Chaley, thanks for your excellent explanation both here and in the manual.
Until I read this post I hadn't a clue how to populate a custom column.
My first attempt was for the example you used, to create genre tags.
Unable to populate a custom column, I tried another route:
- - I created a user category (Genre) and
- - set "Tags" as a filter.
As "genre"-type tags are to be found amongst the other tags (are these what's referred to as "Social Metadata"?) it was fairly easy to select those that represented genres.
My method seemed easier - I was merely manipulating info that was already there rather than having to create it.
I couldn't create a custom column from that list, though.
Does this matter, as long as I am able to sort by "Genre", one way or another?
Other questions I have are:
- What is the difference between these methods?
- What limitations does each one come with?
General confusion:
To this novice, it appears custom columns can also be user categories and/or groups.
I can't understand the difference between columns, user categories and groups.
I know you gave an explanation (quoted below) but I can't get my head around it:
Quote:
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A subgroup (e.g., a genre) must contain (point to) books, not categories of books. This is what distinguishes subgroups from user categories.
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