help:tags (locked)

Tags are keywords used to describe posts, allowing you to easily search and explore posts based on their content. Consult the cheat sheet for a full guide on searching posts. See the tag groups for existing tags.

Tagging Guidelines

When you're tagging a post, use the following guidelines:

Replace spaces with underscores

For example, blonde hair becomes blonde_hair. Spaces are used to separate tags.

Character names

This is somewhat complicated. In general, use whatever order the source material uses. Failing this, use the ordering the character's nationality suggests. This typically means LastName FirstName order for Asian names, and FirstName LastName order for Western names.

But there are exceptions. Some characters use FirstName LastName order despite having Asian-sounding names. Subaru Nakajima is a good example of this (in all official promotional artwork FirstName LastName order is used). There is nothing we can do but shake our heads.

Some characters have a mixture of Asian and Western names. Refer to the source material for these cases. Failing that, the general rule is, use whatever ordering the character's last name suggests. Asuka Langley Souryuu has a Japanese last name, so it would become Souryuu Asuka Langley. Akira Ferrari has an Italian last name, so it becomes Akira Ferrari. But again, there are exceptions to this, like Setsuna F. Seiei.

Full Names

Using full names reduces the chances of collisions. The definitive resource for character names is Anime News Network (note that all their character names use FirstName LastName order).

"rule34.xxx" Tags vs "Danbooru"/"Gelbooru" Tags

There are many inconsistencies between the way that rule34.xxx (and adjacent) sites and Danbooru/Gelbooru (and adjacent) sites will tag their posts. For the most part, it is generally very preferential that users tag in the means that Danbooru/Gelbooru does, and to only use rule34.xxx tagging in instances where an artist or category might be more present on that board. For example, the artist tag for Nixmare3D on Gelbooru is nixmare, whereas the tag on rule34.xxx is nixmare_(artist). Due to Nixmare's higher presence on Rule34, it'd be preferable to use their system for ease of copying tags from their posts on rule34.xxx

Similarly, use this for artist OCs.

Tag name restrictions

• Must not be blank, i.e. must contain at least one character
• Cannot contain any asterisks ( * ) or commas ( , )
• Cannot begin with a tilde ( ~ ) or dash ( - )
• Cannot begin or end with an underscore ( _ ), or contain consecutive underscores
• Must contain only printable characters
• Cannot begin with a metatag and ":"
• Example: pool:test
• "new" and "search" are reserved and cannot be used
• *_(cosplay) tags must have an existing character tag
• E.g. 2b_(nier:automata)_(cosplay) must have a 2b_(nier:automata) tag

Ask

If you're not sure whether a tag is right or wrong, then ask for help in topic #319

Tag Categories

There are five types of tags: artist, character, copyright, general, and meta. Artist tags are red, characters are green, copyrights are purple, general tags are blue, and meta tags are orange.

Artist

Artist tags identify the creator of a post. This doesn't mean the creator of the original copyrighted artwork. For example, you wouldn't use the Kagami Hirotaka tag on a picture of Igawa Asagi drawn by ky..

Artist names should follow the guidelines in howto:romanize.

Character

Character tags identify the characters in the post. Remember that Danbooru uses LastName_FirstName ordering.

Copyright

Copyright tags identify the anime, manga, game, or novel that the post is associated with. More generally, copyright tags identify the source material that the characters are from.

Copyright tags should not be used for trademarks or brand names. A rule of thumb: if something doesn't have characters, it probably shouldn't be a copyright tag.
If a character is an OC and not part of a wide-ranging series, then please use the original tag.

Meta

Meta tags generally describe things beyond the content of the image itself. Examples include translated, copyright request, and highres.

General

General tags are used for everything else. General tags should objectively describe the contents of the post. Don't use subjective tags which can be biased by personal preferences (e.g. cute or sexy), and don't tag things based on outside knowledge rather than what one can see in the post.

Changing tag categories

You can change the category of the tag by prefixing it with artist:, character:, copyright:, meta:, or general: when tagging a post. For example, tagging a post with artist:sakura would change the sakura tag to an artist tag.

art:, char:, copy: are shortcuts for these prefixes.

You can also search the Tags listing and use the "edit" link next to the tag to change its category.