One question solved...
Aha! Modules!
So, I installed the several FreeTags modules in the Admin -> Modules link on the left side, while logged in as admin. I assume the one entitled simple "Freetag" is the one that allows tagging.
Now that it's installed, when I browse (as admin at least; need to test as "registered," but I assume admin inherits the privilege from registered as it's currently configured), it shows me a "Folksonomy" box in the right sidebar, where I told it to put the box. It then allows me to remove or add tags to the current blog or article I'm looking at.
However, when I go over to Directory, there does NOT appear to be an option for tagging links.
On the one hand, it makes sense because as a LIST of links, there's no way to single out one in particular to tag.
However, on the other hand, I might expect the solution to be that an expandable / collapsible "tags" widget would appear in each link box allowing a user with the "tagging" permission set to add tags to that link. (Or those with admin permissions would b able to add or delete tags.)
Getting closer. At least folksonomy is now working for blogs and articles. One step closer to the goal.
Speaking of folksonomy, I'm guessing nobody (average users anyway) knows what "folksonomy" is except maybe programmers and the people that designed it. Is there any way to rename the "folksonomy" box to simply say "Custom tags" or "tagging" (as the default option would be even better)? That would be more user-friendly. I'm not sure how one would go about this though.
Also, it seems like there are different sets of tags? IE, user tags versus those emplaced by the author of the particular entry? The user tags don't seem to show up with the tags the author set (IE, it's not a complete list of everything the article has been tagged by EVERYone). The user tags show up in the top of the Folksonomy box, whereas the author's tags show up adjacent to the particular article / entry elsewhere on the screen. Is it supposed to work this way? Seems counter-intuitive. Inconsistent default placement. IS there a way to standardize this better for more consistency, so a user doesn't have to look in 2-3 places to see all tags attached to an article? Or can users not see each other's tags, only their own and whatever the author has officially canonized by adding to the article themself?
Fun poking around in all this and learning how things operate.
Regards,
~Michael