Glossary A–ZLetter T
Tag
A tag is a freely assigned label attached to files, content items or devices in order to organise, find or assign them specifically.
An element can carry several tags.
In the media library, tags help with searching, for example for “summer”, “North branch” or “product photo”. In many systems they also control playout: an item tagged “checkout” only runs on devices carrying the same tag. A single playlist can thus supply an entire chain and still show differences by location, without each branch needing its own playlist.
Operators should assign tags systematically and keep a fixed list, because a mistyped word is a different word as far as the system is concerned. It is also important to know the rules: what does a device without a tag show, and what happens to an item without a tag? Depending on the software, an untagged device receives everything or nothing. Tags do not replace scheduling; they sort out where something plays, not when.