The IdeaStorm community has asked for a clarification of the idea categories on the site, so here it goes. And remember, the more specific you are with categorizing your idea the easier it is for the rest of the community to find your idea -- and vote on it! In most cases, no more than three categories should be used to tag an idea to the appropriate topic area. Also, Dell uses the categories to help product managers identify and listen to the customer feedback for their respective product lines.

Here are some examples of what might fall into each category: 

Accessories (Keyboards, etc.) -  electronics, peripherals, accessories (check out the Dell.com accessories page for more)

Advertising and Marketing - campaigns, marketing or promotional materials, events, branding

Broadband and Mobility - WiFi, Bluetooth, wireless, mobility solutions for computers

Dell - overall direction of the company, corporate culture, leadership

Dell Community - see www.dell.com/community for a list of Dell's community sites

Dell Web Site - dell.com appearance and design, usability

Desktops - Dell desktops in general (XPS, Inspiron, Precision Workstation, Vostro, Optiplex, etc.)

Desktops and Notebooks - Dell PCs in general

Dimension products - design and features for the Dimension product line

Environment - recycling, energy efficiency, alternative power sources, alternative materials

Education - Dell education customers, students, teachers, schools

Gaming - graphics, audio, games, performance

Healthcare - Dell healthcare customers, healthcare I/T, life sciences

IdeaStorm - design, functionality, features, and management improvements to the site

Inspiron products - design and features for the Inspiron product line

Latitude products - design and features for the Latitude product line

Linux - Linux operating systems, open source software

Monitors and Displays - televisions, monitors, graphics

New Product Ideas - products Dell does not currently offer or has not offered in the past

Notebooks - Dell notebooks in general (XPS, Inspiron, Vostro, Latitude, Precision Mobile, etc.)

Notebook Power - system performance and notebook batteries

Operating Systems - OS preferences, multi-boot, dual-boot

Precision Workstations - design and features for the Precision product line

Printers and Ink - printers, ink, toner, imaging solutions

Sales Strategies - pricing, purchase options, market segmentation

Servers and Storage - virtualization, servers, storage

Service and Support - customer service and tech support

Software -software choices

Small Business -small business products (Vostro), services, and solutions

Simplify IT - reducing IT complexity, enterprise IT innovation

XPS products - design and features for the XPS product line

Vostro products - design and features for the Vostro product line

DELETE REQUESTS - The purpose of this category is to allow Idea Authors to put their post up for removal if they no longer want it to be on IdeaStorm. Reasons to propose your post be removed might be: it has a high negative point total, it was posted as a joke, or it was a message to the moderator that has been answered. To propose your post be removed, the Idea Author can click on Edit Idea and then select the DELETE REQUESTS category within the list of categories. Moderators check the category several times a day and will review the post. Ultimately the decision to remove a post is up to the moderators. If a moderator decides that a post in DELETE REQUESTS is appropriate for removal, the moderator will confirm with the Idea Author via a comment in the Idea thread, before removing it.

Update: To request that an idea of yours be deleted, just click the Report Abuse link on the idea and state in the report field "delete idea." Moderators check the reported abuses several times a day and will review the post. Ultimately the decision to remove a post is up to the moderators. If a moderator decides that a post is appropriate for removal, the moderator will confirm with the Idea Author via an email.

Tell us what other category tagging guidelines you have that can help the community categorize ideas more effectively. Also, let us know what additional categories you would like to see on IdeaStorm or changes to how the current categories are defined.