The bulk update request #998 is pending approval.

create alias webcomic_character (0) -> invalid_tag (0)
create alias cartoon_character (10) -> invalid_tag (0)
create alias anime_character (0) -> invalid_tag (0)
create alias game_character (16) -> invalid_tag (0)

Reason: It doesn't make sense to tag what kind of media a character is from. It not only doesn't fit TWYS, it becomes ambiguous which to use when a character is used in multiple types of media (a game and a webcomic, for example), and most people don't know to tag it so it'll end up missing on a number of posts with an otherwise relevant character.

I think it would be better to re-categorize these tags to Invalid category tags, but aliasing them to invalid_tag would work too.

d.d.m. said:
I think it would be better to re-categorize these tags to Invalid category tags, but aliasing them to invalid_tag would work too.

That might make some sense for the cartoon, anime, and game ones since there's so few, but not really for webcomic_character. There's 19k posts with it and people keep tagging it on new posts. It being in the Invalid category won't prevent people from continuing to use it as if it was valid, as it will still appear in the tag list and it can be searched for. Aliasing these to invalid_tag better ensures it will stop being used since it won't appear on posts and can't be searched, and it's not like anyone really needs to look over posts with these tags to fix them. They can just be removed.

I don't know if webcomic_character was previously cleared of posts and subsequently populated again, but I think those posts tagged with webcomic_character might be due to old character implications that are no longer in place. If folks are still adding webcomic_character to posts despite the removed implications, aliasing it to invalid_tag for some time might be a good way to stop them from being used. Though I feel these tags would still need to be removed from invalid_tag at some point (since invalid_tag is in the process of being phased out and replaced with the Invalid tag category).

d.d.m. said:
I don't know if webcomic_character was previously cleared of posts and subsequently populated again, but I think those posts tagged with webcomic_character might be due to old character implications that are no longer in place. If folks are still adding webcomic_character to posts despite the removed implications, aliasing it to invalid_tag for some time might be a good way to stop them from being used. Though I feel these tags would still need to be removed from invalid_tag at some point (since invalid_tag is in the process of being phased out and replaced with the Invalid tag category).

Assuming invalid_tag is gonna be tossed out altogether, would this work?

mass update webcomic_character -> invalid_tag
category webcomic_character -> invalid

Gets rid of the tag on existing posts, and it marks the tag as a problem for the future.

strikerman said:
Assuming invalid_tag is gonna be tossed out altogether, would this work?

mass update webcomic_character -> invalid_tag
category webcomic_character -> invalid

Gets rid of the tag on existing posts, and it marks the tag as a problem for the future.

That should work, if people think that's the better option. You'd still need to watch for people trying to use it anyway or trying to restore it, but hopefully with all current uses being removed it would be enough of a deterrent to continue using it.

The bulk update request #7365 is pending approval.

create alias game_character (16) -> video_games (0)
create alias cartoon_character (10) -> cartoon (5)
create alias anime_character (0) -> anime (1)

Reason: Using previous precedent (webcomic character -> webcomic, videogame character -> video games), I believe this to be better than aliasing to invalid tag

I'm more a fan of Watsit's approach. Invalid tags can end up staying on posts for months and are also featured right at the top of the tag list. For tags that might potentially have higher traffic like these, it makes sense to me to avoid aliasing too many tags to it and therefore alias the tags to invalid_tag instead. Besides, it avoid any technical mistags with fan characters and the like.

strikerman said:
I'm more a fan of Watsit's approach. Invalid tags can end up staying on posts for months and are also featured right at the top of the tag list. For tags that might potentially have higher traffic like these, it makes sense to me to avoid aliasing too many tags to it and therefore alias the tags to invalid_tag instead. Besides, it avoid any technical mistags with fan characters and the like.

I don't see how the unlikely potential that it could get much more use would justify aliasing to invalid_tag. In most cases, you're just trading one invalid tag for another (though it seems invalid_tag does get periodic nuking).

So far all 3 of the tags im aliasing have a combined total use of <100 posts, and I doubt that'll surge in the future
anime_character
cartoon_character
game_character

Part of the reason tags like cartoon or video_games are in the Invalid category is because they're ambiguous, with some uses being valid (e.g. toony, gameplay_mechanics) and others not (depicting something from a cartoon show or video game). cartoon_character and game_character are less ambiguous, referring to a character from a cartoon or game, which aren't valid things to tag and there's nothing really to replace the tag with.

watsit said:
Part of the reason tags like cartoon or video_games are in the Invalid category is because they're ambiguous, with some uses being valid (e.g. toony, gameplay_mechanics) and others not (depicting something from a cartoon show or video game). cartoon_character and game_character are less ambiguous, referring to a character from a cartoon or game, which aren't valid things to tag and there's nothing really to replace the tag with.

It serves as information for the current/future taggers for what the tag might have been, so that they alerted to tag the appropriate character/copyright tag if it was left off