[mod] How to Tag: the Guidelines

[debris_k]

Herein you'll find a run-down on how to tag your post, shortened down for those suffering from the tl;dr syndrome:

How to Tag: the Guidelines

For starters, you will need to know how to tag. If you're still unclear after reading the official lj FAQ article on tags and tagging, please Contact a Mod! before posting.

Once you know how to tag, here's some pointers for how to tag in this comm specifically:

• Choose all the tags that represent the basics of your request (if you have multiple searches in a single post, tag for all of them).


• Every post you make should have a category tag, and at least one of the character, pairing, genre or theme tags; this means your post should have at least two (2) tags, and one of them must be a category tag.


• Tag only for what is in your post! (E.g. don't add a pairing tag if a romantic relationship is not mentioned in your search; the mods will delete all seemingly badly used tags and tell you off for it.) Make sure that everything you're searching for in a story (or rec) is actually in your post before you tag.


• This comm uses undertagging. Here a story search for, let's say, "Uther & Gaius TRU WUV 4EVA sexxytiemz, or BBFs is kewl too!" should be tagged:
  - category: fanfic (recs), pairing: gaius/uther [or pairing: other if the pairing tag does not exist], theme: romance, theme: friendship
  and not:
  - category: fanfic (recs), character: gaius, character: uther, genre: gen, genre: slash, pairing: gaius/uther, theme: romance, theme: friendship, theme: porn, theme: first times, theme: fluff, theme: what-other-tag-can-I-also-stick-in-here-so-I-don't-miss-anything-I-like-to-read and so on. Those familiar with overtagging from similar comms will know what we're talking about.


• Less is more. Don't add tags that repeat a point another more specific tag is already making. If you're looking for a pairing, there's no need to list the characters and the genre, genre tags indicate your willingness to read a broad range of pairings or characters, an episode tag is not necessarily a future!fic, crossovers and fusions are not also AUs, and so on.


• If you're not sure what you're looking for or welcome a wide range of recs, while you're welcome to list examples in your post you should not tag for them! Tag for what you insist on in the recs, not what you're alright with. (E.g. use the genre tags instead of the character and pairing ones; undertagging at its best, trufax!)


• When in doubt, check previous similar searches for the way they're tagged. We swear tagging isn't any more difficult than copying what others have done with some appropriate changes.


• And last but not least, don't alter your tags unless you edit your post with some new info. E.g. if your story description was wrong or you discovered a new sub-theme you got lots of recs for, you should add an ETA (edited to add) to your post first, then the newly appropriate tags. If you don't edit your post, don't change your tags: they're fine the way they are.

Remember that you can only add existing tags to a post; you can't delete added tags or make up new tags. Only mods can do that. So be sure to Contact a Mod! when you need to.

If you have any questions or need more clarification regarding the tags and tagging, please ask us. We want you to!

For those who want more specific information, here's a more detailed tag and tag types run-down:

• !admin! - for official administrative modly posts only. Should not be used (unless you're a mod)!


• *found - for successfully fulfilled specific searches (must be added!); its use is optional for rec searches.


• *unanswered requests - a request is unanswered only if, after a week has passed (!!), it either hasn't received any suggestions, or the suggestions don't match it according to the poster. (If there are suggestions and no opinion on them by the poster, it's not unanswered.)

The rest of the tags are sorted into groups, and you should use one or more of the tags in the groups that correspond with your request.

If there's no matching [group]: tag then the [group]: other tag should be used (see example below).

• category tags: every post must have one; if no matching category tag exists for your request, use the category: other tag.


• genre tags: for requests which accept a broad range of characters or pairings, or are not character or pairing specific. Should not be used otherwise.


• character tags: for requests which mainly focus or one or more specific characters. Should not be used if the focus is a group of characters (e.g. Arthur, Leon, Gawain, Owain and the rest of the Knights of Camelot), or one or more pairings.


• actor tags: same as the character tags above.


• pairing tags: for requests which mainly focus on one or more specific pairings (or threesomes and so on). Should not be used if the focus is a group of pairings (e.g. Merlin/anyone) or one or more characters (e.g. Lancelot, Leon and the knights all find girlfriends).


• theme tags: for all requests which have a thematic focus. Should almost always be used; if there is no matching theme tag use the theme: other.

Here's some of the theme tags that might not be self-explanatory clarified (in a logical and not alphabetical order):

• theme: crossovers & fusions - crossovers are stories where the cast of one show or fandom meets the cast of another. Fusions are when you plop the characters of one show or fandom into the roles of the characters from another show or fandom, i.e. have Arthur be Mr. Darcy or Morgana the title character of 'Pretty Woman'.


• theme: AU - AUs i.e. Alternate Universe stories are set in a universe that the fic writer themselves created, different from show or any other canon.


• theme: AU (modern day) - stories that take place in a contemporary setting, aren't another kind of AU (e.g. vampires, werewolves, etc.) and don't already have their own separate tag (see below for other kinds of AUs).


• theme: AU (school/college/uni) - stories set inside or related to a schooling system that have characters which range from kindergarteners and preschool teachers to grad school students and professors at universities; can take place in any time period.


• theme: AU (grew up together) - stories in which Arthur and Merlin (and/or Morgana, Gwen, Lancelot, etc.) knew each other in childhood or were raised in the same household; they can take place in any time period, e.g. within canon time or in the 21st century, etc.


• theme: AU (other) - stories set in any AU setting different than the ones listed above (e.g. Igraine never died, Merlin is not human, Gwen is royalty, etc.)


• theme: episode tags & fix-its - stories related to events that happened in the episodes, either by expanding on show canon (ep tags) or altering some of the canon events (fix-its).


• theme: future!fic - stories that keep show canon as their past and have moved forward in time from there. (As long as some of the characters remember their past as is shown in canon, the stories can be set 3000 years in the future or 2 weeks after the events of the last episode.)


• theme: porn - stories which focus on sex, usually PWPs; they are not sexual act or -practice specific.


• theme: kink - stories which focus on a particular sexual act or sexual practice (e.g. topping, bottoming, fetishes, frottage, blowjobs, BDSM, etc.)

As above, if there's no theme tag that matches your post, use the theme: other tag.

If you'd like to see some other tags described or better clarified, feel free to ask in the comments either here or at the Contact a Mod! post.

Please remember that tagging is mandatory, and failure to follow the rules or modly instructions can result in your posting privileges being revoked.