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Tagging Guidelines

These are instructions for tagging profiles.  WhoRunsgov.com editors will review the tags on new or updated profiles before they publish any changes.

 

Please note!  it's very important to use the exact wording included in these tagging rules.  Some of our pages are dependent on proper tagging of our profiles.

 

Tagging Rules:

We strive to tag our profiles in three different ways:

  1. Name identifier tag
  2. Professional position tags
  3. Key issue tags

 

Here are the steps & rules behind each of these:

  1. 1. Name identifier tag (the ID tag)
  2. 2. Professional Position(s) Tags
    1. 2.1. Administration Officials
    2. 2.2. Former administration officials
    3. 2.3. Barack Obama Advisers
    4. 2.4. Congressmen
      1. 2.4.1. Senators
      2. 2.4.2. House members
      3. 2.4.3. Blue Dogs/New Democrats
    5. 2.5. Hill Staff
      1. 2.5.1. Former Hill Staff
    6. 2.6. Press Secretaries, Aids, Speechwriters, etc
    7. 2.7. Governors
    8. 2.8. Candidates in Upcoming Elections
    9. 2.9. Military Officials
    10. 2.10. Campaign, Pollsters, Operatives, etc
      1. 2.10.1. Campaign tag
    11. 2.11. Think Tank officials, Lobbyists, etc
    12. 2.12. What if a person changes position?
  3. 3. Issue tags

 

Name identifier tag (the ID tag)

Every profile must have an 'ID' tag.  This tag allows us to easily sort our profiles by last name on our browse pages.

The tag format is:

Format
 Example
ID-Last name, First name ID-Barack, Obama

It's important to not put any spaces before or after the 'ID' and dash, '-'.  Please also capitalize the word 'ID'.

For congressmen, include the party and state abbreviation in parentheses after the first name.  For example, Arlen Specter's ID tag would be:  ID-Specter, Arlen (D-Pa.)

Professional Position(s) Tags

Profiles can and will most likely have more than one tag to reflect their current and past professional positions.

Follow the tagging rules in each section that is appropriate to the profile you are updating or adding:

 

Administration Officials

Step 1.  Administration officials should be tagged with one of the following depending on if they are confirmed or not:

  • Obama administration official

OR

  • Likely Obama administration official

 

Step 2.  Administration officials should also be tagged with what area of the Executive Branch they work in - the White House, a Department, or an Independent Agency.  Follow the rules for each area listed in this table:

Position(s)
 Tag(s)
White House official

For administration officials working in the White House, tag with one of the following as appropriate:

  • White House
  • Office of Vice President Biden
  • Office of Jill Biden
  • Office of First Lady Michelle Obama
Department official

For administration officials working in a Department, tag with one of the following as appropriate:

  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Education
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of Homeland Security
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development
  • Department of Justice
  • Department of Labor
  • Department of State
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of the Treasury
  • Department of Transportation
  • Department of Veterans Affairs
Independent Agency official

For administration officials working in an Independent Agency, tag with:

  • Independent Agency

AND

  • the Agency name - such as Security and Exchange Commission or Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

    Use the terminology on the usa.gov site.

 

Former administration officials

If the official worked in a previous administration, tag according to these rules:

Administration
 Tag
Formerly an official in the George W. Bush administration Former George W. Bush administration official
Formerly an official in the Bill Clinton administration

Former Clinton administration official
Formerly an official in the George H. W. Bush administration Former George H.W. Bush administration official
Formerly an official in the Ronald Reagan administration Former Reagan administration official

 

Barack Obama Advisers

We are highlighting people who are in President Obama's inner sphere but do not have a formal job in the administration - such as Eric Whitaker and Martin Nesbitt.

For advisers to President Obama, tag with:

  • Obama adviser 

 

Congressmen

Senators

Follow these steps to properly tag members of the Senate:

Step 1. All senators should be tagged with these two tags:

  • Congress
  • Senator

 

Step 2. Next add a tag to reflect their party affiliation:

  • Republican

OR

  • Democrat

 

Step 3. Add a tag to reflect the state they represent.  The tag must be formatted as follows:

  • <state> lawmaker

An example is - "Pennsylvania lawmaker"

 

Step 4. If the official holds a leadership position with, tag with the appropriate title:

  • President of the senate
  • President Pro Tempore of the Senate
  • Senate majority leader
  • Senate minority leader
  • Senate majority whip
  • Senate minority whip

 

House members

Follow these steps to properly tag members of the House of Representatives:

Step 1. All House members should be tagged with these two tags:

  • Congress
  • House Member

 

Step 2. Next add a tag to reflect their party affiliation:

  • Republican

OR

  • Democrat

 

Step 3. Add a tag to reflect the state they represent.  The tag must be formatted as follows:

  • <state> lawmaker

An example is - "Pennsylvania lawmaker"

 

Step 4. If the official holds a leadership position within the House, tag with the appropriate title:

  • Speaker of the house
  • House majority leader
  • House minority leader
  • House majority whip
  • House minority whip

 

Blue Dogs/New Democrats

For lawmakers in either the “Blue Dogs” or “New Democrats” groups tag as such:

  • Blue Dogs
  • New Democrats  

 

Hill Staff

Follow these steps to properly tag Hill Staffers:

Step 1. Every Hill Staffer profile should have the following tag:

  • Hill Staffer

 

Step 2.  Next add a tag to reflect if they work for the House or Senate:

  • House

OR

  • Senate

 

Former Hill Staff

If the official formerly worked on the Hill, tag with:

  • Former hill staffer

 

Press Secretaries, Aids, Speechwriters, etc

For press secretaries, aids, speechwriters, etc, tag with:

  • communications

 

Governors

Follow these steps to properly tag governors:

Step 1.  First add the following tag:

  • Governor

 

Step 2.  Next add a tag to reflect the state they govern.  The tag must be formatted as follows:

  • <state> lawmaker

An example is - "Pennsylvania lawmaker"

 

Candidates in Upcoming Elections

Candidates in the upcoming 2010, 2012, or 2014 elections, should be tagged with one of the following as appropriate.  Do this for Senators and Governors only and not House members as they are all up for re-election.  Note: include House members/Senators running for Governor.

  • 2010 candidate

OR

  • 2012 candidate

OR

  • 2014 candidate

Military Officials

All military officials should be tagged with:

  • Military

 

Campaign, Pollsters, Operatives, etc

For Campaign, pollsters, operatives, etc, use the following tag:

  • Political strategist

 

Campaign tag

For profiles of persons that have worked on or are working on a campaign - such as political strategists, members of the DNC or RNC, various House/Senate campaign committees, political White House aides - also tag the profile with the tag:

  • Campaign

 

Think Tank officials, Lobbyists, etc

For think tank experts, ‘lobbyists’, etc, use the following tag:

  • Interest group

 

What if a person changes position?

If someone changes positions, keep the old position tag but update it by adding the word 'former' in front.  Then update with the appropriate tags listed above.

Issue tags

In addition to positions, we also tag certain profiles with key issue areas.  Profiles that get tagged with key issues include persons that are:

  • on lead committees,
  • a part of a department, or
  • true subject matter experts in the area.


A profile can have multiple issue tags.

The terminology to be used when adding an issue tag includes:

  • Environment
  • Education
  • Finance (including but not limited to experts on taxes, banking, people from treasury and commerce depts., as well as business lobbyists)
  • Defense
  • Law (including but not limited to Justice Dept, White House Counsel's office)
  • Foreign Policy
  • Energy
  • Agriculture (can include food policy)
  • Housing
  • Transportation
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Campaigns
  • Federal Budget (including but not limited to House and Senate budget and appropriations committee leaders, Office of Management and Budget officials, Congressional Budget Office officials)
  • Labor

 

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