weeklydevchat · mrbiggred · Feb 13, 2026 · Feb 8, 2026 · Feb 8, 2026 · Feb 8, 2026
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ This is the **Weekly Dev Chat** website, a static site built with MkDocs Materia
     ├── .authors.yml           # Author metadata (chris, norm, omar)
     ├── index.md               # Homepage
     ├── join.md                # How to join the chat
+    ├── tags.md                # Tags index page (auto-populated by tags plugin)
     ├── past_topics.md         # Archived topics (excluded from build)
     ├── hosts/
     │   └── index.md           # Current hosts page
@@ -76,13 +77,19 @@ This is the **Weekly Dev Chat** website, a static site built with MkDocs Materia
 2. **blog**: Enables blog functionality
    - Blog directory: Root (`.`)
    - Pagination: 3 posts per page
+3. **tags**: Enables tag-based categorization and browsing
+   - Tags index page: `docs/tags.md` (configured via `tags_file`)
+   - Tags are defined in blog post frontmatter
+   - The plugin auto-generates a tag listing with links to all posts for each tag
 
 ### Navigation Structure
 - Home (index.md)
 - Join (join.md)
 - Hosts (hosts/index.md)
 - Past Hosts (past-hosts/index.md)
 - Sponsors (sponsors/index.md)
+- Bold Predictions 2026 (bold-predictions-2026.md)
+- Tags (tags.md)
 
 ### Markdown Extensions
 - `attr_list`: Allows specifying image dimensions and attributes
@@ -112,10 +119,28 @@ Blog posts are organized by date: `docs/posts/YYYY/MM/DD/index.md`
 title: "Your Blog Post Title"
 date: YYYY-MM-DD
 authors:
- - chris | norm | omar  # One or more authors
+  - chris | norm | omar  # One or more authors
+categories:
+  - Category Name  # e.g., Business, Career, Community, Culture, Security, Technical
+tags:
+  - tag-name  # Lowercase, hyphenated tags for topic filtering
 ---
 ```
 
+### Categories and Tags
+
+**Categories** are broad topic groupings displayed on blog post cards. Common categories include:
+- Business
+- Career
+- Community
+- Culture
+- Security
+- Technical
+
+**Tags** are specific topic labels used for fine-grained filtering. Tags appear on the **Tags** page (`docs/tags.md`), which is auto-generated by the Material for MkDocs tags plugin. Each tag links to a listing of all posts with that tag.
+
+Examples of tags: `cybersecurity`, `pair-programming`, `ai`, `open-source`, `testing`, `devops`
+
 ### Post Content Template
 ```markdown
 TOPIC_INTRODUCTION_HERE
@@ -265,6 +290,7 @@ The following are ignored:
 ### For Content Changes
 - `docs/index.md` - Homepage content
 - `docs/join.md` - Join instructions
+- `docs/tags.md` - Tags index page (content auto-generated by tags plugin)
 - `docs/hosts/index.md` - Current hosts information
 - `docs/sponsors/index.md` - Sponsor information
 - `docs/posts/YYYY/MM/DD/index.md` - Blog posts
@@ -291,7 +317,11 @@ The following are ignored:
    title: "Topic Title"
    date: YYYY-MM-DD
    authors:
-    - chris
+     - chris
+   categories:
+     - Category Name
+   tags:
+     - relevant-tag
    ---
    ```
 4. **Add content** following the template
@@ -345,7 +375,7 @@ The following are ignored:
 1. **Never modify** `.github/workflows/ci.yml` unless explicitly requested - deployment is automated and stable
 2. **Always test locally** before pushing changes to main branch
 3. **Blog posts must follow** the date-based directory structure: `YYYY/MM/DD/`
-4. **Frontmatter is required** for all blog posts (title, date, authors)
+4. **Frontmatter is required** for all blog posts (at minimum: `title`, `date`, `categories`, `tags`; new or updated posts should also include `authors`)
 5. **Images for blog posts** should be placed in the same directory as the post's `index.md`
 6. **The site uses** Material for MkDocs theme - refer to https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/ for advanced features
 7. **Custom CSS** should be minimal and placed in `docs/stylesheets/extra.css`
@@ -393,6 +423,16 @@ The blog plugin is configured with:
 
 For more blog plugin features, see: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/blog/
 
+## MkDocs Material Tags Plugin Details
+
+The tags plugin is configured with:
+- **Tags file**: `docs/tags.md` - serves as the tags index page
+- **Auto-generated listing**: The `<!-- material/tags -->` marker in `tags.md` is replaced with a tag cloud linking to per-tag post listings
+- **Frontmatter integration**: Tags are defined per-post in the `tags:` frontmatter field
+- **Navigation**: The Tags page is linked in the site navigation bar
+
+For more tags plugin features, see: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/tags/
+
 ## Troubleshooting
 
 ### Build Fails
@@ -422,6 +462,7 @@ For more blog plugin features, see: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/
 - **MkDocs Documentation**: https://www.mkdocs.org
 - **Material for MkDocs**: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/
 - **Blog Plugin**: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/blog/
+- **Tags Plugin**: https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/tags/
 - **GitHub Pages**: https://docs.github.com/en/pages
 - **Site**: https://weeklydevchat.github.io
 

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ A static website for the Weekly Dev Chat community - a weekly virtual developer
 
 This is a static site built with [MkDocs Material](https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/) and hosted on GitHub Pages. The site features:
 - Weekly blog posts for Tuesday chat topics
+- Tag-based browsing to filter posts by topic
 - Host information and community guidelines
 - Sponsor information
 - Automatic deployment via GitHub Actions
@@ -94,7 +95,11 @@ These scripts will:
    title: "Your Blog Post Title"
    date: YYYY-MM-DD
    authors:
-    - chris
+     - chris
+   categories:
+     - Category Name
+   tags:
+     - relevant-tag
    ---
    ```
 
@@ -109,6 +114,14 @@ These scripts will:
 
 4. Add any images to the same directory as the post
 
+### Categories and Tags
+
+Categories are broad topic groupings and tags are specific topic labels for filtering. New categories and tags can be added as needed — these are the ones currently in use.
+
+**Categories**: Business, Career, Community, Culture, Security, Technical
+
+**Tags**: `administration`, `advent-of-code`, `advent-of-cyber`, `agile`, `ai`, `architecture`, `branding`, `cancelled`, `career`, `change-management`, `claude`, `code-quality`, `coding-challenges`, `coding-practices`, `community`, `conferences`, `creativity`, `ctf`, `culture`, `curriculum`, `cybersecurity`, `data`, `databases`, `design-patterns`, `devops`, `editors`, `education`, `entrepreneurship`, `ergonomics`, `estimation`, `ethics`, `events`, `finance`, `github-copilot`, `goals`, `gratitude`, `growth`, `habits`, `hacktoberfest`, `hardware`, `health`, `hiring`, `history`, `holiday`, `industry`, `infrastructure`, `innovation`, `inspiration`, `irl`, `job-market`, `learning`, `local-tech`, `marketing`, `meetup`, `meetups`, `metaphors`, `methodology`, `metrics`, `mob-programming`, `motivation`, `naming`, `networking`, `open-discussion`, `open-source`, `optimization`, `organizations`, `pair-programming`, `performance`, `philosophy`, `picoctf`, `predictions`, `priorities`, `privacy`, `productivity`, `project-management`, `prototyping`, `quality-assurance`, `reflection`, `remote-work`, `resilience`, `security`, `self-hosting`, `self-improvement`, `side-projects`, `society`, `supply-chain`, `surveys`, `swap-meet`, `systems`, `tdd`, `teaching`, `teamwork`, `technology`, `testing`, `thinking`, `time-management`, `tools`, `trends`, `unconference`, `version-control`, `watch-party`, `wellness`, `work-life-balance`, `workplace`, `workspace`, `year-in-review`
+
 ## Project Structure
 
 ```
@@ -126,6 +139,7 @@ These scripts will:
     ├── .authors.yml           # Author metadata
     ├── index.md               # Homepage
     ├── join.md                # How to join
+    ├── tags.md                # Tags index page (auto-populated by tags plugin)
     ├── hosts/                 # Current hosts
     ├── past-hosts/            # Past hosts
     ├── sponsors/              # Sponsors
@@ -187,6 +201,7 @@ When updates are available, Dependabot creates pull requests automatically. Revi
 - [MkDocs Documentation](https://www.mkdocs.org)
 - [Material for MkDocs](https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/)
 - [Material Blog Plugin](https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/blog/)
+- [Material Tags Plugin](https://squidfunk.github.io/mkdocs-material/plugins/tags/)
 - [GitHub Pages Documentation](https://docs.github.com/en/pages)
 
 ## Community

diff --git a/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-10-picoctf-gym-pairing/index.md b/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-10-picoctf-gym-pairing/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 ---
 title:  " PicoCTF Gym Pairing"
 date: 2024-09-10
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Security
+tags:
+  - cybersecurity
+  - ctf
+  - picoctf
+  - pair-programming
 ---
 
 We will be doing some pair practice hacking using [PicoCTF gym](https://picoctf.org/index.html#picogym). No need to create your own PicoCTF account unless you want too.  I'll be sharing my screen and we will work together to solve some PicoCTF examples.

diff --git a/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-17-privacy-does-it-matter-anymore/index.md b/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-17-privacy-does-it-matter-anymore/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 ---
 title:  " Privacy, does it matter anymore?"
 date: 2024-09-17
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Security
+tags:
+  - cybersecurity
+  - privacy
+  - data
 ---
 
 In this chat we will discuss privacy and if people think it matters anymore. I figure by now all my personal information is already out there (e.g. credit card, SIN, names, etc) that it doesn't matter anymore but I'm likely mistaken.

diff --git a/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-24-live-from-bsides-maybe/index.md b/docs/posts/2024/09/2024-09-24-live-from-bsides-maybe/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title:  " Live from BSides (maybe?)"
 date: 2024-09-18
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Security
+tags:
+  - cybersecurity
+  - conferences
 ---
 
 The initial topic is security in general. I'll be hosting live from BSides and hopefully there won't be an technical details. Looking forward to chatting about what I've learned at BSides and any security topics we haven't touched on during this month.

diff --git a/...-10-01-the-pumpkin-spice-latte-of-software-development-trends-and-fads/index.md b/...-10-01-the-pumpkin-spice-latte-of-software-development-trends-and-fads/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title:  " The Pumpkin Spice Latte of Software Development: Trends and Fads"
 date: 2024-10-01
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Culture
+tags:
+  - trends
+  - industry
 
 ---
 

diff --git a/...24/10/2024-10-08-harvest-time-reaping-the-benefits-of-past-investments/index.md b/...24/10/2024-10-08-harvest-time-reaping-the-benefits-of-past-investments/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 ---
 title:  " Harvest Time: Reaping the Benefits of Past Investments"
 date: 2024-10-08
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Career
+tags:
+  - reflection
+  - career
+  - growth
 ---
 
 What seeds have you planted in the past that you are now harvesting?  For example, any skills you spent the time mastering that are now paying off?  Any other past investments that you are now reaping the benefits of? 

diff --git a/...s/2024/10/2024-10-15-giving-thanks-celebrating-successes-and-gratitude/index.md b/...s/2024/10/2024-10-15-giving-thanks-celebrating-successes-and-gratitude/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title:  " Giving Thanks: Celebrating Successes and Gratitude"
 date: 2024-10-15
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Culture
+tags:
+  - reflection
+  - gratitude
 coverImage: "2022-10-15_featured_image.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/...4/10/2024-10-22-winterizing-your-codebase-preparing-for-stormy-weather/index.md b/...4/10/2024-10-22-winterizing-your-codebase-preparing-for-stormy-weather/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 ---
 title:  " Winterizing Your Codebase: Preparing for Stormy Weather"
 date: 2024-10-22
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Technical
+tags:
+  - coding-practices
+  - resilience
+  - code-quality
 coverImage: "Winterizing-Your-Codebase-Preparing-for-Stormy-Weather.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/...10/2024-10-29-unmasking-code-identifying-and-understanding-code-smells/index.md b/...10/2024-10-29-unmasking-code-identifying-and-understanding-code-smells/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title:  " Unmasking Code - Identifying and Understanding Code Smells"
 date: 2024-10-29
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Technical
+tags:
+  - coding-practices
+  - code-quality
 coverImage: "2024-10-28_Unmasking_Code-Identifying_and_Understanding_Code-Smells.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/...s/2024/11/2024-11-05-marketing-building-your-personal-or-company-brand/index.md b/...s/2024/11/2024-11-05-marketing-building-your-personal-or-company-brand/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,12 @@
 ---
 title:  " Marketing - Building your personal or company brand"
 date: 2024-11-05
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Business
+tags:
+  - marketing
+  - branding
+  - career
 coverImage: "2024-11-05-Marketing-Building-your-personal-or-company-brand.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/...24-11-12-accounting-taxes-payroll-and-other-boring-but-necessary-tasks/index.md b/...24-11-12-accounting-taxes-payroll-and-other-boring-but-necessary-tasks/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title:  " Accounting - Taxes, payroll, and other boring but necessary tasks"
 date: 2024-11-12
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Business
+tags:
+  - finance
+  - administration
 coverImage: "2024-11-12-Accounting.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/...osts/2024/11/2024-11-19-profit-increasing-income-and-reducing-expenses/index.md b/...osts/2024/11/2024-11-19-profit-increasing-income-and-reducing-expenses/index.md
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 ---
 title:  " - Profit: Increasing income and reducing expenses"
 date: 2024-11-18
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "business"
-  - "event"
-  - "profit"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Business
+tags:
+  - finance
+  - career
+  - entrepreneurship
 coverImage: "2024-11-19-Profit-Featured-Image.webp"
 ---
 

diff --git a/docs/posts/2024/11/in-real-life-event-nov-26th-2024/index.md b/docs/posts/2024/11/in-real-life-event-nov-26th-2024/index.md
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
 ---
 title: "In-Real-Life Event (Nov 26th, 2024)"
 date: 2024-11-24
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "event"
-  - "irl"
+categories:
+  - Community
+tags:
+  - irl
+  - meetup
 ---
 
 Do you like chatting about software development with other local developers? Then you are in luck as the Weekly Dev Chat In-Real-Life (WDC IRL) is on Nov 26th (Tue) at 7pm at the Strathcona Library just off Whyte Ave. It's like the virtual version of WDC but in 3D!  

diff --git a/docs/posts/2024/12/2024-12-03-chat-cancelled/index.md b/docs/posts/2024/12/2024-12-03-chat-cancelled/index.md
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 ---
 title: "Dec 3rd, 2024 Chat Cancelled"
 date: 2024-12-02
-categories: 
-  - "events"
-tags: 
-  - "cancelled"
-  - "event"
-  - "virtual"
+categories:
+  - Community
+tags:
+  - cancelled
 ---
 
 Just a heads up that there is **no chat** **on** **December 3rd** as I'm on vacation.  We will return to our regular schedule on December 10th.