Lolibrary Entries: Creating an Item

Want to add an item to lolibrary but aren't sure how? You're in the right place! This guide will cover all the basic aspects of creating a detailed item entry on the site.

Pre-Research

Before you begin, search Lolibrary for the foreign name of the item. If it doesn’t come up, search for the item number. If there is still nothing, navigate to the year / brand / item type and do a quick flip through to make sure the item isn’t entered. It’s difficult to delete duplicates right now, so we want to check thoroughly. (Mistakes still happen, even to those of us who have been doing this for years, it’s OK! But checking well helps cut down on duplicates.)

If the item isn’t new, make sure you check the Wayback Machine to see if you can find the item’s original webshop listing. This will give you the most accurate info for most brands.

If you are missing images, try googling the item name in Japanese. It’s not uncommon for people to have reposted the stock images to sites like Pinterest or Tumblr, or even second hand sites. Please make sure to only use stock images and not people's review or sales photos unless you have explicit permission (see Special Notes About Images).

Adding the item - Basic info

Log in and go to: https://lolibrary.org/library

Click on Items on the left and then Create Item on the right.

Images

Select a clear image that shows the front of the item. A perfect first image is straight on, shows all of and only the item in question, and clearly shows the identifying details. For example, if an item comes in black x white, and all black, you probably want to pick the black x white because it’s going to be way easier to see the details from a thumbnail.

If no images are available, leave this and the other image areas blank. You MUST tag this entry as “Partial”.

Name Fields

Translate the name into English (if the brand doesn’t offer an English name) and then normalize the English name.

Some Translation/Normalization notes:

Use “OP” or “JSK” (not “Dress”, "One Piece", "Onepiece", "Jumper Skirt", or "Jumperskirt"). If possible, arrange the name so that the item type is the last word. For example, if Google Translate spits out Sparkling JSK with Jabot, we might use Sparkling Jabot JSK).

Head Bow should be two words for better searchability, not "headbow", "KC", or "katyusha".

If the result isn’t a word you recognize, try looking at the phonetic spelling. In the image below, for example, it would actually be the name Connie.

If that still doesn’t work, delete Japanese characters until the phonetic part just has your mystery word. Sometimes it wakes up and figures it out…

But if it doesn’t, try pasting the unknown phrase into lolibrary in case other entries have used it. Also helpful may be, a Google image search of the term , Jisho , or Japanese Wikipedia . If you are still stuck, ask in the Discord and we'll be happy to help!

If the item is from an indie brand that doesn’t show up in the Brands drop down, add the brand name before the English item name, like:

Lovely Princess Studio ~ Sparkling JSK

Then in the Foreign Name field input the original name in Japanese, or whichever language it was originally listed in by the brand (typically Chinese from a Chinese indie brand, Korean for a Korean indie brand, etc)

Number

Include the item number / product number if one is available. This is really important for telling if something is a re-release or a duplicate, so please don’t skip it if one is available.

Year

Select the year the item was released from the drop-down. If an item has been available for years on end, and you don’t know when it was released, put the earliest year you know it existed, and make a note in the notes. Also, post about it in the discord chat, someone else might know or be able to find out. In some cases, you may be able to tell the year an item was released by its item number as well.

Brand

The brand. See Appendix: Picking a Brand

Notes/Internal Notes

Notes is anything else you know about the item that doesn’t fit elsewhere. This section is visible on the final published entry.

You can put descriptive text from shop blogs, social media or the webshop, stuff like that.
List the official colorway names here as well, especially if they were called something more specific by the brand. (Our colourway searching may become more simplified in future so we want to be sure we preserve as much original information as possible.)
Do not enter measurements or materials here; enter measurements and materials in the Attributes section (more on that below). However, if there are measurements that do not fit into any of the Attribute sections, you can put them here.

Internal Notes & Sources is mainly for two things. Please note that this section is not visible on the final published entry.

One, add links to your sources (preferred) or a note about where the info came from if a link does not exist (for example, if your information is from a magazine, the title and issue of the magazine). This will help senior staff and admins in the future if there is ever an issue with a duplicate, or a typo or other mistake in the listing.
Two, any other information you want other lolibrarians to see if they look up the item in the admin panel. Things you weren’t sure about, anything you want to tell the person approving the listing. Anything that you know is right, but that looks really wrong and you don’t want to get changed… notes about why this and a specific item aren’t duplicates even though they look like it… stuff like that.

Price

Enter the price in the primary currency for the brand whenever possible. If it’s a Japanese brand, like AP, you would put in the Japanese yen price, not the USD price from the American webshop.

Enter numbers only. Do not include any currency symbols ($), commas (,) or dots (.) as these will be formatted automatically by the system based on the currency option selected from the drop-down.

The only exception would be if the price isn’t in whole numbers ($5.50 USD for example). In this case, put in the number with the cents in the decimal place. For example for $5.50 you would enter 5.50. It will automatically display with the proper currency symbols and notation on the front-end.

Do NOT convert the currency to another currency if the currency the brand sells in is not listed. Put the currency and price in the notes and post in the discord about it so we can add the appropriate currency.

Use the tax included price (higher price) if two prices are listed.

Images Part 2: Electric Boogaloo

Click “Add images” to add a new image row

Click on Choose file to add the image.

If you put them in a weird order, you can use the arrows to re-order them. The trash can will throw out an image field. Throw out any extra/blank image fields before you save. Don’t try to save with an empty image field unless you have no images at all.

Adding the item - Tags and Features

Scroll down the list of features and check the box next to anything that applies. Look at the item photos carefully and check any descriptive text next to the item for details that may not be easily visible in the photos. Do the same for the tags. For more information on the individual tags and features, and when to apply certain ones, please see their respective guide pages: Tags Guide | Features Guide

Colours

Add the basic colors here. So if it’s “pink x white x gray”... tag pink. The existing color x color tags will be deprecated in the future. Put the “fancy” color list in notes.

Go with what the item looks like, so if the brand says an item is “purple” but it’s clearly lavender, tag lavender as that will be how someone will logically try to search for it.

The few exceptions, for the sake of our gothic friends, are black x white, black x gold, black x silver, black x red, and black x blue.

Dark Pink is like.. magenta or hot pink or dark dusty rose. Angelic Pretty considers this one of their basic colors.

If no color is listed, pick the color that the base of the object is, or the color that is the most prevalent. For items where the colorways are all white x [color], you can use the [color] instead of white.

Don't forget to save your work!

Adding the item - Attributes

Details such as measurements and materials are added as Attributes after the item is saved. This is an important part of creating your item listing! Click on the “Attach Attributes” button to start.

For more information on individual Attribute options and how to use them, please see the following page: Attribute Guide

Submitting for Review

Most users will need to submit their listings for review to have them published on the site. If you need help doing this, please see the following page: Submitting for Review

Appendix: Choosing the Brand

If there is a brand in the brand picker for the brand you are entering, of course, use that.

If it’s not listed and it’s a Chinese Indie Brand select Chinese Indie (There are many, so they get their own section to make browsing easier). Chinese indie brands include brands that primarily sell on Taobao in China and brands located in China that sell via their own websites.

If it’s an indie brand from elsewhere in the world, select Indie Brand.

If it’s not a lolita brand, but they made an item that lots of lolita are using (like malco modes making petticoats, or Hot Topic making the odd lolita dress) select Offbrand.

Shotgun Wedding goes under “Cornet”

Emily Temple goes under “Emily Temple Cute”

If it’s an indie brand for sale at Atelier Pierrot or another select shop, list it as the brand that made the item, not Atelier Pierrot or the other select shop. (So Atelier Pierrot is for the “house brand” made by atelier pierrot).

If you selected Indie Brand or Chinese Indie Brand, check and see if there is a tag for the indie brand in the list of tags. If there is not, tag it with the regional tag if it’s a Korean, Japanese, Western or Russian indie brand.

Appendix: Special Notes About Images

Images found on official brand websites or social media run by the brand are fair game.

Images from magazines or GLBs are fine too. Best practice is to cite the source in the notes. Scans of these items from Lolita History are permissible.

Images found on Closet Child, Wunderwelt or other secondhand shops are OK if you can’t get official images, but cite it in the notes.

Images from Lace Market, personal blogs, personal social media, etc can be used IF and only if you contact the person and ask for permission first and they say OK. Below is a simple message template, but you are welcome to use your own as long as it conveys the same info.

Hello,
Sorry to bother you, but I noticed you [were selling / sold / posted a review about] [Item Name]. We don’t have a picture of [ item / color of that item] in lolibrary. Would you be willing to donate a photo or photos of the item to lolibrary? We can place a credit line in the notes crediting you for the images if you would like, just let me know what name you would like used. If not, it’s totally ok!
Thank you and I hope you have a great day!

- Name

Give them credit in the notes section (ask what name to use) unless they ask not to be credited. Here is a sample credit line you can use if you want:

Special thanks to [name] for the photo(s) of the black colorway.

Images from Japanese auctions can be used if they are really the only option. If you have the ability to ask the person for permission, please still do, or ask if there's someone available who can. If you can't, be sure to at least credit them in the notes like:

Blue colorway picture from [username] on Yahoo Japan Auctions

If your image was used without permission, please feel free to contact us directly and we will do our best to remedy it as soon as possible.