Site Rules

#2 Art Metadata

Ponybooru is powered by open source software known as Philomena. Its defining features are its flexible tagging system to make searching for artwork, artists, and finding sources user friendly while simultaneously allowing users to filter out content they do not wish to see. Below are guidelines and rules to follow when uploading images or making meta data changes. Additional guidelines for tagging can be found here.

TLDR: Tag what's on the image. Forgetting minor tags is no big issue, but you need to tag things people would want to filter.

• Ratings: All images must have one (1) or more rating tags . Note that Safe is overridden by any other.
• Under tagging: If an image is not adequately tagged or sourced, users are welcome to assist in adding additional tags.
  • If a user is consistently under tagging important/mandatory tags, please report them.
• Tagging Conflict: If tagging conflicts occur between users who cannot agree on proper tags, report the image. Mods will make a final judgement call.
• Artist tag: Each image should have an artist tag. Use "Artist:name" when at all possible; if no artist is known, use "artist needed".
• Tagging accuracy: Tags should reflect the facts of an image. Characters, their relationships, events happening, and the image’s composition is a good start. When these are in dispute (such as whether an image is shipping), the artist’s intent takes precedence.
• Filters: To help you avoid seeing images you may not wish to see, we have a tag filtering system, which allows for hiding of images that contain specific tags.
• Source links: Images originally posted elsewhere should have that URL for it's source. Art with the intent to be hosted originally or exclusively to Ponybooru should utilize the "Ponybooru Exclusive" tag.
  • In a case where a source is unknown use "source needed"
  • Links directing to raw images are not a good source; links to tweets, posts, or profiles containing the image are preferred. If you do not have a better source, use what you have and include the "useless source url" tag.
• Useful tags: Tags should be useful to the site overall. Tags should be created with searching and filtering in mind. 
  • Do not create tags for personal organization, or with very vague or inconsistent definitions.
• Vandalism: Tag and source vandalism will not be tolerated.
• Very important tags: These are tags that absolutely always need to be present when they're appropriate.
  
  • Seizure warning: Images that have rapidly-flashing animation must be tagged with "seizure warning".
  • Lolicon, Shotacon and other types of underage content: If in doubt about the nature of an image being lolicon, err on the side of caution and tag it anyway.
• Important tags: These are tags intended to help users avoid inflammatory content.
  
  • Furry: Images that are furry related MUST be tagged appropriately so they can be filtered automatically by default. This is a pony site.
    
    • Furry refers primarily to anthropomorphic animal OC's that have little relation to My Little Pony and little resemblance to creatures found within it.
    • Furry content with no relation to My Little Pony whatsoever falls under Rule #3 and will be deleted.
  • Political content, such as (including but not limited to) Communism, Nazism, or imagery related to them is to be tagged appropriately.
• Tag negligence: Consistent failure to tag properly may result with your account being restricted from uploading and/or tagging.

#3 Unrelated content

This site is intended for images regarding the My Little Pony and its surrounding communities.

• Do not upload images without a clear relation to MLP (all generations, not just FiM), or its community.
• An image isn’t pony-related just because something pony is in it; for instance, exploitable meme templates with unrelated content or pony merchandise in real-life pornography.
• Artworks containing MLP as a secondary focus are allowed, barring the MLP relation in question is unique to the composition. Example: This images primary focus is a furry OC, however; the art of the fluttershy plush is an intentional and unique composition. Per our policy this image is mlp related but must be tagged as furry.
• Certain sources, while not strictly MLP related, are widely accepted as part of the fandom. A primary such example is Them's Fighting Herds (tfh).

#4 Illegal or Legally questionable content

We forbid legally dubious content listed below. Due to ambiguous laws, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Note that 'sexual' refers to any content rated "suggestive", "questionable", or "explicit"; and 'underage' means below 18 years old.

• Do not upload photographs of real life humans in sexual depictions or scenarios who may be underage. Do not discuss getting such images or having sexual real-life meetings with such people.
• Do not roleplay sexual situations involving underage human or humanlike characters.
• Content uploaded to Ponybooru that is illicit in Ponybooru's jurisdiction will be reported to the respective authorities.
• Do not upload photographs of real animals in sexual depictions or scenarios.

#5 Abusing site functionality

TLDR: Don't spam, sockpuppet, intentionally derail threads, make false reports. Do: use your filters, anon.

• Multiple accounts: You are permitted to have multiple accounts for purposes of roleplaying, maintaining different sets of filters, or for personal privacy.
  • You may not use multiple accounts or anonymous posting for the purposes of evading bans, voting on images multiple times, sockpuppeting (holding a conversation with your alternate account), or otherwise appearing to be multiple people within the same conversation.
• Spam: Do not spam or intentionally derail topics.
  
  • Intentionally derailing an ongoing conversation is not allowed. Interuptions are not nessasarily derailing.
  • Minifics in the comments are allowed, provided they keep with the rating and do not derail ongoing discussion. Please limit their size a few paragraphs or create a thread in the forums and link it in the comments.
• Filter: Do not indiscriminately downvote images based on their tags and/or general subject matter. Instead, filter content you do not wish to see. If you have a problem seeing "gore", you should filter gore. This especially applies to artist tags. If you have personal issues with an artist, the site's voting functionality is not a way to handle it.
• Reports: Don’t submit false reports or use the reporting fuction to attack others.
  • If you think someone is violating a rule, submit a report instead of otherwise calling them out (such as with a comment).
• Upscaling & interpolation: Do not upscale or otherwise manipulate images or videos to artificially create a "better" content for duplicate merging. Upscaling is allowed but not for the purpose of replacing the original content.
• Vote manipulation: Votes must be organic in nature.
  
  • Do not buy, sell, encourage or offer incentives to others to change voting.
  • Do not manipulate voting by means of multiple accounts, bots and or scripts.
  • Images that are uploaded with incentives to vote must be tagged "vote bait" and will be hidden by default from the front page. This includes content like "Every 20 upvotes a new edit is released" and the likes thereof.
• Impersonation: Do not attempt to impersonate staff, users, celebrities, or other notable persons, if said activity is found your username, or otherwise applicable public user information will be changed.
  • Obvious parody accounts are exempt provided they don't break other rules, and the real person doesn't ask to have the name transfered.
• Account profitting: The selling of accounts is prohibited.

#6 Unfilterable content

These rules don't apply to filterable content like uploaded images or embeds using on-site (>>) syntax.

TLDR: Make sure people can avoid certain types of content should they not want to see/read it.

• Forums: Threads containing NSFW content must have "NSFW" in the title.
  • Roleplaying belongs only in the RP forums
• Comments: Comments and replies must be spoilered and contain a warning if above the original image or threads rating.
  
  • Above-rating content cannot be the entire point of a comment/post.
  • Seizure inducing content must be spoilered and have a warning.
• User profiles: Profile pictures and personal titles cannot be filtered and thus must not including seizure inducing content and be kept SFW.
  
  • User bios must also keep in line with a safe rating or contain spoilers and warning.

#7 Privacy Violation

All persons, regardless of whether or not they use Ponybooru are entitled to a reasonable amount of privacy. For this reason, the following rules are in place.

• Alternate accounts: Artist and Users alike are entitled to use alternate accounts or go by pen names for the purpose of privacy. If you are aware of someone doing this, do not bring it up.
  • Aliases/name changes are not typically covered by this. They will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
• PII: Personally Identifiable Information (PII), such as full names, email addresses, ip addresses, as well as private conversations and other information that should normally be controlled between an individual and a consenting party, will not be allowed to be posted.
• Exemption:  Information that publicly known or intentionally released is typically exempt.
  • Information released without consent that has no reasonable means of becoming private again should be scrubbed to ensure no PII released, even if publicly available elsewhere. We will not facilitate doxxing.  

#8 Commissions

Commissions may be advertised on Ponybooru, but must adhere to these guidelines and not violate any other rule.

• Advertisments: Adverts may only contain art the artist has produced themselves.
  • Do not solicit/advertise in DM's without consent.
  • Do not advertise in unrelated comment sections.
  • YCH examples as well as commission sheets are welcome to be uploaded and tagged appropriately.
• Use caution: While we do our best to verify artists, we cannot 100% guarantee an artist and their works are their own. Perform your own due diligence. Checking for official social media is a good start.
• Brokerage: Ponybooru will not act as a broker to facilitate sales of commisions and cannot guarantee successful transactions of such sales. Please pursue another site if you need middleman protection when commissioning art.
• Legality: Ads for commissions cannot contain content that would violate site rules or any US laws.

#9 Direct interactions between users

This is an important rule.

• Arguments and insults: Ultimately, offense is taken, not given.
  
  • Ponybooru's staff will make no attempts to guide or halt conversation between users for the sake of protecting one's feelings. Interactions between users are up to interpretation.
  • If an argument is deemed to having derailed a thread or comment section, users may expect to be warned, or the conversation locked temporarily. Take it to private messages.
• Harrassment: First time offenses will typically follow with a verbal warning and a request to cease. Repeated attempts to antagonize or harass others will not be tolerated. Note that this does not apply to sufficient effort art attacks. Art is art, and we do not remove it. However, this exemption functions as intended, not as written, and loopholes will not be tolerated.
  • Long standing arguments can devolve into harrassment, individuals all have their own threshold for what they consider harrassment which is why users should first attempt to solve their issues between each other before reporting.
• Incitement: Users attempting to coerce or trick another user into violating rules will not be tolerated.
  • Images to incite reactions such as arguments, flamewars, harassment, hate, etc. are allowed. However, comments may be locked temporarily if such arguments and/or flamewars break out. Additionally, low effort images may be exempt from this.
  • Additional clarification for the "low effort" terminology: While "effort" is very difficult to judge on an objective basis, a certain threshold can be set, and Ponybooru staff reserves the right to decide whether an image is low effort or not. However, this threshold is intentionally very low. Only the worst of "1000 hours in ms paint" is disallowed.