Multiple Tags - Normal Member

Just wondering.. why is it that you limit the
tags for normal members to two? (or was it three)
I don't really see the sense in it except a "because you
are only a normal member". Is it just that or are
there more in-depth reasons like it uses more bandwith of the
website or something (not an expert in these things).
Thanks.
Edit: Oh and of course I suggest removing that limit if
it doesn't harm danbooru.

The more tags you search for the more database intensive it is. Imagine how slow the site would be if 500+ people were simultaneously searching database heavy queries.

If Danbooru ever *does* get to the point where it could handle it, I would strongly support raising the limit to at least 3 tags for members. But the site is having speed issues as it is (it's a bit better in the last day or two) so unfortunately I don't expect albert will be able to open things up like that right now.

Well, this limit was put in place a long time ago, back when tag searches were much slower and the speed of a search was directly proportional to the number of tags in the search. Searching for more than a couple tags would often fail because the search was too slow.

Nowadays searches are performed with a much faster technique, and the number of tags in a search doesn't affect the search speed as much as it used to. So the limits for both members and privileged users could probably be increased a little without slowing down overall site speed too much.

Ah.. that's too bad but I guess it's understandable if it
affects the speed. I'm very fine with the current speed of danbooru, wouldn't be worth it if that slowed it down. Even though I doubt that many people would even use it - or even just being aware of the option to begin with.

evazion said:
Nowadays searches are performed with a much faster technique, and the number of tags in a search doesn't affect the search speed as much as it used to. So the limits for both members and privileged users could probably be increased a little without slowing down overall site speed too much.

Oh, is that so? Then I'd be very strongly in favour of raising the limit to at least 3, preferably 4. It's one of the most painful restrictions out there.

I thought the reason was that queries of up to two tags could be cached, but with three tags you get diminishing returns from the cache.

Some things are cached, such as the number of results for a given search and the related tags in the sidebar, but the query itself isn't cached.

IIRC, the main reason for the limit was that the SQL query generated by a tag search used to require one join and one subselect per tag, so the number of tags had a direct impact on performance. About a year ago albert switched to using a full text search using a GIN index, but the tag limit was never changed. I haven't benchmarked it or anything, but I doubt that the number of tags matters nearly as much as it used to.

Man, I would love access to more than two tags. I would save *so* much redundant time and effort when I'm on one of my tagging binges and there comes a use for more than "[related tag] -[tag I'm applying]". Even just a 3 tag limit would make things so much easier.

Personally, I rarely ever use 4, 5, or 6 tag searches. I use three tag searches rather often, however.

So, yeah, I support this as well. Honestly, I've been wanting to mention this myself, but never did. I kinda feel bad now...

So.. are the owner(s?) reading this forum and responding the the suggestions..? I don't really know who it is and how he/they handle things.

kyaaa said: So.. are the owner(s?) reading this forum and responding the the suggestions..? I don't really know who it is and how he/they handle things.

Albert is the site owner/danbooru creator.

Maybe this is something appropriate for a trac ticket? If testing reveals it doesn't slow things down then as I mentioned, I'm all for it.

I'll be frank. The limit is kept at two tags mainly because: (1) 95% of tag searches on this site are two tags or fewer; and (2) I want to give people an incentive to pay for upgraded accounts.

There is nothing you can find with a 3+ tag search that you can't find with a 2 tag search. It'll just take longer to go through all the extra pages. I don't consider it unreasonable to ask money in exchange for saving you some time searching. It's a luxury.

Ah, yes, there is that angle. Well, that's certainly a reasonable position - you're the one paying the bills.

albert said:
I'll be frank. The limit is kept at two tags mainly because: (1) 95% of tag searches on this site are two tags or fewer; and (2) I want to give people an incentive to pay for upgraded accounts.

There is nothing you can find with a 3+ tag search that you can't find with a 2 tag search. It'll just take longer to go through all the extra pages. I don't consider it unreasonable to ask money in exchange for saving you some time searching. It's a luxury.

Well, what if you were to allow 2 tags and a metatag? If I'm looking for a specific rating, it can be incredibly hard to discern some of them while searching and finding deleted posts is, well, impossible if I'm already using the 2 alloted tags.

albert said:
I'll be frank. The limit is kept at two tags mainly because: (1) 95% of tag searches on this site are two tags or fewer;

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that figure seems to be for all users, not just people who have sprung the $20 for an upgraded account. And, as the limit for most people is two tags, that would mean that your data is skewed.

However, I have a proposition for you. Rather than flat increase the tag limit to 3, how about the ability to search for two tags and a meta-tag (rating:x, user:y, etc.).

Semicolon said:
Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but that figure seems to be for all users, not just people who have sprung the $20 for an upgraded account. And, as the limit for most people is two tags, that would mean that your data is skewed.search for two tags and a meta-tag (rating:x, user:y, etc.).

There was data gathered before limits were imposed at all, back when you could search 12 tags simultaneously.

Log said:
There was data gathered before limits were imposed at all, back when you could search 12 tags simultaneously.

My point's still valid, though, as I'd imagine the majority of the searches have occurred after the limit was imposed.

I think Albert's second point pretty much trumps any other point you might make as a non-paying member asking for more privileges, though. :/

So, does limiting the number of tags we can search for save any bandwidth?

As it is now, we might have to go through countless pages to find what we're looking for.
Allowing more tags would mean less pages have to be served. :)

Or is there something I'm missing here?