Hey all~
This is a guide for proper tagging. Beware, it's going to be long and very detailed.
Some of you might remember that long time ago, MT used to have categories. However, this wasn't a very effective
method of categorization, so a tagging system was introduced to replace these categories and serve as a more effective
search engine.
Since the main purpose of the tag system is to serve as a search engine, it is important to keep in mind that you should
only tag what you see. For instance, let's say a character is portrayed with
their eyes closed, then you should not tag the eye colour. This especially
applies to monochrome submissions. If you see monochrome submissions with any colour tag included, please report it by
posting in the Tag Administration Thread
The "tag only what you see" guideline also applies to submissions drawn by a different mangaka or studio than
the official artist for that series. Submissions should not list two mangaka tags, so when this happens, please use the
report function.
Why proper tagging is important
Don't think you're making more work for us, Taggers, by adding the correct tags. Don't get us wrong, we
always feel delighted when you do, but we enjoy it mainly because most of us have a certain degree of OCD lol.
With proper tagging, you're actually helping the community.
Having the right tags help wallers to find their resources or collectors to look for their favourite characters!
There are some tags that are crucial to be set so MT's filters can properly work: ecchi & the idols tags.
Remember to separate tags with a comma (,) and not a period (.) when tagging
submissions!
But overall, when you're not sure about what tag should be added, please refrain from adding the tag. Better safe
than sorry :3
What if you want exclude a certain character or attribute? Just enter whatever you’re looking for and enter - (insert tag you want to exclude here) An example: Saber, -Rin Tosaka. The results will filter out all scans tagged with the Rin Tosaka tag.
Tag types
Tags are, by default, created as themes. If you create a tag that is not a theme, please post these tags in the Tag Administration Thread so our taggers can take care of it.
There are many different types of tags, so let’s see a brief explanation of them:
a) Mangaka: A mangaka is the artist. Sometimes, a mangaka can be confused with the writer of the series, but at MT we only consider the artist and not the writer, so please don’t create tags for the writer of a series.
b) Studio: A company in charge of the animation or production of a series. ANN is a great place to look for them. Games and Visual Novels should be listed under their developer and not under their publisher.
c) Series: Serialized animations, manga, or manwha. MT does not distinguish between anime, manga, or light novel-- they are all set as series.
d) Games: Minitokyo only allows games that have been released in Japan.
e) Visual Novel: An interactive game featuring mostly static graphics. Sometimes it features videos. See VNDB for more information.
f) Artbook: An artbook is a compilation of pictures under a mangaka, series, or even a topic.
g) Character: Self-explanatory.
h) J-pop Idol: A Japanese celebrity. They may be a singer, model, voice actor, or actor/actress.
i) K-pop Idol: Seeing how many K-pop artists are now crossing over and releasing Japanese language tracks of their songs/albums, MT decided to include a tag type for these idols. Please note that MT allows only idols that have debuted in Japan, meaning, released an album, single under a Japanese company.
j) Source: Media where the image is taken from.
k) Theme: Default tag type. Used for attributes like hair colour, gender, etc.
l) Meta: A tag type used for concepts or indexing purposes. Can't be added.
Note that there are more tag types but they are a combination of the tags listed above (i.e Series, Games tag type).
Tag Hierarchy
For organization purposes, tags are put under other tags to let users know where the tag belongs. It can also be used to
set attributes for characters.
Series get parented under their mangaka and/or studios.
Characters get parented under their series and attributes.
Artbooks get parented under their series or mangakas.
Please note that appending Apparel is not recommended, as clothing may vary from submission to submission. This also includes inconstant hair or eye colour.
Aliases
Aliases are meant for alternative names or mispellings.
Mispelled names or inversed orders names (MT uses FirstName LastName for mangaka and characters' name) are normally
hidden from Regular Members so in order to check if the alias has already been set, please search using the alias you
want to add.
Alternative names are shown to regular members.
Merging
Merging refers to the action of combining tags. This action can be used to deal with mispellings, aliases, etc. That
being said, tags don't get deleted; they normally get merged with the correct term.
You may have heard the staff talking about "nulling tags". Tags merged with the Null tag can't be added.
They're normally gibberish or very random tags that won't work for searching purposes. Staff often refers to
the Null tag as the MT Tag Dumpster.
Removing tags
Anyone can add or create tags. But only staff members and the uploaders can remove tags from submissions. If you notice
a misplaced tag please report the submission in question requesting the wrong tags to be removed or post it at the Tag
Administration Thread.
Primary Tags
The primary tag depicts the main subject of a submission. Normally, the primary tag should be the name of the series.
The same rule goes for games and visual novels.
Character tags should NOT be set as primary tags.
When a submission belonging to a particular series is drawn by a different mangaka, the mangaka tag should be the
primary tag.
The Unidentified tag should be used only in cases where there is no information on the submission, if the artbook is tagged, then you should not add the unidentified tag.
Bad Tagging
Of course, seeing how anyone can create tags, the tagging system is vulnerable to abuse. While these cases are extreme,
bad tagging is as serious as spamming or submitting ripped artwork. Any member who does not follow the guidelines will
get a warning. Bad tagging may lead to a restriction of tagging privileges.
Posting in the tag admin thread
This is one of the most important things of this thread. There's a certain way to request tags to be processed at
MT and you're expected to follow the guidelines so we can process your post correctly. We're trusting you to
provide accurate information on characters, studios, series, etc, because there's no way that we, staff, know
everything about anime.
Please note that keeping MT organized involves the whole community, so we are hoping to keep working with you all!
If you have any doubts, please use this thread, it might be helpful for other members!
<3~
- The Tagging Team.
