Tag aliases are used when two tags mean the same thing, or when there are multiple words or spellings for the same concept. An alias will redirect all searches for these alternate names to the main tag.
This feature is used in a few different situations:
- Synonyms: Clavicle → Collarbone, Belly Button → Navel.
- Variant spellings: Gray Hair → Grey Hair, Sakura Kyouko → Sakura Kyoko.
- Translating names of copyrights: The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya → Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuuutsu
- Artists that have changed their preferred names.
Tag aliases differ from implications. In a tag implication, rather than redirecting tags, one tag automatically adds the other. In other words, aliases are for tags referring to the same thing, while implications are for situations where one tag describes a subset of the images belonging to another tag.
You can request that an alias be created by using the bulk update request form