Back in February SG asked for 'denotations' for certain categories of episodes. I thought it was a pretty good idea and that the concept could stand some degree of expansion. So, I've been working for the past little while on a system to help categorize episodes. It's gotten good enough that I feel like something's missing when I use the standard non-testing version of the page.
There's currently 15+ hats (the internal name for the tags) planned. They're assigned to episodes; an episode can have an indefinite number of them, as many as needed. Hats come with both shorthand acronyms and a longer descriptive title that appears on mouseover.
The current categories planned include:
* Ret/Retrospective - used for episodes like "500" or "Auld Lang Syne" that are mostly about events in previous episodes, along with 'studio' type episodes.
* Non/Unaired - used for episodes that have never been aired on the radio, instead being album exclusives or the like. Does *not* include Club episodes, which have their own category.
* Spl/Split - Split episodes.
* Dis/Discontinued - Episodes that used to be aired, but now no longer are, whether they've been replaced or just phased out.
This applies only to episodes that are still available on the Club, though, not episodes that aren't available anywhere at all ("Telltale Cat").* Club/Adventure Club - Club exclusives. This hat applies to episodes that were only intended for the Club from the get-go, not just any episode that's Club-only.
* Live/Live Performance - Episodes that were performed in front of a live audience.
The following are 'topical' hats. An episode applies for a topic if it is clearly so themed or a significant portion of the story (probably 25% or more) centers around it.
* IS/Imagination Station - Imagination Station adventures, plus the Environment Enhancer.
* ROC/Room of Consequence
* KYDS/KYDS Radio
* BTV/B-TV
* Str/Storytelling - Episodes with characters retelling some kind of story. This turns out to be a popular means of conveying plot, besides just the obvious cases (like Bernard episodes), so whether an episode meets the standards of a proper story episode is decided on a case-by-case basis. I'm willing to hear suggestions on how this category can be narrowed down and made more specific.
* Bible - Biblical episodes all go here, instead of in History or International, although those categories do technically also apply.
* His/History - Referring to known American or world history, not just the history of the characters, although some episodes might qualify as both.
* Drm/Dream Sequence
* Hol/Holiday
* Spr/Sports
* Mys/Mystery
* IN/International - Episodes set in other countries. Possibly this can be expanded to include interactions with other countries as a major plot point (such as in "The Impossible" or "The Undeniable Truth").
If anyone has suggestions for how the hats can be expanded or improved, please let me know. This is all in the working phase and I think there's a lot of room for refinement.
The plan so far is for the hat system to be at the center of a 2.7 release. It's possible that other technical/backend changes or new features might make it in 2.7 too, but the hat tags definitely should.