10

TLDR

We should add a proper 404 page for tags that don't exist.

When I search for a tag that doesn't exist on a Stack Exchange site, I get sent to an empty page. Here is an example on StackOverflow:

An empty page with no questions but not showing the fact that there is not such site Also tested with Server Fault, Ask Ubuntu, Stack Apps1, and Super User.

What's wrong with this page?

The Watch tag button 2

Clicking on it allows you to watch a tag that doesn't exist! There isn't even a warning telling the user the tag does not exist.

The only reason that I could see this being here is to wait for the tag to be created, in which case it should say something like:

This tag does not exists yet

[inside button] Watch for tag creation

The Go to Wiki button

Clicking this takes a user directly to a 404 page. The existence of a 404 page is not a problem, but a button on the site going directly there feels like broken behavior.

From MDN:

[Links to] 404 errors on a website can lead to a poor user experience for your visitors, so the number of broken links (internal and external) should be minimized to prevent frustration for readers.

I propose removing the Go to Wiki button altogether.

Filters

Once again, this tag has no questions. These filter buttons are not needed.

I propose we remove them.

Questions count

Both 0 questions and There are no questions tagged [tag] are confusing. Either could be interpreted as "The tag exists but has no questions," which is misleading.

Both of these messages should be removed.

What does this page get right?

The View available tags for this site

This is helpful. It can help direct the user to a tag that does exist. This should stay.

What would a new page look like?

This really depends on the design principles of Stack Exchange as well as it's designers. However, this is what a prototype version would like to me:

New tag not found page Figma file. Ported from html.

This design is based off of the 404 page. By the MDN definition:

A 404 status code only indicates that the resource is missing without indicating if this is temporary or permanent.

A tag can be thought of as a collection of questions (resources) so when a tag is missing a resource is missing. Hence, 404 is fitting.

Items on the page

  • Try viewing similar tags to this one (Uses a fuzzy finding algorithm to give you tags with similar names)
  • Browse recent questions (Goes to the Questions page)
  • Browse our popular tags (Goes to the popular tags page)
  • Watch for tag creation (Sends a notification when the tag is created)
  • Create tag (If a user has enough reputation, allows them to create a tag)

How does the new page benefit Stack Exchange users?

  • It clearly communicates that the tag does not exist and that the user needs to look at other tags.
  • It prevents a user from watching a tag that does not exist.
  • It brings actions (like creating the tag and watching for tag creation) closer to the user.

Side-by-side

Before After
An empty page with no questions but not showing the fact that there is not such site New tag not found page

1 Stack apps has a slightly different page that does not display the There are no questions tagged [tag]. However, the same changes should still apply.

2 This only applicable on sites with the new design.

Improve this question
12
  • 1
    I don't understand any of this but that 404 looks beneficial, +1.
    – bad_coder
    Commented Sep 12 at 0:00
  • 3
    This looks like it's localized to SO, because trying to search for a tag that doesn't exist on sites that haven't launched this "improved" design doesn't reveal a Watch Tag button: Click to test . I'm tempted to say this belongs on Meta SO instead, since it's the only site (to my knowledge) with this new design.
    – Spevacus Mod
    Commented Sep 12 at 0:00
  • 4
    @Spevacus The watch tag button might not exist yet on all site(which I didn't realize) The core search functionality still exists and you can still get to this empty page. Maybe the Watch for tag creation should only be present on sites with the new design. I will add a not about it to my post.
    – Ethan
    Commented Sep 12 at 0:07
  • 3
    I dislike the "Tag not found" language but otherwise I like this proposal. I think it would be better as header: "This tag doesn't exist" and description "We're sorry, there are currently no questions tagged [ts]"
    – Robotnik
    Commented Sep 12 at 5:04
  • 2
    "Watch tag" can still be useful, though. On Arqade, for example, you can expect new games to show up sooner rather than later, and barring asking a new question yourself, you can already start getting updated about new questions.
    – Joachim
    Commented Sep 12 at 8:06
  • I have a mixed feeling about this. That said, some considerations: 1) Users can only create tag by tagging it to a question, they can't create tags out of nowhere, so I'm not sure what will happen if I click that button 2) "It prevents a user from watching a tag that does not exist" watching non-existent tags can be useful for moderation purpose (e.g. tag removal), since tags can be created at any time (unless it gets blocked-list).
    – Meta Andrew T.
    Commented Sep 12 at 10:43
  • @MetaAndrewT 1) So I guess this button should go to the create new question with this tag name already added in the question 2) I'm not suggesting we change the behavior of the watch for tag creation button. It can be the same as the regular watch tag button just changing the name. I think it adds some clarity.
    – Ethan
    Commented Sep 12 at 21:40
  • 1
    I can see some merit in an extra message that says "Tag does not exist". But not much in totally redesigning the tag page to have a 404 message inside. If anything, it makes it seem less usable because the first instinct for the user is that they did something wrong. However, searching for a non-existent tag is not really wrong. Consider searching for something like [ts] or [typescript] - it seems way overzealous to bomb out of that search because [ts] does not exist. And if you don't bomb out of the compound search, it seems consistent to not bomb on searching [ts]
    – VLAZ
    Commented Sep 16 at 10:08
  • 1
    I don't think the result of a search should lead to a 404 error page. Would you expect Google to return a 404 error if you search for a term that finds no websites? 404 is an error and means that a link is broken or obsolete, not that a search returned no results.
    – wimi
    Commented Sep 16 at 16:49
  • Fair point of the 404 I still think the design works though. Besides this design is just to give an idea
    – Ethan
    Commented Sep 16 at 17:44
  • @wizzwizz4 would it still be correct to return a 404 on /questions/tagged/ts+or+typescript? IMO, it should return results. The same results as /questions/tagged/typescript but nonetheless not an error. And if that request doesn't error, I don't see why the /ts should. Or they should both error but I see no use for that. Only problems.
    – VLAZ
    Commented Sep 16 at 19:08
  • @VLAZ I've changed my mind: you're right that 200 is appropriate. /tags/ts should return a 404, though, even though it's currently the same page as /questions/tagged/ts.
    – wizzwizz4
    Commented Sep 16 at 19:10

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