Contributing to StashDB
Submitting fingerprints is possible with every account but adding/editing anything else requires new permissions, read below for details.
Every StashDB account is able to submit fingerprints/hashes from within the Scene Tagger view of Stash. This does not require any additional permissions. However, if you would like to add or edit any scenes/performers/studios, you will need to be granted additional privileges.
The process for gaining edit access is simple. First, you must read this entire article carefully and closely, following all of its instructions. Failing to do so could result in the rejection of your application or the loss of edit rights in the future, so take your time. After you finish reading, you must fill out a short application form.
Typically, the application process takes only 10–15 minutes to complete. That estimate includes reading this entire guide, following all of its instructions, and completing the request form.
Every request will be reviewed individually by one of StashDB’s admins. There will be an opportunity to reapply if your first request is rejected.
Permissions to create, modify, merge, or destroy tags will require separate permissions. The exact process is still TBD. If you are interested, DM @AdultSun for more information.
Please read the following sections carefully. Failing to follow these instructions may result in delays, rejections, or the loss of future editing privileges.
Make a StashDB Account
First, make sure you have an account on StashDB.org. It’s easy to confuse it with other public stash-boxes, but they all require separate accounts. We can’t apply the EDIT role to an account that doesn’t exist yet. Please see our guide to Accessing StashDB if you need any help finding an invite code, registering an account, or connecting it to Stash.
Make a Discourse Account
All editors are required to join our Discourse server. This is the home to Stash’s forums and will be the primary method for editors, mods, and admins to communicate with each other. You will also use Discourse to submit your request for edit access. The website can be found here:
Filling out your Discourse profile
You will need to fill out your Discourse profile page before requesting edit access. There are a few details and requirements that StashDB editors need to keep in mind, listed in the next section.
If you’re creating a new account, all of these details are part of the initial registration form.
If you’ve already created an account, you’ll have to dig into your settings to add these details. First, click on your avatar and navigate to Profile > Preferences. You can change your Discourse username under the Account tab. All of the other fields are under the Profile tab.
Requirements for StashDB editors:
- You must add your StashDB username to your Discourse profile.
- If you want to change your StashDB username, you can ask for a new one within the edit request form. If that’s the case, add your new StashDB username to Discourse before submitting your edit request.
- If you’ve joined any other public stash-boxes, please add those usernames as well.
- If you’ve joined the Stash Discord server, please add your unique username (not your server nickname or display name).
- Editors are not required to join Discord.
- Editors are not required to “Log in with Discord” or “Connect” Discord to their account.
- We recommend that your name on StashDB, Discourse, and Discord all match in order to limit confusion.
Guidelines Summary
All editors of StashDB are expected to follow our guidelines to ensure a high level of quality in their submissions. You are not expected to memorize all of them right away. However, you must be familiar with the following list of guidelines before submitting your request for edit access. Read each section closely and carefully — even if you think the topic is irrelevant to you — before moving on to the next part of this article. Again, failing to do so could result in the rejection of your application or the loss of edit rights in the future.
If you’d like to learn more about a particular subject, further information can be found by clicking on the hyperlinks within each section.
Basic Procedure
1.) Start slowly.
Important!
Do not start by submitting 20+ edits immediately after gaining edit access. Repeated guideline violations and bulk submissions without permission can result in the loss of edit privileges.
Take your time, try to keep your first submissions simple and small, and leave only a few edits pending at a time. Double-check the guidelines or ask on Discourse/Discord if you have any questions. And always keep an eye on the notifications bell for any comments or downvotes.
Everything you submit will sit in the edit queue where other editors can review them, voting for either approval or rejection. Everything goes much quicker and smoother when pending edits don’t need any corrections. So, be patient and give yourself time to learn the ropes.
Voting rights will be automatically granted after your 10th approved submission. Read more about the approval process in Voting on StashDB before voting on anything yourself.
2.) Use helpful edit comments.
You will not be able to submit your edit without including a comment first, so make it count. You will be expected to describe where you’ve sourced your data and explain why your data may be different compared to those sources.
Fortunately, most edits are relatively straightforward and only use a single source, so there won’t be much to explain. Typical comments for these kinds of edits include “scraped from studio” or “male performer from visual ID”. For anything more complex, try to be as direct in your explanations as possible to make it easier for voters to parse. You can also use Markdown syntax to better format your comment.
3.) Update pending edits.
If you made a mistake or missed an important piece of information, another editor may downvote your edit and explain why in a comment. These will appear as notifications in the navigation bar across the top of StashDB. When this happens, you are expected to update your edit with the required changes. This will reset the current vote total and notify all commenters and voters of the update.
Banned Content
1.) No underage performers.
Important!
If you see any underage content on StashDB, please DM the admins immediately. Please use the “Message” button at the top of the page to DM the entire admin group.
Any content including underage performers will never be allowed on StashDB. We ensure this by only allowing scenes from performers, studios, and platforms that follow age verification laws. These requirements are detailed in Performer Eligibility.
2.) No banned studios.
Important!
If you see any underage content on StashDB, please DM the admins immediately. Please use the “Message” button at the top of the page to DM the entire admin group.
In rare circumstances, StashDB admins may ban specific studios based on legality and consent. Anything from a studio with a pattern of violating their performers’ consent (i.e., Girls Do Porn) is not allowed. All specific bans will be listed under Banned Studios. This list may expand over time.
3.) No ineligible performer aliases.
Important!
If you see any underage content on StashDB, please DM the admins immediately. Please use the “Message” button at the top of the page to DM the entire admin group.
All performer names and aliases must be used as an official adult credit in order to be eligible. This means that any legal names or given names cannot be included as an alias just because it is publically known, reported, or even revealed by performers themselves.
These requirements are explained in more detail in Eligible Aliases. To be safe, do not add any Suspicious Aliases that cannot be verified as eligible.
Common Mistakes
1.) Review your drafts.
When you create an edit by clicking the “Submit to Stash-Box” option within Stash, it is not immediately submitted for approval. It is temporarily saved as a “draft” on StashDB and will expire after 24 hours.
Navigate to your draft in StashDB and make sure everything is accurate and complete before submitting it to the edit queue. Some info saved in Stash might be missing from the draft, and other kinds of data will need to be manually added. Further instructions can be found in How to Submit Drafts from Stash.
Currently, drafts are the only way to add new scenes to StashDB.
2.) Generate pHashes.
Perceptual hashes are the “secret sauce” behind Stash and StashDB. If you submit any scenes to the queue without generating a pHash first, you will need to either resubmit the edit or add your fingerprints after the scene is approved. More info on pHashes and how to generate them can be found in What’s a pHash?.
Generating pHashes can take a long time if you have a large collection or slow hardware, so I’ll leave you with a warning while you wait. The application will ask how you learned about StashDB. To make sure you’re paying attention, we will reject any applications that don’t include this phrase in their answer: “I’ve always known about StashDB.” You may still answer honestly if you’d like, but you must include that exact phrase in your response. Remember this before you submit your request and please don’t mention it to anyone without edit access.
3.) Ineligible movie scenes.
All scenes must be sourced from a 1st party digital studio. This means any scenes or movies sourced exclusively from a 3rd party retailer for rent or sale (i.e., Adult DVD Empire, Hot Movies, etc.) are not eligible for inclusion on StashDB at this time. That also means physical releases (VHS, DVD, BluRay, etc.) with only 3rd party databases as a source (IAFD, Data18, TPDB, IMDB, etc.) are also not eligible. Requirements for eligibility are explained in more detail for both Full Movie Entries and Split Movie Scenes.
Please note that some websites act as both 1st party producers and 3rd party retailers simultaneously. In situations where a website acts as both a 1st party producer and a 3rd party retailer, only original content produced by the studio itself is eligible. For example, the only eligible scenes from Bang.com come from the sub-studios listed under “Bang! Originals”.
4.) Exceptions for amateur content.
All amateur scenes must use the creator as its studio, not the platform. Also, only certain amateur platforms (ManyVids, Clips4Sale, PornHub, MFC Share, etc.) are allowed. Paywalled subscription services (OnlyFans, Just for Fans, Patreon, etc.) are not allowed. Eligibility for amateur content is explained further in Amateur Studios.
Also note that a single scene entry on StashDB may be used to cover multiple platforms, as explained in Remasters, Redistributions, and Re-Releases.
5.) Exceptions for JAV content.
Since JAV is almost exclusively released as full movie downloads, it has been granted an exception under our Full Movie Entries guideline.
We also have specific requirements on the formatting of JAV Names.
6.) Add or create missing performers.
All performers listed by the studio must be included in your scene submission. This includes male performers in straight scenes. Requirements for performers in scene creation edits are further explained in Missing Performers.
If the performer does not exist in the database already, they will need to be created before submitting the scene. Identifying uncredited performers is not required but strongly recommended whenever possible.
7.) Check for duplicates first.
Duplicate scenes and studios can be much harder to remove than duplicate performers, so please pay extra attention in those areas. The underlying Stash-Box software will automatically warn you of any duplicates based on title/name and fingerprints, but this doesn’t catch everything. A quick search with a few carefully chosen keywords only takes a few seconds and could save everyone a lot of wasted time and effort as a result.
Moderation and Enforcement
Important!
If you see any underage content on StashDB, please DM the admins immediately. Please use the “Message” button at the top of the page to DM the entire admin group.
At the discretion of the admins, your edit access may be revoked at any time. However, this is rare and usually comes with an official warning first.
Always act with the best interests of the community in mind. Make your best effort to follow the guidelines, correcting any mistakes when asked. Remain civil and constructive in all communications. If you can do that, you’ll be fine.
Our article explaining StashDB Moderation Enforcement details what behaviors may result in disciplinary action. It also addresses how and when edit access may be restored.
Submitting Your Request
Requesting edit access is not difficult. After you’ve read and followed all of the instructions above, click the button at the bottom of this page. Then, click the “Request” button in the top-right corner. Make sure to fill out the entire form, but please keep your answers brief.
An admin will review your application shortly, usually within a day or two. You will see their response as a notification within Discourse.
If you fail to follow any part of these instructions, your application may be rejected. If you would like to try again, first re-read this entire article closely and carefully. Make sure you follow every instruction to the letter, however insignificant it may seem. You may submit a new request no sooner than 1 hour after your previous rejection.