How can I control in org-mode the distance of tags from the text they apply to?

Question

I really dislike the way org-mode places tags far from the text they refer to. It makes it hard to see which tag refers to which line. Is there some way to shorten that distance?

Answer 1

Tags are aligned to org-tags-column, which you can set in Customize:

M-x customize-apropos org-tags

[Hide] Org Tags Column: [-77]
    State : [STANDARD].
   The column to which tags should be indented in a headline. Hide
   If this number is positive, it specifies the column.  If it is negative,
   it means that the tags should be flushright to that column.  For example,
   -80 works well for a normal 80 character screen.
   When 0, place tags directly after headline text, with only one space in
   between.
Groups: Org Tags