Tagging Basics
To tag an existing post, edit the text box with the tags in it, located below the image/video, near the uploader's name.
When tagging please use underscores e.g. "Ace_Combat" or "Albert_Einstein" instead of spaces to separate words within tags. This is important because tags themselves are separated by spaces, not commas or anything else.
We tag by series (e.g. meme, Super_Mario_Bros, or My_Little_Pony), character (e.g. Barack_Obama, Princess_Peach, or Cinderella), and creator (ex. -8, fluffy, or Raylude).
Sometimes you won't know the artist, if you found it secondhand. This is okay, but use "tagme" if you think someone else is likely to know.
In contrast, if there's an artist or source clearly indicated in the work and you don't bother to include it, you are obviously being lazy and may be punished if it's obviously a pattern. And if you don't tag series or character, we're going to wonder why you thought it belonged here.
You can also use the special tag "tagme" if you don't know all the right tags but suspect someone else will (but not if you're just lazy). Definitely leave "tagme" there if series or character tags are missing, or if there's obviously an artist mark someone might identify. Do not upload AI-generated material without completely tagging it.
Other than that, there's not much else to tag. Do not tag fetishes, sexual acts, relationship pairings ("ships"), or meta information like what year the picture was made or what art software was used. In short, DO NOT TAG CONTENT. The only exceptions so far are:
Do not invent new tags that no other post has (except for character, series, or artist tags we previously had zero posts from) without consulting the admins (they'll probably say no). Further note that making up alternate names for existing characters is not included in "character tags we previously had zero posts from". They had posts with the real tag, just not your bullshit tag.
The source field on posts is meant to link back to where the art can be found on the artist's other pages, or at least where the uploader found it. Ideally it links to an exact page, not just a profile or gallery.
Do not use a redirect, especially not one full of ads.
Tag vandalism will not be tolerated. Do not remove valid tags from a post for any reason without explicit staff permission. Yes, this applies even if you expect or want the post to be removed. We punish this harshly and repeat offenses will result in a permanent ban.
Do not remove valid sources either.
Be aware that while ordinary punctuation tends to be OK, special characters such as ¢ or ™ may break tags.
If there is a dispute about what to tag something, any reasonable tag is better than no tag, since all tags can be mass-edited or removed by staff after the fact if there is a dispute. Make a report instead of getting into an edit war with someone.
Identifying Characters
If you are considering uploading something, or found an untagged post, but aren't sure who the characters are or whether they're OCs: You may wish to try a "reverse image search" tool, such as SauceNao, IQDB, TinEye, or even Google Lens. Even if they point back to a booru or repost site, that page may have clues on it. Of course this may also be useful to find sources for pics.
You may wish to try this browser extension to make the process faster.
If you can't find a source, or the source does not identify characters, you could try Anime Characters Database. As the name implies, they are mostly focused on characters from anime, though they have some characters from manga and non-Japanese works.
Transliterated, Translated, and Localized Names
If a character or series has different names in different languages or localizations, use the English language names. If for some reason it's different in various English-speaking countries, use the original names if the work was originally in English; otherwise use the American names. If there is no English name, use the most accepted translation or a direct transliteration, until an English name is available.
When transliterating Japanese, the traditional Hepburn system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged in the usual English name order; for example, a character with the given name Naruto and family name Uzumaki would be tagged Naruto_Uzumaki.
When transliterating Chinese, the Hanyu Pinyin system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged with the surname first, per usual Western convention; for example, a character with the given name Mulan and family name Fa would be tagged Fa_Mulan.
When transliterating Korean, the RRK system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged with the surname first, per usual Western convention. Note that some Koreans or their families prefer a different Romanization scheme or name order, which should be followed if known.
In some cases, site staff may make a judgment call and override the above policies. The existence of a tag redirect/alias is evidence this has happened.
Further Notes on Tagging
For many Pixiv artists, there is a user script for Tampermonkey/Violentmonkey that will link to their Danbooru page, or you can just put their Pixiv homepage's address in the URL box here to get a common tag. You may also see if their profile contains a link to a site that requires alphanumeric domain names or usernames, such as Fanbox or Twitter.
Do not tag your own name on posts unless you are the artist, editor, colorist, photographer, cosplayer, or otherwise involved in the creation of the artwork. By "involved in the creation", we mean directly involved, not including uploading, commissioning, requesting, or suggesting.
Don't use "producer" tags. These include Nintendo, Capcom, Sega, SNK, Disney, Pixar, Warner_Brothers. An exception has been made for Marvel and DC. These are allowed because their "universe" is basically a series tag.
Don't use multiple tags for the same character. For instance, don't tag both Bonnie_Rockwaller and Bonnie. If a character has two official names, such as Bruce_Wayne and Batman, ask the admins to create an alias if there isn't one. That way you can search for either tag, but only one is actually displayed on pics. Same situation when an artist has more than one name.
Exception: If a character has a (canonical) special version with a different name, you can add the special tag if the special version is in the pic. In this case both names are tagged. For instance, Miss_Go is always Shego, and both tags are used in that case, but Shego is not always Miss_Go. This applies only to special versions that appear in canon and are named in canon. Fan-generated special versions (e.g. Futashy) are not tagged.
Fan and original characters (OCs) are not tagged, even if their creator has named them. Artworks containing no canon characters may not be uploaded on this site.
If there is no official name for an official character, it is OK to use an unofficial name for the tag, but please try to be consistent.
If a character only has a first name, don't make a compound tag in the form character_(series) or similar to differentiate that character from others with the same first name. You can accomplish the same thing by searching for "character series". The compound tag may even make it more difficult to find pics, since those with a compound tag won't show up in a search using the separate tags, and vice versa. It splits up the pics for the character into two different tags.
You can use a tag for a specific group if the group name appears in canon and has a fixed list of characters. For instance, Cutie_Mark_Crusaders, containing Sweetie_Belle, Apple_Bloom, Scootaloo (Babs Seed is not included at this time, given she only appears briefly). The entire group does not have to be present to add the tag. Just one member is sufficient.
If a character is only represented in an artwork as an inanimate, non-sentient object that isn't in any way involved in the sexual activity (such as someone grinding on it or masturbating to it), and it's not some weird case where someone was turned into a statue or something, don't tag it.
Don't bother making mass changes to tags. First, other users may not agree, resulting in tag wars on a large number of pics. Second, it's a waste of time. The moderators have a tool that can change particular tags throughout the site with one command, taking a couple of minutes instead of several hours. If you really think the change should be made, file a post report or send an email to staff@paheal.net and make your case. Do not take it upon yourself to do it.
To tag an existing post, edit the text box with the tags in it, located below the image/video, near the uploader's name.
When tagging please use underscores e.g. "Ace_Combat" or "Albert_Einstein" instead of spaces to separate words within tags. This is important because tags themselves are separated by spaces, not commas or anything else.
We tag by series (e.g. meme, Super_Mario_Bros, or My_Little_Pony), character (e.g. Barack_Obama, Princess_Peach, or Cinderella), and creator (ex. -8, fluffy, or Raylude).
Sometimes you won't know the artist, if you found it secondhand. This is okay, but use "tagme" if you think someone else is likely to know.
In contrast, if there's an artist or source clearly indicated in the work and you don't bother to include it, you are obviously being lazy and may be punished if it's obviously a pattern. And if you don't tag series or character, we're going to wonder why you thought it belonged here.
You can also use the special tag "tagme" if you don't know all the right tags but suspect someone else will (but not if you're just lazy). Definitely leave "tagme" there if series or character tags are missing, or if there's obviously an artist mark someone might identify. Do not upload AI-generated material without completely tagging it.
Other than that, there's not much else to tag. Do not tag fetishes, sexual acts, relationship pairings ("ships"), or meta information like what year the picture was made or what art software was used. In short, DO NOT TAG CONTENT. The only exceptions so far are:
- Rule_63 is a rule that states that a character has been drawn as the opposite sex. Hermaphrodites (including futanari/dickgirls) and transvestites don't qualify.
- edit and screenshot_edit
- cosplay
- fakes
- comic (especially important for non-porn pages of porn comics, which we try to keep)
- Source_Filmmaker
- Mine-imator
- stereogram
- virtual_reality
- animated
- webm and mp4
- sound
- AI-generated and names of AI engines (though one could consider these to be artist tags)
Do not invent new tags that no other post has (except for character, series, or artist tags we previously had zero posts from) without consulting the admins (they'll probably say no). Further note that making up alternate names for existing characters is not included in "character tags we previously had zero posts from". They had posts with the real tag, just not your bullshit tag.
The source field on posts is meant to link back to where the art can be found on the artist's other pages, or at least where the uploader found it. Ideally it links to an exact page, not just a profile or gallery.
Do not use a redirect, especially not one full of ads.
Tag vandalism will not be tolerated. Do not remove valid tags from a post for any reason without explicit staff permission. Yes, this applies even if you expect or want the post to be removed. We punish this harshly and repeat offenses will result in a permanent ban.
Do not remove valid sources either.
Be aware that while ordinary punctuation tends to be OK, special characters such as ¢ or ™ may break tags.
If there is a dispute about what to tag something, any reasonable tag is better than no tag, since all tags can be mass-edited or removed by staff after the fact if there is a dispute. Make a report instead of getting into an edit war with someone.
Identifying Characters
If you are considering uploading something, or found an untagged post, but aren't sure who the characters are or whether they're OCs: You may wish to try a "reverse image search" tool, such as SauceNao, IQDB, TinEye, or even Google Lens. Even if they point back to a booru or repost site, that page may have clues on it. Of course this may also be useful to find sources for pics.
You may wish to try this browser extension to make the process faster.
If you can't find a source, or the source does not identify characters, you could try Anime Characters Database. As the name implies, they are mostly focused on characters from anime, though they have some characters from manga and non-Japanese works.
Transliterated, Translated, and Localized Names
If a character or series has different names in different languages or localizations, use the English language names. If for some reason it's different in various English-speaking countries, use the original names if the work was originally in English; otherwise use the American names. If there is no English name, use the most accepted translation or a direct transliteration, until an English name is available.
When transliterating Japanese, the traditional Hepburn system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged in the usual English name order; for example, a character with the given name Naruto and family name Uzumaki would be tagged Naruto_Uzumaki.
When transliterating Chinese, the Hanyu Pinyin system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged with the surname first, per usual Western convention; for example, a character with the given name Mulan and family name Fa would be tagged Fa_Mulan.
When transliterating Korean, the RRK system is preferred. Characters with both a personal name and surname should be tagged with the surname first, per usual Western convention. Note that some Koreans or their families prefer a different Romanization scheme or name order, which should be followed if known.
In some cases, site staff may make a judgment call and override the above policies. The existence of a tag redirect/alias is evidence this has happened.
Further Notes on Tagging
For many Pixiv artists, there is a user script for Tampermonkey/Violentmonkey that will link to their Danbooru page, or you can just put their Pixiv homepage's address in the URL box here to get a common tag. You may also see if their profile contains a link to a site that requires alphanumeric domain names or usernames, such as Fanbox or Twitter.
Do not tag your own name on posts unless you are the artist, editor, colorist, photographer, cosplayer, or otherwise involved in the creation of the artwork. By "involved in the creation", we mean directly involved, not including uploading, commissioning, requesting, or suggesting.
Don't use "producer" tags. These include Nintendo, Capcom, Sega, SNK, Disney, Pixar, Warner_Brothers. An exception has been made for Marvel and DC. These are allowed because their "universe" is basically a series tag.
Don't use multiple tags for the same character. For instance, don't tag both Bonnie_Rockwaller and Bonnie. If a character has two official names, such as Bruce_Wayne and Batman, ask the admins to create an alias if there isn't one. That way you can search for either tag, but only one is actually displayed on pics. Same situation when an artist has more than one name.
Exception: If a character has a (canonical) special version with a different name, you can add the special tag if the special version is in the pic. In this case both names are tagged. For instance, Miss_Go is always Shego, and both tags are used in that case, but Shego is not always Miss_Go. This applies only to special versions that appear in canon and are named in canon. Fan-generated special versions (e.g. Futashy) are not tagged.
Fan and original characters (OCs) are not tagged, even if their creator has named them. Artworks containing no canon characters may not be uploaded on this site.
If there is no official name for an official character, it is OK to use an unofficial name for the tag, but please try to be consistent.
If a character only has a first name, don't make a compound tag in the form character_(series) or similar to differentiate that character from others with the same first name. You can accomplish the same thing by searching for "character series". The compound tag may even make it more difficult to find pics, since those with a compound tag won't show up in a search using the separate tags, and vice versa. It splits up the pics for the character into two different tags.
You can use a tag for a specific group if the group name appears in canon and has a fixed list of characters. For instance, Cutie_Mark_Crusaders, containing Sweetie_Belle, Apple_Bloom, Scootaloo (Babs Seed is not included at this time, given she only appears briefly). The entire group does not have to be present to add the tag. Just one member is sufficient.
If a character is only represented in an artwork as an inanimate, non-sentient object that isn't in any way involved in the sexual activity (such as someone grinding on it or masturbating to it), and it's not some weird case where someone was turned into a statue or something, don't tag it.
Don't bother making mass changes to tags. First, other users may not agree, resulting in tag wars on a large number of pics. Second, it's a waste of time. The moderators have a tool that can change particular tags throughout the site with one command, taking a couple of minutes instead of several hours. If you really think the change should be made, file a post report or send an email to staff@paheal.net and make your case. Do not take it upon yourself to do it.