Tagging System
EpsteinWiki uses a controlled tagging system to connect related people, organizations, records, cases, locations, events, and investigations.
Tags improve navigation. They do not establish guilt, prove an allegation, or replace citations. Every tag must accurately describe the page and remain within what the cited evidence supports.
A person appearing in a photograph, address book, flight record, email, or court filing must not automatically receive a tag suggesting criminal activity or knowledge of abuse.
Snapshot
| Classification | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Places the page in a broad section of EpsteinWiki | People, Evidence, Legal Cases |
| Public tag | Connects pages sharing a specific subject | Palm Beach, Flight Records, FBI |
| Page type | Identifies the structure used for the page | Person, Organization, Evidence |
| Evidence type | Identifies what kind of material is discussed | Court Record, Email, Photograph |
| Claim status | Describes the support for a specific claim | Corroborated, Contested, Unverified |
| Legal status | Describes a documented legal position or outcome | Charged, Acquitted, Convicted |
| Person role | Describes a documented relationship to the subject | Witness, Employee, Public Figure |
| Event type | Classifies an event in a timeline | Travel, Financial, Legal |
| Involvement level | Summarizes the documented degree of involvement | Level 0 through Level 5 |
| Review label | Identifies editorial work that remains necessary | Second Editor Review |
| Sensitivity label | Identifies privacy or safety concerns | Survivor Privacy Review |
The most important rule is simple:
A tag describes how a page can be found. It does not prove what happened.
Purpose of the Tagging System
The tagging system helps readers and contributors:
- Find related records across different sections
- Follow people, organizations, cases, and locations
- Separate evidence types from claim status
- Distinguish allegations from findings and convictions
- Locate records from the same agency or investigation
- Identify pages requiring additional editorial review
- Reduce duplicate pages and inconsistent terminology
- Protect survivors, minors, witnesses, and private individuals
- Maintain consistent archives as the collection grows
A useful tag should connect the page to other meaningful content. A tag created for only one page usually provides little navigational value unless it identifies an important case, investigation, organization, or recurring subject.
Categories, Tags, and Structured Fields
Categories, tags, and structured fields serve different purposes. They must not be treated as interchangeable.
Categories
Categories identify the broad section in which a page belongs. Categories may have parent and child relationships.
Examples include:
- People
- Organizations
- Evidence
- Legal Cases
- Timelines
- Locations
- Investigations
- Contributor Hub
Use the most specific approved category that accurately describes the page.
Do not create a new category simply because an article discusses a new person, document, location, or allegation.
Public Tags
Public tags connect pages that share a specific subject. WordPress tags are not hierarchical, and each tag name and slug must be unique.
Examples include:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Palm Beach
- Flight Records
- Financial Records
- United States Virgin Islands
- Southern District of New York
Public tags may appear on the page and create searchable archive pages.
Structured Fields
Structured fields record classifications that require precision or may change as evidence develops.
These include:
- Page type
- Person role
- Claim status
- Legal status
- Involvement level
- Sensitivity
- Review requirements
- Last reviewed date
Do not create a public tag when a structured field is the correct location for the information.
SEO Keywords
SEO keywords are search metadata. They are not WordPress tags.
A phrase may appear in the SEO keyword field without becoming a public tag. Do not copy the entire keyword list into the tag field.
Core Tagging Rules
Every contributor must follow these rules.
- Search the existing tag list before creating a tag.
- Use the approved canonical name when one already exists.
- Apply only tags directly supported by the page.
- Use tags that help connect multiple pages.
- Keep claim status separate from evidence type.
- Keep legal status separate from person role.
- Do not use tags as accusations.
- Do not expose protected identities through tags.
- Do not create duplicate singular, plural, abbreviated, or alternate spelling tags.
- Do not use involvement levels as substitutes for evidence.
- Review tags whenever a page receives a significant factual update.
- Request editorial approval before creating a sensitive or accusatory tag.
A page should normally use a focused set of relevant tags. Tag volume is less important than accuracy. Remove any tag that does not materially improve navigation or classification.
Approved Public Tag Families
Public tags should normally belong to one of the following families.
People
Use the canonical full name of a person when that person is a recurring subject across multiple pages.
Example:
- Firstname Middlename Lastname
Do not create separate tags for:
- Nicknames
- Initials
- Misspellings
- Reversed name order
- Titles such as Mr., Dr., Prince, or President
- Married and former names when one canonical identity is sufficient
Alternate names may be stated in the person page and search metadata.
A person name tag means only that the person is substantially discussed or documented on the page. It does not establish involvement in criminal conduct.
Organizations and Institutions
Use the verified legal or commonly recognized name.
Examples include:
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- United States Department of Justice
- Palm Beach Police Department
- Harvard University
- Deutsche Bank
Do not create separate tags for acronyms when a full canonical tag already exists. The acronym may appear in the article text and SEO metadata.
Courts, Cases, and Proceedings
Use a stable case name, docket reference, or official proceeding title.
Examples include:
- United States v. Maxwell
- Government of the United States Virgin Islands v. JPMorgan Chase Bank
- Southern District of New York
- Southern District of Florida
Avoid informal case names when an official caption is available.
A case tag must not be treated as proof that every person named in a filing was accused, charged, or found liable.
Locations and Properties
Use the accepted geographic or property name.
Examples include:
- Palm Beach
- Manhattan
- New Mexico
- United States Virgin Islands
- Little Saint James
- 9 East 71st Street
Use a property tag only when the location is material to the page. A passing reference does not always justify a tag.
Do not publish private addresses that are not already lawfully public and directly relevant.
Evidence Formats
Evidence format tags describe what the source material is.
Approved examples include:
- Court Records
- Government Records
- Law Enforcement Records
- Financial Records
- Corporate Records
- Property Records
- Flight Records
- Emails
- Calendars
- Address Books
- Photographs
- Audio Recordings
- Video Recordings
- Sworn Testimony
- Depositions
- Interviews
- Investigative Reports
- Freedom of Information Act Records
An evidence format tag does not establish that every statement within the record is true.
Source Agencies and Repositories
Use a source tag when the originating agency or repository is important to understanding the material.
Examples include:
- United States Department of Justice
- Federal Bureau of Investigation
- Federal Bureau of Prisons
- House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
- United States Virgin Islands Department of Justice
- Palm Beach Police Department
- Epstein Data
The source tag identifies provenance. It does not imply that the agency endorses every statement contained in the record.
Event and Activity Topics
Use event tags to connect timeline entries and related articles.
Approved examples include:
- Travel
- Financial Activity
- Legal Proceedings
- Recruitment
- Property Activity
- Communications
- Employment
- Meetings
- Political Activity
- Donations
- Academic Connections
These tags describe the subject of the event. They do not classify the event as criminal.
Investigation and Project Tags
Use a stable investigation or research project name when multiple pages belong to the same body of work.
Examples include:
- Palm Beach Investigation
- Federal Epstein Investigation
- Maxwell Prosecution
- United States Virgin Islands Litigation
- Epstein Files Transparency Act Records
Do not create a new investigation tag for a single article or an unsupported theory.
Time Period Tags
Year and decade tags should be used only when they support an established timeline archive.
Examples include:
- 1990s
- 2000s
- 2019
Do not tag every year mentioned in an article. Use a time tag only when the period is central to the page.
Controlled Page Types
Every page should use the correct page type.
| Page type | Use |
|---|---|
| Person | A documented individual |
| Organization | A company, nonprofit, agency, institution, or other entity |
| Evidence | A record, file, photograph, recording, or evidence collection |
| Document | A specific identifiable document |
| Legal Case | A lawsuit, prosecution, appeal, or formal proceeding |
| Timeline | A chronological collection of sourced events |
| Location | A property, city, jurisdiction, or other material place |
| Investigation | A defined official or editorial investigation |
| Guide | A contributor, research, safety, or methodology guide |
Page type should normally be handled through the assigned template, category, or structured field. Do not duplicate it as a public tag unless the site taxonomy specifically requires it.
Person Role Labels
Person roles must be evidence based and applied cautiously.
| Role | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Survivor | A person who has publicly identified as a survivor or is identified as such in reliable records |
| Minor | A person documented as being under 18 during a relevant event |
| Known Perpetrator | A person whose relevant conduct is established by a conviction, admission, or authoritative finding |
| Associate | A person with a documented personal, professional, social, or financial connection |
| Staff or Employee | A person documented as working for an individual or organization |
| Public Figure | A public official, celebrity, executive, academic, or other person with an established public role |
| Witness | A person who gave testimony, a statement, or documented evidence |
| Unknown or Unconfirmed | A person whose identity or relationship has not been sufficiently verified |
These are controlled role labels. They should not automatically become public tags.
Sensitive Role Restrictions
The following rules apply:
- Do not label someone a perpetrator solely because the person appeared in a record.
- Do not label someone a coconspirator solely because another person used that description.
- Do not treat employment as proof of knowledge or participation.
- Do not treat social contact as evidence of criminal conduct.
- Do not publicly identify an anonymous survivor, minor, or protected witness.
- Do not convert an allegation into a factual role label.
- Require a second editor for serious or potentially defamatory classifications.
When evidence supports more than one role, record each role separately and explain the dates and evidence in the article.
Claim Status Labels
Claim status describes the strength and condition of a particular claim. It does not describe the entire person or page.
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Verified | Directly established by reliable primary evidence |
| Corroborated | Supported by multiple independent sources |
| Supported | Backed by credible evidence but not conclusively established |
| Alleged | Asserted by an identified source but not established as fact |
| Contested | Disputed by another source or contradicted by material evidence |
| Unresolved | Evidence is incomplete or does not permit a conclusion |
| Unverified | The source or claim has not been adequately authenticated |
| Disproved | Reliable evidence establishes that the claim is false |
Apply claim status to the specific statement being evaluated. A page may contain claims with different statuses.
Do not apply a single “Verified” tag to an entire page when only one limited fact has been verified.
Legal Status Labels
Legal status must reflect the current and precisely documented procedural position.
Approved labels include:
- No Known Proceeding
- Civilly Alleged
- Civil Defendant
- Settled Without Admission
- Criminally Charged
- Charges Dismissed
- Acquitted
- Convicted
- Conviction Under Appeal
- Pardoned
- Sentence Commuted
Always identify:
- The jurisdiction
- The case or docket
- The relevant date
- The specific claims or charges
- Whether the status later changed
- Whether a settlement included an admission
- Whether a conviction remains subject to appeal
Never blend an allegation, charge, civil settlement, judicial finding, acquittal, or conviction into one general tag.
Legal status should normally remain a structured field. Public legal tags require editorial approval when they identify a living person.
Evidence Basis Labels
Evidence basis labels identify the kind of support underlying a statement or classification.
Approved labels include:
- Court Finding
- Sworn Testimony
- Survivor Account
- Government Record
- Law Enforcement Record
- Financial Record
- Communication Record
- Travel Record
- Employment Record
- Corporate Record
- Property Record
- Photograph or Recording
- Corroborated Reporting
Evidence basis is different from claim status.
For example, sworn testimony is an evidence basis. The testimony may still be corroborated, contested, unresolved, or disproved.
Involvement Levels
The Epstein Network Levels of Involvement Scale records the documented degree of a person’s involvement.
The scale must remain separate from public tags.
Do not create public tags such as:
- Level 0 Person
- Level 3 Associate
- Level 5 Coconspirator
- Guilty Associate
- Epstein Client
Involvement levels are structured editorial assessments. They can change when new evidence appears and must be accompanied by an evidence basis, confidence level, and explanation.
A level is not a criminal judgment.
EFTA Record Tagging
Documents released under the Epstein Files Transparency Act should be cited by their exact EFTA identifier and linked directly to Epstein Data.
Required EFTA Information
For each EFTA record, include:
- Exact EFTA identifier
- Direct Epstein Data link
- Document title or accurate description
- Page number when relevant
- Originating agency when known
- Release or publication date when known
- Explanation of what the record shows
- Explanation of what the record does not establish
When to Use an EFTA Tag
Use a general public tag such as EFTA Records or Epstein Files Transparency Act Records when the release collection is material to the article.
Do not create a separate WordPress tag for every individual EFTA identifier. The identifier belongs in the title, citation, evidence table, or structured document field.
An individual EFTA identifier may receive its own tag only when:
- Multiple pages substantially analyze the same record
- The record functions as a recurring collection or central source
- An editor approves the tag
- The tag archive will provide meaningful navigation
EFTA Verification Label
Use an internal EFTA Link Verification review label when:
- The identifier and linked record do not clearly match
- A page reference has not been checked
- The document appears incomplete
- The file has been replaced or moved
- The contributor relied on a screenshot instead of the complete record
Do not mark the verification complete until the linked file, identifier, and cited passage have been checked.
Sensitivity and Review Labels
Sensitivity and review labels are internal editorial controls unless the site specifically displays them.
Approved review labels include:
- Second Editor Review
- Legal Status Review
- Identity Verification
- EFTA Link Verification
- Citation Review
- Contradictory Evidence Review
- Survivor Privacy Review
- Minor Privacy Review
- Graphic Content Review
- Copyright Review
- Update Required
Second Editor Review
A second editor is required when a page:
- Makes or repeats a serious allegation about a living person
- Applies the Known Perpetrator role
- Discusses a possible coconspirator
- Changes a person’s involvement level
- Identifies a previously unnamed person
- Resolves disputed identities
- Uses contested or leaked material
- Publishes sensitive survivor information
- Changes a legal status
- Relies heavily on a single source
Review labels should be removed or marked complete only after the required check has occurred.
Naming and Capitalization Rules
Use consistent display names.
Capitalization
Use title case for public tag names:
- Financial Records
- Palm Beach Police Department
- United States Virgin Islands
- Sworn Testimony
Use the official capitalization of organizations, cases, programs, and legal captions.
Singular and Plural Forms
Use singular names for people, organizations, locations, and individual concepts:
- Witness
- Survivor
- Organization
- Property
Use plural names for collections of records or recurring document formats:
- Court Records
- Financial Records
- Flight Records
- Emails
- Photographs
Do not create both singular and plural versions.
Slugs
WordPress tag slugs should:
- Use lowercase letters
- Use numbers only when necessary
- Separate words with hyphens
- Avoid punctuation
- Avoid unnecessary abbreviations
- Remain stable after publication
Example:
- Display name:
United States Virgin Islands - Slug:
united-states-virgin-islands
Changing a live slug may break external and internal links. Slug changes require an appropriate redirect.
Punctuation
Avoid:
- Hashtags
- Decorative symbols
- Parenthetical accusations
- Quotation marks
- Commas
- Unnecessary initials
- Editorial commentary
Tags should be neutral labels, not sentences.
Duplicate and Synonym Handling
Before creating a tag, search for:
- Singular and plural forms
- Acronyms
- Former names
- Alternate spellings
- Nicknames
- Legal and common organization names
- Existing person pages
- Existing case captions
- Existing location names
Select one canonical tag.
Examples of duplicates that should not coexist include:
| Duplicate forms | Canonical approach |
|---|---|
| FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation | Use Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| USVI and U.S. Virgin Islands | Use United States Virgin Islands |
| Flight Log and Flight Logs | Use Flight Records |
| E mail and Email | Use Emails |
| JP Morgan and JPMorgan Chase | Use the verified organization name |
| Little St. James and Little Saint James | Use the established property name |
Alternate terminology belongs in the tag description, article text, redirect system, or SEO metadata.
Merging Existing Tags
When duplicate tags already exist:
- Identify the canonical tag.
- Review every page using the duplicate.
- Reassign those pages to the canonical tag.
- Confirm that the canonical archive is complete.
- Add a redirect if the former tag had a public archive.
- Remove the duplicate tag.
- Record the taxonomy change.
WordPress states that deleting a tag does not delete the posts carrying it. However, deleting a tag before reassignment can still damage navigation and create broken archive links.
Prohibited Tags
Do not create or apply tags that:
- Declare guilt without an authoritative legal basis
- Present allegations as established fact
- Use insults or inflammatory descriptions
- Speculate about sexual conduct
- Identify an anonymous survivor or minor
- Reveal protected personal information
- Assert that someone was an Epstein client without verified evidence
- Treat a flight entry as proof of criminal activity
- Treat an address book entry as proof of a relationship
- Treat a photograph as proof of knowledge or participation
- Treat employment as proof of complicity
- Treat a donation or meeting as proof of a conspiracy
- Repeat unsupported internet rumors
- Promote a political narrative unrelated to the evidence
- Describe disputed material as confirmed
- Combine claim status with a person’s identity
Examples of prohibited or restricted labels include:
- Guilty
- Pedophile
- Trafficker
- Coconspirator
- Client
- Cover Up Participant
- Complicit
- Criminal Associate
These terms may appear in accurately attributed reporting about an allegation, charge, quotation, or finding. They must not be used as editorial tags unless the classification is supported by an authoritative record and approved through the required review process.
Page Specific Tagging Workflows
Person Pages
Select tags for:
- Canonical person name
- Material organizations
- Relevant cases
- Material locations
- Evidence formats central to the page
- Relevant investigation series
Then complete the structured fields for:
- Person role
- Claim status
- Legal status
- Involvement level
- Evidence basis
- Sensitivity
- Review requirements
Do not use every person mentioned on the page as a tag.
Evidence Pages
Select tags for:
- Evidence format
- Originating agency
- Relevant case
- Material location
- Investigation or release collection
- Principal subjects substantially discussed
Record the exact EFTA identifier in the document field or citation, not automatically as a tag.
Legal Case Pages
Select tags for:
- Official case name
- Court and jurisdiction
- Proceeding type
- Principal organizations
- Evidence formats central to the case
- Related investigation
Do not tag every person named in a pleading. Names may appear because of background, hearsay, discovery requests, contact lists, or unrelated references.
Timeline Pages
Select tags for:
- Time period
- Location
- Event type
- Case or investigation
- Material organizations
- Principal subjects
Apply tags to the timeline as a whole. Individual entries should retain their own citations and event classifications.
Organization Pages
Select tags for:
- Canonical organization name
- Organization type
- Relevant jurisdiction
- Legal proceedings
- Financial or corporate records
- Material properties
- Related investigations
Do not imply that an entire organization shared the knowledge or conduct of a particular employee.
Investigation Pages
Select tags for:
- Investigation name
- Responsible agency
- Jurisdiction
- Relevant cases
- Evidence collections
- Material locations
- Defined research project
Do not create investigation tags for unsupported theories or loosely connected events.
Tag Selection Workflow
Before publication, complete the following steps.
- Confirm the page type.
- Select the correct category.
- Identify the page’s principal subject.
- Search the existing tag list.
- Select the canonical person, organization, case, or location tags.
- Add only material evidence format tags.
- Add the source agency when provenance is important.
- Add an investigation or project tag when applicable.
- Complete claim status separately.
- Complete legal status separately.
- Complete person role and involvement level separately.
- Check privacy and sensitivity requirements.
- Verify every EFTA identifier and direct link.
- Remove duplicative, speculative, or unnecessary tags.
- Request a second editor when required.
- Preview the public tag archives before publishing.
- Record the last reviewed date.
Tag Quality Test
Before saving a tag, ask:
- Is the tag directly supported by the article?
- Does the tag describe the subject neutrally?
- Does an approved equivalent already exist?
- Will the tag connect this page to other useful pages?
- Is this information better placed in a structured field?
- Could the tag imply guilt or wrongdoing?
- Could it expose a survivor, minor, witness, or private person?
- Does the tag confuse an allegation with a finding?
- Does the tag confuse an evidence type with claim status?
- Would a reasonable reader understand why the tag appears?
If any answer creates doubt, pause and request editorial review.
Common Tagging Errors
Tag Stuffing
Adding every word, person, location, or organization mentioned in an article produces noisy archives and weakens navigation.
One Page Tags
Creating a new tag for every article leads to thousands of archives containing only one page. Use an existing broader tag unless the subject is likely to recur.
Guilt by Association
A person tag records that the person is materially discussed. It does not establish criminal involvement.
Status Blending
“Named,” “accused,” “charged,” “found liable,” and “convicted” are not equivalent. Record the exact status.
Source and Claim Confusion
A government record is a source type. Its contents may still include allegations, hearsay, errors, denials, or unresolved information.
Privacy Failures
Tags can expose names through archives, search results, feeds, and metadata even when the visible article uses cautious wording.
Unreviewed New Tags
Creating a new sensitive tag without checking the existing taxonomy can introduce duplicates, defamatory wording, or inconsistent classifications.
Outdated Status
Legal, evidentiary, and review labels must be updated when new records materially change the page.
Tag Audits
Editors should periodically review the tag system for:
- Duplicate names
- Misspellings
- Abandoned tags
- One page archives
- Broken tag links
- Outdated legal status
- Unsupported role labels
- Unverified identities
- Inconsistent capitalization
- Singular and plural duplicates
- Sensitive names
- Accusatory terminology
- Missing descriptions
- Unverified EFTA links
Do not delete or rename an established tag without checking every page and archive that uses it.
Material taxonomy changes should be recorded in the editorial log.
Questions
Does a tag prove that a person participated in wrongdoing?
No. A tag is a navigation and classification tool.
Should every person named in a document receive a tag?
No. Tag only people who are materially discussed or central to the page.
Can an allegation be used as a tag?
The subject of an allegation may be classified, but the tag must not present the allegation as fact. Serious allegations require precise attribution and editorial review.
Should every EFTA identifier become a tag?
No. Use the identifier in the title, evidence table, citation, or document field. Create an identifier tag only when multiple pages substantially depend on the same record.
Are categories and tags interchangeable?
No. Categories provide broad organization. Tags connect specific subjects across categories.
Are tags the same as SEO keywords?
No. SEO keywords help search presentation. Tags create public site relationships and archives.
Can a person have more than one role?
Yes, when each role is independently supported and the dates and context are explained.
Can claim status change?
Yes. Update the status and article when new evidence confirms, contradicts, or disproves a claim.
Can legal status change?
Yes. Charges may be dismissed, cases may settle, convictions may be appealed, and rulings may be reversed. Record the date and current status.
Should involvement levels appear as public tags?
No. They are structured editorial assessments and must not be presented as guilt labels.
Can contributors create new tags?
Contributors may create routine, neutral tags after searching the existing taxonomy. Sensitive, accusatory, legal status, identity, and role tags require editorial approval.
What should happen when two tags mean the same thing?
Select the canonical tag, migrate the affected pages, preserve necessary redirects, and remove the duplicate.
Should acronyms be separate tags?
Usually not. Use the full canonical name and place the acronym in the article or tag description.
Can anonymous survivors receive person tags?
No. Do not create tags that expose or help infer protected identities.
Should a photograph create tags for everyone pictured?
No. Tag only verified and materially relevant subjects. A photograph alone does not establish the nature of a relationship.
Does appearing in a flight record justify a criminal tag?
No. A travel record may document travel, but it does not by itself establish knowledge, intent, or criminal conduct.
Does being an employee justify an associate or coconspirator tag?
Employment may support a Staff or Employee classification. It does not automatically establish complicity or conspiracy.
Should contradictory evidence receive a tag?
Use Contradictory Evidence when the page substantially analyzes a meaningful conflict between sources. Do not use it for minor wording differences.
When is a second editor required?
A second editor is required for serious allegations, sensitive identity decisions, legal status changes, perpetrator classifications, contested records, and other potentially harmful conclusions.
How often should tags be reviewed?
Review them whenever the page receives a material update and during scheduled taxonomy audits.
Related EpsteinWiki Guides
- Formatting Rules
- Upload Instructions
- Content Classification Guide
- Editorial Standards
- Evidence Framework
- Levels of Involvement Scale
- Handling Contradictory Evidence
- Identifying Co-Conspirators
- Ethical Naming of Public Figures
- Corrections Policy
Sources
- WordPress Documentation: Posts Tags Screen
- WordPress Documentation: Posts Categories Screen
- WordPress Documentation: Taxonomies
- United States Department of Justice: Epstein Library
- Epstein Data
Editorial Note
EpsteinWiki tags are tools for research, discovery, and accountability. They must never be used to manufacture associations, intensify allegations, expose protected people, or replace evidence.
Contributors must distinguish what a source contains from what the source proves. The appearance of a person’s name in a document, photograph, contact list, calendar, email, financial record, or flight record does not by itself establish criminal knowledge or participation.
When a classification could materially affect a living person, survivor, minor, witness, or private individual, accuracy and harm prevention take priority over speed.
Last reviewed: September 6, 2026