Prior to switching to Dawn, I used to be able to sort my blog posts by tags, so my customers could quickly read the topics they were interested in. With Dawn, it seems like that option is now taken away. Boooooo! 
The tags are still there, and I can even add metafields to blogs, but I can’t seem to find an option to filter/sort blog posts on the storefront side. Is anyone else having this issue? Where did this functionality go?
I’m a solo artisan on a shoestring budget, so I’m not looking for an app with more fees to pay every month. I don’t have the budget for that. Dawn is supposed to be an improvement, and it’s frustrating when functionality that was there in older themes is hidden or removed. 
Anyone else have this issue, and were you able to solve it without having to use apps?
Same issue (using ‘Ride’ theme though). Seems there is only the paid app’s approach, but I’d love to hear if there is a better solution. As you say, all the back-end functionality is right there!
following 
I am experiencing the same problem.
Ive tried two apps (BLog filter and Mega Menu) but they are not working well.
I got the suggestion to add blogs to my blog and sort the blog posts under each blog. But the problem is that i will get a lot of redirect errors. Also a blog post can only be in one BLOG - so it will be difficult to display all blog posts on the landing page, for example.
Have anyone found a solution to this or is there a good app for this?
Same problem over here. The tags option doesn’t work for any free theme anymore.
The reason none of the developers are responding to these posts. Can also mean that there are some bigger players want to push the payed tags apps because there is no other choice. Sad story.
Hope someone has a unpayed solution.
I found a simple workaround a year or so back that worked for me.
I created six categories and used them as tags for my blog posts (you could have more or less, but it depends on room). Then, I added a custom blog header with clickable buttons that link will create a button for each tag.
Then I add this code to main-blog.liquid (I put it line 18 under {%- endstyle -%}
{% if blog.tags.size > 0 %}
{% for tag in blog.all_tags %}
{{ tag }}
{% endfor %}
{% endif %}
This way, every new blog post is automatically included in the correct category as long as at least one relevant tag is added. It’s not a perfect solution, but it made navigation much easier for readers.