mean it became an orphan. The visual presentation changes; the existing relationships remain.