Major Update: Site Rules and Uploading Have Been Extensively Reworked

[Zephyrus]

We've been hard at work trying to come up with rules that will best serve the community here at MangaDex. They mostly pertain to uploading along with the forum rules. We're not in the business of policing content except in certain cases where quality of the scan and group ownership come into play.

You can find The Rules here: https://mangadex.org/rules

We've also updated the Uploads page to reflect the new uploading guidelines.

(Yes we are aware the formatting sucks. Bug @Holo about it enough and he might actually pretty it up.)

I'd like to make a special mention to all Power Uploaders who took the time to help us craft these rules. More specifically, @Teasday and @Paulo27 . They both kindly took time to help us get this ready to post on the site by tediously formatting it into HTML.

These rules aren't set in stone but we're pretty comfortable with where they are. Sound off below and tell us what you think!

 

[Aruseus493]

1.2 One-shots that were published in an anthology should be included in the respective anthology entry and not have their own entries.

I honestly hate this policy on MAL and don't really want to see it here either. Not every anthology is fully scanlated and people aren't interested in reading entire anthologies typically. They prefer the oneshots which catch their attention.

1.3 One-shots which get serialized should be included in the respective serialized entry and labeled according to rule 2.2.12. There should not be a separate one-shotmanga-entry for any serialized one-shot.

Don't like this one either as people can have read oneshots but aren't interested in the serialization. There there are also cases like Flying Witch which has a oneshot completely unrelated to what the serialized series is. There's also the matter of how bundled oneshots would be treated. For example Gakuen Dragon Slayer is a oneshot bundled with a Maken Ki volume but it should really stand separately database wise.

If a user edits an entry to something different from what you had previously edited, do not change it back, but immediately notify a staff member to prevent an edit war from breaking out.

Is there a specific forum for this kind of thing? Cause the Isekai tag is definitely going to be abused by people that think anything with gaming elements or an overpowered protagonist is an Isekai series.

Otherwise, everything else seems fair enough.

 

[Paulo27]

@Aruseus493
As long as things are all properly labeled, find a specific oneshot in an anthology shouldn't be that big of a deal.

As far as putting oneshots together with the series, I might not fully agree either but I feel like it ends up being better than the alternative where things are split apart and it might make it harder for users to find them, just like those oneshots that are volume extras, should they be their own thing? Be part of the series if they are somewhat related? At least this way everything stays mostly consistent and you know where to look for what you want.

And for any issues you have, discord is usually the fastest option, otherwise you can PM a mod.

 

[Aruseus493]

@Paulo27
I find that oneshots grouped in anthologies are harder to find than if they were in their own entry. If you search for a oneshot by its title, there's a good chance it won't be included in the associated titles for the anthology. I've had this issue a million times with MAL. Anthologies can also end up with bloated genres as not all oneshots would follow the same genres too. There could be action with slice of life, and all of this together means you don't know what genre any oneshot is until you search it. Overall, putting oneshots together dilutes the information you can find about it and it's not like people seriously read/scanlate entire anthologies. If I read a oneshot, I want to mark it as completed.

Regarding including oneshots with their series, I don't believe they should. MAL at least gets it right in that oneshots have their own MAL entries. It's more consistent to have a single oneshot page then to constantly be merging oneshots into series pages. Mangadex also doesn't currently allow multiple MAL links which means that even though MAL can have two entries, you can have one for the oneshot or the one for the series.

 

[VawX]

@Paulo27
I agree that oneshot bundled with series should not be separated, maybe listed somewhere in the description so we can find it easier mmm...

As for anthology I'm all for grouping all included oneshots in a series and use the associated title to make it easier to find, but what about short series that's scatered in separate anthologies/volume mmm...~?
Some of them have like 1 chapter in this compilation and 2-3 chapters in other compilation mmm...

1.1 Only manga, manhwa, manhua, or doujinshi and webcomics of the aforementioned categories are allowed. Exceptions can be made (a Japanese author publishing outside Japan, a western comic heavily influenced by manga style, etc.). Contact staff if you want to add an entry which you think is such an exception.

What about the Indonesian, Philippines and Thai webcomics mmm...~?

I asked this when the site just came out since Batoto also allowed these type of publication to be uploaded and eventually the earlier rules allowed it, is it still allowed now mmm...~?

2.1.9 Joke or troll releases are not allowed, except on April 1st.

I like this rule but at least give them warning to not overdo it mmm...

 

[RonBWL]

@VawX: I believe the "Webcomic" already covers all kind of long strip comics that's digital-released somewhere on the Internet. Anything non-English released should be eligible for scanlation.

Also regarding Joke & Troll release, I wonder if there's a place for Fantasy chapters too (Those that're not meant to be joke/troll but somewhat close to doujinshi, albeit using official chapters as base for the groups' own script).

 

[Noms]

@Vawx: Relation links are the answer to finding related oneshots whether they're in anthologies or not.

Aruseus493:

Regarding including oneshots with their series, I don't believe they should. MAL at least gets it right in that oneshots have their own MAL entries. It's more consistent to have a single oneshot page then to constantly be merging oneshots into series pages.

I thought oneshots are usually collected into the series page on MAL, often expanded through the "more info" tab.

 

[Aruseus493]

@Noms

Series oneshots typically get their own entries. They aren't typically grouped into the serialization's entry. You can see this with stuff like Nisekoi, Flying Witch, and Juliet. MAL groups anthology oneshots together which I personally dislike because I'm both not interested in all the oneshots in an anthology, and full anthologies are rarely translated.

 

[Harry_Dong]

After reading this whole thread, I think @Aruseus493 brings up a lot of valid points.

1.2 One-shots that were published in an anthology should be included in the respective anthology entry and not have their own entries.

I got no issue with say something like this being in one entry, because at the very least it's related to each other: Persona 5 Comic Anthology (DNA Media Comic). Although I wish each short story chapter had the particular author/artist beside the chapter title, making it easier to know who did what without having to look at the pages themselves to see the author. /minor nitpick

But I can't really get behind the idea of having multiple different stories, many times by different artists, doing completely separate and unrelated series, being grouped into one single entry, just because it was in the same book or slightly related. Simple reason is because groups cherry pick certain oneshots to do, but leave the rest...or someone choosing to finish reading one short-story oneshot, but stop at starting a new short story because they're uninterested in those ones, or if they're only after one particular artist...When they're so disjointed like that, it'd be impossible to mark one story as complete, because you never read (or want to read) the other stories you're uninterested in within the book/mag/tankobon collection. It'd also lessen the likelihood of a user (like myself) who prefer to click on a title based on the cover image if it catches their interest, when there's only one cover to represent several different oneshots--which is not a very good indicator of what's to see in the rest of the collection. There's plenty of oneshots that I would never have read/clicked on otherwise.

I'm talking about stuff like newcomers submissions into a Shounen magazine. Speaking of which, stuff like Shoujo or Shounen manga ...which sometimes individual oneshots get serialized into it's own series....that would be tricky to link them under "pre-serialization" with the full serialization "main series", when the oneshot it's linking to is also linking to 50 other unrelated separate stories.

^So in that instance, I think that something like how the current Naruto pilot/oneshot is; although initially published with a bunch of other stories, is it's own individual entry, being a completely different story to the main series, linked as "pre-serialization"...that would be the most optimal route, IMHO.

1.3 One-shots which get serialized should be included in the respective serialized entry and labeled according to rule 2.2.12. There should not be a separate one-shotmanga-entry for any serialized one-shot.

Mixed feelings on this. On one hand, it makes sense having series where authors continue right where they left off in the oneshot, making it the defacto ch 0 or ch 1. But for stuff like the Naruto pilot, or Flying Witch oneshot as Aruseus493 mentioned...the two are SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT from the main series that I think it deserves to be it's own separate entry, with a related link under "Pre-serialization"...which suits it much better. And it's just as easily found when looking under the "related" links section. ...that's what the "pre-serialization" tag is for, right? So that's where I personally don't agree with. Even if a serialization happens after a oneshot, a different story is still a different story.

Btw, @Paulo27
Why does Naruto pilot (aka oneshot), get it's own entry, but not Flying Witch oneshot, both of which you uploaded? It's inconsistent with the new rules. And neither of the main series' continues off of the oneshot, being only loosely based on them.

@Paulo27
As far as putting oneshots together with the series, I might not fully agree either but I feel like it ends up being better than the alternative where things are split apart and it might make it harder for users to find them, just like those oneshots that are volume extras, should they be their own thing? Be part of the series if they are somewhat related? At least this way everything stays mostly consistent and you know where to look for what you want.

Moot point. I thought that was what the "Related:" section was for?

I believe it's far easier to search for (in the quick search as well as on the page itself), when seeing a list of everything that's related right under the description, rather than have to click through numerous pages to find a oneshot or whatnot.

And then what if someone was specifically searching for the oneshot in the quick search, didn't find it (because it was under the main series) thinks it doesn't exist yet, and so decides to add another entry for it themself? Wouldn't that create more clutter and confusion, and more work for mod to remove every time it happens? Should also be pointed out that not every casual user will read the rules in full; that's just a fact.

1.7 If there are multiple entries with the same title. Do not add the author's name to the title field to distinguish them.

That sucks. That was how I could tell two titles with the same name apart at a glance. Can we at least put it in the "Alt name(s)" section, so multiple entries don't show up in the search, when we're only looking for a specific one?

Edit: Something like this looks nice, and very easy to organize in my own personal lists as well.

2.1.5 Official releases themselves (including raws) are not allowed unless the license is expired, the series is out of print, or the publisher is defunct and that release can no longer be purchased through the publisher. In such scenario, the release shall be uploaded under the group "Publisher (Ex-Licenses)", and shall be treated as a scanlation for the purpose of all rules. If another publisher has made their own official release afterwards, the expired/defunct version may still be uploaded.

HOO BOI. There's so many discontinued series that I've bought over the years, and saddened to see it no longer available anywhere for the above reasons be it in physical copies or online, to the point I used to pay over a hundred for a single used copy volume off of ebay just to be able to read a bit more of a series. Even worse, is when it's discontinued in Japan, so I wouldn't be able to buy from overseas even if I wanted to. This gives me hope that someone somewhere will upload many more of these, or pick up an unfinished translations that have expired license or whatnot, such as the case with Moyashimon.

2.1.9 Joke or troll releases are not allowed, except on April 1st.

Only full releases (like a whole chapter), or extra pages too?
Because I see several other groups (myself included) release a normal chapter, but also include with it at the end; a page or two of replaced text or cropped humorous comic panels--usually on the credits page itself. Example 1, Example 2

......
Wow. Finally finished reading. Felt like I was about to sign a legal document or user end agreement.

 

[Noms]

1.7 If there are multiple entries with the same title. Do not add the author's name to the title field to distinguish them.
That sucks. That was how I could tell two titles with the same name apart at a glance. Can we at least put it in the "Alt name(s)" section, so multiple entries don't show up in the search, when we're only looking for a specific one?

@Harry_Dong
Although it's easier to just look at the title, I guess we should get used to glancing at the author column in the results. There shouldn't be too many titles in the follows or searches with same name + different author, so I can adapt to that. ?

How will adding a repeat of the title name with (Author) appended in Alts help filter search? It will still show up if you do a quick search for the shared title. If you want to restrict your search results, you can use the advanced search to input a keyword for the title as well as author fields.

 

[Harry_Dong]

@Noms

How will adding a repeat of the title name with (Author) appended in Alts help filter search? It will still show up if you do a quick search for the shared title. If you want to restrict your search results, you can use the advanced search to input a keyword for the title as well as author fields.

How? It's mainly for titles that are short, like only one word long. The quick search looks for every title containing that one keyword. So if there are multiple titles with the same name, or multiple titles containing that one word in their title, searching for that keyword(s) will show multiple results. That can be desirable in some instances, like if you're looking for something general (like anything with the word "isekai" in it).

But the more detailed/longer the title, it'll look for that instead, sort of like how google will only show results containing specific phrases if you use "quotes like this" to filter and narrow down results. So by having a longer title--adding the Title with (author name), the quick search will only look for that specific phrase, therefore showing only one title result (by that one author) instead of many...because the quick search also searches for alt titles listed. This is easier than having to open up the advanced search every time and adding the author name in a separate box, when you have the quick search right there at the top.

 

[Noms]

M'kay, I get what you mean. The quick search's using AND; I was just assuming it treats all keywords with OR.

 

[ununseti]

1.2 Oneshots that were published in an anthology should be included in the respective anthology entry and not have their own entries.
1.3 A single-chapter oneshot that has been serialized should be included in its respective serialized entry.

@Aruseus493 @VawX I too am not particularly fond of organizing one-shots this way.

1. It clutters the author/artist field.
- This also distances the author/artist from the chapter that they authored, making it difficult to find the author/artist for a specific chapter.
- Most anthology pages here have helpful chapter/author lists in the description, but this feels a little ad-hoc.
2. It clutters the genre tags.
- Of course, anthologies usually have some sort of common overarching theme, so this is not as egregious.
- But since one-shots are unrelated stories, not all one-shots follow the same genres.
- I feel like it would make more sense to tag them individually.
3. It groups unrelated stories together.
- They're not set in the same continuity at all!
3.1. I can't score one-shots individually.
- You'd only be able to score the anthology as a whole.
- This isn't ideal for me because the one-shots are completely different stories, so my personal scores for them can vary greatly even within the same volume.
3.2. I can't mark one-shots as plan to read / reading / completed individually
4. Anthologies are usually scanlated selectively, resulting in lots of missing chapters.
- It makes the chapter list look very incomplete, making the casual reader think 'Oh no, I can't read this, there are missing chapters'.
- In reality, it's perfectly fine because they're all unrelated one-shots. But the chapter list doesn't give off this impression at all.

The way MAL handles anthologies also sort of bugs me for the same reason. These days, I keep track of which one-shots I've read on an individual basis in a personal spreadsheet...

Note that I don't mind the rule regarding "chapter 0" / pre-serialization one-shots as much, because at least they're sort of related. And I usually read the one-shot first anyway.

I also don't particularly mind anthologies with a common cohesive topic (e.g. Celebration of Suzumiya Haruhi, K-On! Anthology Comic, Kagerou Daze Official Anthology), because they make sense together.

Though I think that some of the anthologies posted here should really be thought of magazines/issues. Keep in mind that the really popular one that everyone knows about, Weekly Shounen Jump, is technically a "manga anthology" (see Wikipedia). Some examples that are here on mangadex are Josou Shounen, Tsubomi, and Hirari. And although ones like these usually contain only one-shots, sometimes they can contain chapter 2s and chapter 3s etc. that are eventually collected into their own volume as well (e.g. Hatsu Kokuhaku was published in Josou Shounen, and later on was collected into a separate 8-chapter volume).

One thing I like about how Dynasty Reader organizes its catalog is that it has separate indexes for anthologies, doujinshi, issues, and series. So for something like this oneshot, you can see at a glance that it was published in Yuri Hime Vol 8 and also collected in the "Your Cuteness" anthology. And for an official anthology like this one, you can see at a glance which mangaka did which chapters.