:TITLE:Tags & traits :INC:index :SUB:Introduction

VNDB has a system for tags and one for traits. Tags are used to categorize visual novels, while traits tell something about characters. This also makes them somewhat different in use. This page describes some general guidelines and tips on using tags and traits.

:SUB:Tags

Tags can be assigned to visual novel entries using a voting system. Every user can add a tag to a visual novel by going to the "modify tags" tab of a visual novel page.

:SUBSUB:Tag voting

Tags can be assigned a vote from -3 to 3. This vote should be interpreted as follows:

  1. -3: This tag really doesn't apply to the VN.
  2. -2 and -1: These not very often used, but can be useful to show that you disagree, but are not 100% sure.
  3. 0: It is possible to change your vote to '0' to remove it.
  4. 1: The tag does apply to the visual novel, but is not too apparent or only plays a minor role.
  5. 2: The tag certainly applies to the visual novel.
  6. 3: The tag applies and is very apparent or plays a major role.


While everyone is pretty much free to link any tag to any visual novel, please keep the following in mind while voting:

:SUBSUB:Tag creation guidelines

New tags can be requested by everyone, but they'll have to be accepted by a moderator before the tags will be browsable. Applying the following guidelines significantly increases the chances that your tag will be accepted and lowers the workload of the moderator team.

:SUB:Traits

Traits can be assigned to characters. Contrary to tags, traits can't be voted on. Instead, traits are part of the editing system, and modifying the traits for a certain character involves editing the character entry itself.

:SUBSUB:Assigning traits

Unlike tags, traits don't have any "levels": a trait either applies to the character or it does not. Here are some guidelines and tips when assigning traits to characters:

:SUBSUB:Trait creation

Anyone can request new traits to be added to the database. However, these need to be approved by a moderator before they can actually be assigned to a character.

Traits are categorized into "groups", the top-most trait in the tree defines in which group a trait is. Unlike tags, traits don't need to have a globally unique name, but they must be unique and self-describing within the same group. For example, there can be multiple traits with the name "Blue", but one is in the "Hair" group while the other is in the "Eyes" group. So make sure to keep the group in mind when naming a trait.

Read the descriptions of the various trait groups and meta traits to get a feel on how they are supposed to be used.