Tags are placed under different types on eSix. There are currently seven types of tags as ordered on all posts: artist, character, copyright, species, general, meta, and lore. There is also an eighth type, called invalid, for tags that should not be used.

To change a tag type, go to the tag index, search for the tag you want to change, click "edit" on the tag's row in the list, and select the type under the "Category" drop-down menu. Additionally, you can also do so from the wiki by going to the tag's wiki page (whether or not it actually exists) and clicking "Edit Tag Type" on the submenu bar at the top of the page. (Note that creating or editing a wiki page itself does not affect the tag's typing whatsoever.) If you're adding a tag that never existed before on e621, or if you have a Privileged or higher account, prefix it with the tag type's name followed by a colon when tagging (e.g., artist:john123). Do not space the prefix from the tag (e.g. artist:_john123) or the colon from either the type name (e.g. artist_:john123 will add a tag spelled as such instead of adding john123 as an artist tag). Note that only admins can change the types of lore tags, meta tags, and tags with more than 100 posts.

General

This is the default type of tag, hence why it's mentioned first. If you do not specify the type of tag you want a tag to be when you create it, this is what it will become. General tags are for things that do not fall under other categories (e.g., female, chair, and sitting).

Artist

Artist tags identify the tag as the artist, like max_blackrabbit or gideon. This doesn't mean the artist of the original copyrighted artwork (for example, you wouldn't use the ken_sugimori tag on a picture of Pikachu drawn by Mellis).

Copyright

A copyright tag is for the program or series that a copyrighted character or some other element (such as objects) was first featured in, like Renamon in Digimon or Pikachu and Poké Balls in Pokémon. It can also be used for the company that owns a work, media franchise, or character, like Disney owns the copyright to Mickey Mouse and Nintendo owns the Mario Bros series.

Character

A character tag is a tag defining the name of a character, like pinkie_pie_(mlp) or fox_mccloud.

Species

A species tag describes the species of a character or being in the picture like domestic_cat, feline or domestic_dog, canine.

Meta

Meta (as in metadata) was introduced as one of two new tag types in March 2020. This type is for the technical side of the post's file, the post itself, or things relating to e6's own handling of a post.

Note that there are also four meta tags that are typed as artist tags instead:

• epilepsy_warning for posts containing flashing lights that could trigger epileptic seizures.
• jumpscare_warning for animated and Flash posts containing shocking imagery and/or sounds that can catch a viewer off-guard.
• audio_warning for loud, deafening audio in Flash and WebM posts
• unknown_artist_signature for posts in which the artist isn't known but a signature is on it.
• third-party edit for posts edited by someone other than the original artist(s).

The first three are deliberately typed as such because the bright orange color warns users about the potential dangers of those posts. The fourth is to encourage members to try to identify artists by their signatures (especially since unknown_artist is already an artist tag anyway). The fifth is because the editor may have edited enough of the post that it can be seen as derivative art, although it also helps us keep track of edits that would violate the conditions of artists who don't allow edits of their works (see conditional_dnp).

Lore

Lore was the other new tag type introduced in March 2020. This is for providing and correcting specific outside information (not covered by copyright or character) when tag what you see otherwise cannot provide such. These tags are all suffixed _(lore), and only admins can introduce new lore tags. Read more at e621:lore tags.

Invalid

The invalid type, which was technically also introduced alongside Meta and Lore in March 2020, is for tags that are not allowed on any posts, such as things that are too common and unspecific to individually tag (e.g. face, neck, eyes) or common tagging errors (e.g. vaginal_penetrationfemale, an unintended combination of vaginal_penetration and female). These kinds of tags should be either fixed to add the proper intended tags (e.g. vaginal_penetrationfemale should be split into the valid tags vaginal_penetration and female) or modified to be more specific (e.g. neck to long neck, eyes to blue_eyes). If doing so is not necessary (e.g. blue_eyes is already tagged along with eyes), then the invalid tag should be removed outright. Either way, invalid tags will be the first type you see on the sidebar, even above artists, as a reminder that those tags should not be there.

Previously, tags were invalidated by being aliased to either invalid_tag or invalid_color. While eSix will continue using these tags for the foreseeable future, some invalidated tags had their original aliases removed and were retyped to the invalid type to encourage better tagging over a quick "remove the invalid tag and forget it" approach.

See also

• e621:tagging checklist
• e621:tags