<h4>What is the Organization For Transformative Works?</h4> The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a <a href="http://transformativeworks.org/glossary/13#term438" class="glossary-term">nonprofit</a> organization established by fans to serve the interests of fans by providing access to and preserving the history of fanworks and fan culture in its myriad forms. We believe that fanworks are transformative and that transformative works are legitimate. The OTW represents a practice of transformative fanwork historically rooted in a primarily female culture. The OTW will preserve the record of that history as we pursue our mission while encouraging new and non-mainstream expressions of cultural identity within fandom. You can find out more about the OTW on our main website under <a href="http://transformativeworks.org/about/">About the OTW</a>. <h4>What is the Archive of Our Own?</h4> The Archive of Our Own offers a noncommercial and nonprofit central hosting place for fanfiction and (long-term) other transformative fanworks: i.e. it is free to use and does not make any money. It is multifannish, and built on open-source archiving software designed and built by and for fans. It is hosted on servers owned by the OTW, and therefore not vulnerable to a commercial hosting company deciding they don't like our fanworks. <h4>Who built the Archive?</h4> The Archive was entirely built and designed by volunteers from fandom. Many of our volunteers started out with no knowledge of coding / design / documentations and learnt their skills on the project. We think it's a pretty amazing achievement! If you'd like to join in, please volunteer via the OTW's <a href="http://transformativeworks.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer">Volunteers page</a>. <h4>What's the Archive's position on copyright and the legal status of fanworks?</h4> For details of the Archive's position on transformative works, please see 'What We Believe: point 2' and 'Content Policy: section IVD' in the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos">Terms of Service</a>. 2009-10-17T19:49:08-04:00 1 1 2009-12-19T20:27:16-05:00 <h4>How can I get help and support on the Archive?</h4> If you're looking for help, you may find the answer to your question in this FAQ. You can also check out <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/known_issues">Known Issues</a> to see if your problem has already been reported. If these resources don't help, then please submit a request for feedback via our <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">Support and Feedback Form</a> and our support team will get back to you as soon as possible. It will help if you can be as specific as possible about your problem. <h4>How can I tell you what I think about the Archive?</h4> We love hearing feedback and suggestions! The Archive is by fans, for fans and we want to meet your needs. Let us know what you think via our <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">Support and Feedback Form</a>, good or bad (we like to hear about the good things too, though!) 2009-12-19T20:28:38-05:00 2 2 2009-12-19T20:28:38-05:00 <h4>How do I create an account?</h4> <ul><li>To create an account, you need an <a href="#invitations">invitation</a>. Once you receive an invitation email, click the link provided in the email to go to the account creation page. If you've been provided with an invitation link by another user, clicking this link should take you to the right place.</li></ul> <h4>Will my user name be publicly displayed?</h4> Yes, so be sure to choose something you're happy for others to see! Although you can use <a href="#pseuds">pseuds</a> to post under different names on the Archive, these will all be tied to your main user name, and it will be displayed with them. <h4>What characters can I have in my account user name?</h4> You can have letters, numbers and underscores in your user name. It must begin and end with a letter or a number. You can't have spaces or any other characters, but if you would like more flexibility, you can create a <a href="#pseuds">pseud</a>. Please note that even if you use pseuds, your user name will be displayed publically, so be sure that you choose one you're happy for others to see! <h4>How do I verify my account?</h4> After you have created an account, you will be sent an email with an activation url. Follow the link in the email to activate your account. If you don't do so within 48 hours, your registration will expire and you'll have to go through the creation process again. <h4>How do I change my email address?</h4> You can change the email associated with your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under <a href="#myhome">My Home </a>. <h4>How do I change my password?</h4> You can change the password for your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under <a href="#myhome">My Home</a>. For security reasons, you'll need to enter your old password first. <h4>How do I delete my account?</h4> You can delete your account on the Edit Profile page, which you'll find under <a href="#myhome">My Home</a>. Please note that this is a permanent action and there is no way of restoring a deleted account. If you'd like to delete your account but would still like people to be able to read your works, please consider <a href="#orphaning">Orphaning</a>. <h4>Can I change my account name?</h4> It is not currently possible to change your account name once it has been created, so please choose it carefully! However, you can use other names on the Archive by creating <a href="#pseuds">pseuds</a>. We are hoping to introduce a rename feature in a future revision of the Archive, so stay tuned for more details! <h4>How can I recover my lost username or password?</h4> You can recover a lost password via the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/passwords/new" title="password recovery form"> password recovery form</a>. If you've forgotten your user name, entering your email address will retrieve this as well as your password. Your details will be emailed to you at the email address associated with your Archive account. <h4>How do I create an account with OpenID?</h4> You can choose to use an <a href="http://openid.net/" title="OpenID">OpenID</a> instead of a password. When you're creating your account, just click the link that says 'Use OpenID' and you will be prompted to enter your OpenID. 2009-12-19T20:30:40-05:00 3 3 2009-12-19T20:30:40-05:00 <h4>How do I get an invitation code?</h4> Invitation codes will be distributed on a regular basis depending on how many new users the site can support. You can get an invitation code in two ways: <ul><li>You can add your name to the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/invite_requests">Invitation Queue</a>, and we'll email you an invitation as soon as the site can support more users. This will be on a first-come, first-served basis. We've done it this way so that you won't have to rely on knowing an existing Archive user to get an account.</li> <li>You can receive an invitation code from an existing Archive user. We'll periodically give people with accounts on the Archive some invitation codes to hand out as they'd like, so that people can enjoy spreading the word and build their fannish networks.</li></ul> <h4>Why can't I create an account without an invitation code?</h4> We're using the invitation code system so that the Archive can grow in a controlled manner. We need to add new users gradually so that our account numbers don't grow beyond what our hardware, bandwidth, help and support can cope with. This helps us ensure that everyone using the Archive gets the best possible experience. <h4>How long will it take for me to get an account?</h4> If you've requested an invitation code, you can check where you are in the queue. Just enter your email address on the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/invite_requests">Invitations page</a>, and you'll receive an estimate of when you will receive your invitation, based on the rate at which we're sending out invitations and the number you are in the queue. Exactly how many invitations we can send out per day will depend on how well the site responds to the extra users. <h4>I already have an account. How do I give an invitation to someone else?</h4> On your user homepage (which you can get to by clicking 'My Home' when you're logged in), you'll see a new tab called 'Invitations'. You can manage all your invitations here, and if you've run out then you can request some more. To send an invitation to someone, just enter their email address and select the invitation you'd like to use. They'll be sent an automated email. You'll be able to keep track of which invitations have been used on your 'Manage Invitations' page. If you want to share a code without sending an email, then go to 'Manage invitations' and you'll see an option to 'Copy and use' your existing codes. Click on this to copy the invitations link - it's the link you need to share. (Just sharing the plain text code won't work.) Please note that if you don't allow your browser to access your clipboard, this automatic link won't work. However, you can still right-click on the link and copy it manually. 2009-12-19T20:31:48-05:00 4 4 2009-12-19T20:31:48-05:00 <h4>What is My Home?</h4> 'My Home' is (surprisingly enough) your home page on the Archive, where you can manage all your preferences, pseuds and creations (works and bookmarks). You get to it by clicking on 'My Home' in the top left-hand corner, or on your user name, when you're logged in. <h4>What can I manage from My Home?</h4> You can manage the following from My Home: <ul><li>Pseuds: The pseuds option at the top of the left-hand navigation box allows you to choose which pseud to work under.(Read more about <a href="#pseuds">pseuds</a>.)</li> <li>My dashboard: Displays the most recent works, series and bookmarks for the pseud you are working under. You can post a new work or edit your profile.</li> <li>My works: Shows all works created by the pseud you are working under. You can edit the works from here.</li> <li>My drafts: Shows all drafts created by the pseud you are working under. You can edit and post the drafts from here.</li> <li>My series: Shows all series created by the pseud you are working under. You can edit the series from here.</li> <li>My bookmarks: Shows all bookmarks created by the pseud you are working under. You can edit the bookmarks from here.</li> <li>My collections: Shows all collections created by the pseud you are working under. You can edit the collections and create new ones from here.</li> <li>My gifts: Shows all works that have been written for you as part of a gift exchange.</li> <li>My inbox: Shows all messages sent to you via the Archive - Admin announcements, comments on your works, etc. You can delete and reply to messages from here. If you want to turn comment notification emails off, you can do so in Preferences.</li> <li>My reading history: Shows your reading history on the Archive. If you want to turn reading history off, you can do so in Preferences.</li> <li>My subscriptions: This feature will allow you to see and edit subscriptions, but it's not built yet! Stay tuned! </li> <li>My preferences: Allows you to manage overall preferences for the way you use the site. </li> </ul> 2009-12-19T20:32:44-05:00 5 5 2009-12-19T20:32:44-05:00 <h4>What is a profile?</h4> Your profile belongs to your main user name (the one you log into the Archive with) and displays all the information you choose to enter on your profile page. It will always show your pseuds and the date you joined the Archive. You aren't required to show any other information unless you want to. You can use your profile page and bio to share information about which fandoms you've been in, what kind of fic you write, and anything else you'd like. <h4>How do I edit my profile?</h4> You can view and edit your profile by going to <a href="#myhome">My Home</a> and choosing 'Profile'. 'Edit My Profile' displays at the bottom of the Profile page. <h4>What does my profile contain? Who can see the information on it?</h4> Anyone can see the information you choose to display on your profile, whether they have an account on the Archive or not, but you can decide how much information to include in it. Your profile displays your pseuds and the date you became a member of the Archive by default. You can choose to enter your date of birth, a title, your location, and other information about you. <h4>How do I upload an icon?</h4> You can't yet add a user icon. Icons are planned as a future enhancement - in the meantime we're just using placeholder images to help us with site layout. Sorry! 2009-12-19T20:33:43-05:00 6 6 2009-12-19T20:33:43-05:00 <h4>What is a pseud?</h4> Pseuds are additional names associated with your user account. They can be used for a number of different purposes: unlike usernames, they don't need to be unique, so you can go by any name you'd like; they allow people to engage in role-playing without having to create multiple user accounts; they allow people who've posted under multiple names over the years or in different fandoms to gather their work together under one account while retaining the author names that were originally associated with those works. Your pseuds are what will appear on works, series, bookmarks and comments. <h4>How do I add a new pseud?</h4> To add a new pseud, go to the 'Manage My Pseuds' option under 'Edit Profile' and choose 'New Pseud'. <h4>What characters can I have in my pseud name?</h4> Pseuds have more flexibility than usernames: they can contain letters, numbers, underscores, spaces, and dashes. They must contain at least one letter or number. <h4>What is a default pseud?</h4> Your default pseud is selected automatically when you post a new work or a comment. By default, your user name is set as your default pseud, but you can choose to make another pseud the default. <h4>How do I set a default pseud?</h4> When you create an account, your user name is set as your default pseud. If you'd like to change this default, go to the 'Manage My Pseuds' option under Edit Profile, and edit the pseud you want to make as default. When you make a pseud your default pseud, this only affects works posted after you make the change. So, anything you posted under your previous default pseud remains under that name unless you specifically change the pseud on that work. <h4>How do I choose which pseud to post under?</h4> When you post a new work, you'll see an option to 'Select author/pseudonym(s)'. Simply select the pseud you want to use, and post as normal. When you post a comment, you'll see a 'Name' field. Just select the pseud you want to use from the drop-down box, and comment as normal. <h4>How do I edit a pseud?</h4> You can edit your pseud and pseud description by going to the 'Manage My Pseuds' option under 'Edit Profile'. If you change the pseud itself, then the name displayed on all works posted under that pseud will also change. The exception is your 'fallback pseud' - the one created from your username - which can't be changed. <h4>Someone else has the same pseud as me! How did this happen?</h4> Unlike user names, pseuds are not unique. This is to allow users to reflect the names they have used on different services over the years, even if someone else used the same name on a different service. It also allows for easier roleplaying - we can have many Harry Potters! To ensure that different users with the same pseud cannot be confused, user names are displayed in brackets next to the pseud. <h4>Why does my account name display in brackets next to my pseud?</h4> Unlike user names, pseuds are not unique. To ensure that different users with the same pseud cannot be confused, user names are displayed in brackets next to the pseud. The only exception is when the user name and the pseud are the same. For example: <ul><li>Suzy_Fangirl has two pseuds: Suzy_Fangirl, created from her user name, and Suzy Fangirl.</li> <li>If she posts using Suzy_Fangirl, it displays like this: Suzy_Fangirl</li> <li>If she posts using her other pseud, it displays like this: Suzy Fangirl (Suzy_Fangirl)</li></ul> <h4>What happens if I delete a pseud?</h4> If you delete a pseud, then all works and comments left under that pseud will automatically be assigned to your default pseud. You will be offered the option of assigning your bookmarks to your default pseud, or deleting the bookmarks under the deleted pseud. <h4>What is a pseud description?</h4> A pseud description is a short explanation identifying your pseud. For example, you may want to note which other sites you have used that name on, or which fandoms you write under that pseud. If you'd like to give more details about yourself, you can put these under your user profile. You can add or edit your pseud description on your user dashboard under 'Manage My Pseuds'. By default, your user name is set as a default pseud and the pseud description will be 'Default pseud'. Even if you don't want to use other pseuds, you may want to change this pseud description. <h4>What HTML can I use in my pseud description?</h4> You can style the text in your pseud description using html tags: a, b, em, href, i, strong. 2009-12-19T20:35:46-05:00 7 7 2009-12-19T20:35:46-05:00 <h4>What is a work?</h4> At the moment, 'work' on the Archive refers to individual fanfics. In the future, works will also encompass other kinds of fanwork (such as vids and fanart), which is why we use the generic term, but we haven't yet built this functionality. <h4>How do I post a new work?</h4> You must have an account on the Archive and be logged in to post a new work. You can click on the 'Post New' link at the top left-hand corner of the screen, or you can select this option from your dashboard at 'My Home'. This will bring up the 'Post New Work' form - just fill in the required information and hit post! <h4>How do I import a work?</h4> If you already have your work posted on another site, you can import it rather than copying and pasting. You can read more about importing in <a href="#importing">Importing and Mass Editing</a>. <h4>What information can I include on a work?</h4> You can include a wide range of information on a work. If there's not a specific field for the information you want to add, remember you can use the summary and notes to enter anything you want. <ul><li>The following are required fields when posting a work: Rating, Warnings, Fandom, Title, and Story Text. (You can select 'Not Rated' and 'Choose Not To Warn', but you can't leave those fields blank - for more information on <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#ratings_and_warnings">Ratings and Warnings</a> see the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq">TOS FAQ</a> .)</li> <li>Your author name appears on the work by default; you can change which name it displays under by selecting a pseud.</li> <li>The date the work was posted is entered by default; if you want to display a different date, you can opt to backdate the work.</li> <li>You can also add a Category, Characters, Pairings, Tags, Notes (displayed at the beginning and/or end of the work), a Summary, and a link to a related work on the Archive. </li> <li>If the work is part of a series, you can add or create a series.</li> <li>If the work was written with someone else, you can add a co-author.</li> </ul> <h4>How do I edit a work?</h4> <ul><li>When you are logged in, you'll see an 'Edit' link on your own works anywhere they appear on the Archive. This displays at the bottom left-hand corner in the 'blurb' view, and on the top right-hand corner when you're looking at an individual work you own. Just click the link and you'll be taken to the 'Edit Work' form, where you can make any changes you'd like. Changes will not be saved until you hit 'Update'.</li> </ul> <h4>How do I delete a work?</h4> <ul><li>When you are logged in, you'll see a 'Delete' link on the top right-hand corner when you are looking at an individual work you own. </li> <li>If you edit a work, you'll see a 'Delete Work' link in the top right-hand corner of the 'Edit Work' form.</li> <li>Please delete with caution - deleted works cannot be retrieved! If you would like people to be able to read your work, but you no longer want your name associated with it, you could consider Orphaning.</li> </ul> <h4>How do I save a work as a draft?</h4> <ul><li>When you preview a work before posting, a draft will be saved to the database. If you choose 'Cancel' instead of 'Post', then the work will be saved to your drafts, which you can find under 'My Home'. Drafts are saved for one week from creation, after which they are automatically cleared from the database.</li> </ul> <h4>How do I control who can see my works?</h4> <ul><li>You can choose to make your posted works public, or restrict them to logged-in users of the Archive. If you'd like to restrict your works, just tick the option 'Only show your work to registered users' on the 'Post / Edit Work' form. </li> <li>Drafts are only visible to you.</li></ul> <h4>How do I make a link to another work in the Archive?</h4> <ul><li>If your work is inspired by or a remix of another work in the Archive, simply paste the url into the 'Post / Edit Work' form and the association will show up on your posted work. This functionality is not currently available for works hosted on other sites.</li> </ul> <h4>What is the Rich Text Editor? What is the HTML Editor?</h4> There are two options for posting works and chapters on the Archive: <ul><li>The Rich Text Editor lets you add formatting, links and pictures to text without using HTML tags. It also has an option for pasting from Word which will preserve some of your Word formatting, although please note that this is buggy. The Rich Text Editor is only available for your story text.</li> <li>The HTML editor allows you to change the look of your text with HTML tags. It can be used in any place you can submit text, although some fields permit only a small subsection of allowed tags. You can see a <a href="#general">full list of the allowed HTML</a> on the Archive.</li> </ul> Please note that if you paste in a work in HTML mode, then switch to the Rich Text editor, then your line breaks will be lost unless you hardcoded them in. This is a known bug - we're working to fix it, but it's tricky, so it's a long term fix. <h4>What HTML can be used on works?</h4> You can use HTML tags to style text on works. The allowed HTML is as follows: a, abbr, abbr, acronym, address, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, cite, cite, class, code, col, colgroup, datetime, dd, del, dfn, div, dl, dt, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, height, hr, href, i, img, ins, kbd, li, name, ol, p, pre, q, samp, small, span, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, title, tr, tt, u, ul, var, width <h4>How do I add a chapter to a work?</h4> Once you have created a work, you will see an 'Add chapter' link on the top right-hand corner when you view or edit that individual work. <h4>How do I indicate that a work will have more than one chapter? </h4> When you create a new work, you can choose to mark it as a chaptered fic by ticking the box next to 'Does this work have multiple chapters?' This will give you the option to say how many chapters the work has (if you know already) and enter a title for your first chapter. The total number of chapters will be displayed on the work, and until you have posted all your chapters it will be marked as a work-in-progress. <h4>How do I add a coauthor to a work?</h4> You can list another Archive account holder as a coauthor on your work. On the 'Post / Edit Work' form, you'll see an option to 'Add coauthors'. Just type the name of the user you want to add as coauthor (it will suggest names as you type). You can only add an existing Archive account holder as a coauthor - sorry! You can still list any other coauthors in your notes. <h4>When you're coauthoring a work, what does each author have permission to do? </h4> Any author of a work can edit or delete the work and add new authors. You can't remove someone else as a coauthor, though, or orphan the entire work. When you add a new coauthor, that person will receive a notification email and have the option to take her name off the work. <h4>Can I post my artwork on the archive? </h4> You can't upload images to our server at the moment, but you're welcome to embed images hosted elsewhere. <h4>Can I post my vids on the archive? </h4> Sadly, neither video embedding nor uploading of videos is enabled right now. A vid archive is planned as a future project, but this is some way in the future. 2009-12-19T20:37:57-05:00 8 8 2009-12-19T20:37:57-05:00 <h4>What is importing?</h4> Importing allows you to automatically upload works which are already posted on another site. It will fill in title, summary and other metadata, although this isn't a perfect process, so it's best to check the results afterwards! Importing is in the early stages of development, so it may be a bit buggy. Results will vary with different sites: if you find it doesn't work well then please <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">submit a support request</a> letting us know what url you're trying to import from. <h4>How do I import a single work?</h4> <ul><li>On the 'Post New Work' form, click on 'Upload From an Existing URL?' and you'll see the import form. </li> <li>Select the 'Works' option at the bottom of the form. </li> <li>Paste in the url for your work, then click 'Import'.</li> <li>Your work will be uploaded.</li></ul> Your imported work is posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a preview of the imported work. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like, then hit 'Post' to publish the work to the Archive. <h4>How do I import a chaptered work?</h4> <ul> <li>On the 'Post New Work' form, click on 'Upload From an Existing URL?' and you'll see the import form.</li> <li>If you're importing a chaptered work from FanFiction.net: <ul><li>Just paste in the url of the first chapter as if it was a single work, and it will automagically import the whole thing!</li></ul> </li> <li>If you're importing a chaptered work from elsewhere: <ul><li> Select the 'Chapters in a single work' option at the bottom of the form.</li> <li>Paste in the urls for your chapters, each url on a new line. You can import a maximum of one hundred chapters at a time.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Click 'Import': your chaptered work will be uploaded.</li> </ul> Your imported work is posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a preview of the imported chapters. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like, then hit 'Post' to publish the work to the Archive. <h4>How do I import multiple works in one go?</h4> <ul><li>On the 'Post New Work' form, click on 'Upload From an Existing URL?' and you'll see the import form. </li> <li>Select the 'Works' option at the bottom of the form. </li> <li>Paste in the urls for your work, each one on a new line. You can import a maximum of ten works at once. </li> <li> Click 'Import': your work will be uploaded.</li></ul> Your imported works are posted automatically under your default pseud. Once the import is complete, you'll be taken to a list of the newly imported works. You should check to see that the import hasn't introduced any oddities and make any other edits that you'd like. If you prefer, you can edit multiple works at the same time, either from this list or from your works page. <h4>How do I edit multiple works at once?</h4> When you import multiple works at once, you'll be taken to an edit page listing all the newly imported works. If you want to edit multiple works at any other point, go to 'My Works' on your User Home and click 'Edit Multiple Works'. You'll be taken to an edit page listing all the works under your pseud. Check the boxes next to the works you want to edit and hit 'Edit Checked'. You'll be able to edit the basic metadata for these works. Please note that making edits in this form will replace all the old data. 2009-12-19T20:42:48-05:00 9 9 2009-12-19T20:42:48-05:00 <h4>What is a tag?</h4> A tag is a keyword or phrase that you add to your works to make them easier to find. On the Archive, we use tags for the majority of the information (metadata) attached to works. Category, Warnings, Rating, Fandom, Characters, Pairings, and what is actually shown as Tags are all treated as tags. If you click on a tag, the Archive will automatically search for all Works and Bookmarks which use that tag. Tags on the Archive work a little differently to those you may have encountered on other sites: for more information please see 'How do tags work on the Archive?' <h4>What format can tags have?</h4> <ul><li>Tags are up to 42 characters, comma separated, and can include letters, numbers and punctuation.</li> <li>They can have spaces - so you can put <strong>Harry Potter</strong> rather than <strong>Harry_Potter</strong>.</li> <li>They can't have commas - tags are comma separated at input, so if you include a comma, then the database assumes you're making a new tag (apologies to fans of 'At Swim, Two Boys' and other comma-loving fandoms). We are also experiencing some problems with tags which include umlauts, accents or other special characters - if you have problems with inputting tags which include these then please input a version without the special characters for now, and submit a <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">support request</a> to let us know we need to fix this when our code can handle it.</li> </ul> <h4>How do tags work on the Archive?</h4> The tags are a bit more organized than you'll find on sites like Delicious. For those of you who are metadata-inclined, we're using a sort of hybrid of folksonomy (user-defined tags) and classification. What this means is: <ul> <li>In most fields, our users can enter any tag, in exactly the form they want it.</li> <li>Behind the scenes, our team of 'tag wranglers' classify and make connections between tags, building a structure which adds extra meaning and helps make tags as useful as possible to all users.</li> <li>When there are multiple versions of the same tag, tag wranglers will create a 'common' tag which all other versions are linked to. The 'common' tag is used to create our browse filters. For example: <ul><li>Users enter Harry/Snape, Snarry, Harry/Severus.</li> <li>Tag wranglers create Harry Potter/Severus Snape and mark all the other versions as synonyms.</li> <li>Harry Potter/Severus Snape appears in filters and on works. Searching on this tag also finds all works tagged Harry/Snape, Snarry, Harry/Severus.</li> </ul> </li> <li>Tags are given relationships which put them in context. So, character tags <strong>John Sheppard</strong> and <strong>Rodney McKay</strong> 'belong' to the fandom tag <strong>Stargate Atlantis</strong>. Stargate Atlantis belongs to the category TV Shows.</li> <li>Some tags are 'ambiguous'. These are the tags which could mean more than one thing. For example, the tag <strong>Dean</strong> could refer to Dean Winchester in Supernatural, Dean Forester in Gilmore Girls, or a whole host of other Deans. We don't have a way of dealing with these yet, but in the future we are planning to introduce a special behind the scenes tag category called 'Ambiguity'. In this case, the tag wranglers will mark the tag as ambiguous but also hook it up to all the possible canonical tags it could refer to.</li> </ul> <h4>What is a tag wrangler?</h4> Tag wranglers are the team on the Archive who organize and categorize ('wrangle') tags behind the scenes. <h4>What is tag wrangling?</h4> Tag wrangling is the process of categorization and organization which takes place behind the scenes. It builds a structure which adds extra meaning and helps make tags as useful as possible to all users. <h4>What is a 'common' tag?</h4> A common tag is a tag which we use to build our search and browse features. Common tags are the fullest, most universal version of a tag, and all other versions are linked to it as synonyms. Common tags show up in our browse filters.<br /> <ul><li>For example, Lisa Cuddy/Gregory House would be a common tag. House/Cuddy and Huddy would be synonyms of that common tag, and searching on Lisa Cuddy/Gregory House would find works with those tags as well.</li> </ul> <h4>I tagged my fic as 'HP' and in the search filters and tag cloud I can only find 'Harry Potter' - why?</h4> In order to make searching, browsing and posting as easy and efficient as they can be, we're associating and streamlining tags (particularly fandom, pairing and character tags) that refer to the same things. The 'common' tag is the one which will display on the Archive tag cloud and be used in browse filters, but the tag you entered will always display on your work and will still be found in searches. <h4>Why do some tags appear with 'freeform' or 'character' after them?</h4> Each tag belongs to a category - Pairing, Character, Fandom, etc. Tag names must be unique, so if a tag already exists in one category, then when it is used in another category, the Archive will automatically add the name of the category. For example: <ul><li> Buffyfan1 puts 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' in as a fandom tag. A new tag is created.</li> <li>Buffyfan2 puts 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' in as a character tag. Oh noes - this tag name is taken and can't be reused! So, the Archive changes it to 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - character'.</li></ul> Result: <ul><li> XanderGirl5 can click on 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer - character' and find all fics which feature Buffy as a character.</li> <li>The Archive has unique tag names and so the database does not melt.</li> <li> Everyone is happy.</li> </ul> <h4>I just posted a work with a new fandom tag and it's not showing up under the category I expected on the 'Fandoms' page - why?</h4> When a new fandom tag is added to the Archive, it is automatically added to the category 'Uncategorized Fandoms'. If your fandom tag has not yet been 'wrangled', it should show up under there. If your tag isn't under 'Uncategorized Fandoms' and it's not under the category you expected (for example, you think it should be under 'TV Shows' and it's under 'Movies', it may mean that our tag wranglers made a mistake (they're only human!). Please contact the tag wrangling team via our Support Form and give them details of the problem and the url of the fic you used the tag on. <h4>What's the best way to tag my fic on the Archive?</h4> You can tag your fic however you want! Feel free to use the tags that show up in the dropdown, but if you use terminology not listed, use that instead! The idea of our tag wrangling system is that it embraces all the varieties of fannish descriptions but creates a bit of structure in the background. If you want to make life a bit easier for tag wranglers (and other users), then adding more information when things might be ambiguous is a good idea. <h4>Why won't my new threesome tag save?</h4> The character limit on the Archive is 42, and if your tag is longer than that, it won't save. This is so that our database doesn't become overloaded, but it does cause some problems with threesome and moresome pairing tags. We recommend that you enter threesomes using family names only - e.g. Ackles/McCoy/Padalecki rather than Jensen Ackles/Sandra McCoy/Jared Padalecki - or another unambiguous form which makes sense to you. Our tag wranglers have a way of fixing these up behind the scenes! <h4>How should I tag Real Person Fiction?</h4> Real person fiction is definitely welcome on the Archive! However, it presents our tag wranglers with a few problems in terms of categorizing it. Do we use fandom name? Network name? What about general groups of people, like "Canadian Actors", or historical figures? We have a plan for how to deal with these issues in future, but it requires some quite complex code. In the meantime, please do upload your RPF and tag it with whatever makes sense to you - but please bear with us if we aren't able to 'wrangle' it quite as well as you'd like. <h4>How should I tag crossovers?</h4> If your work is a crossover between two different fandoms, then please just enter both fandom names into the Fandom field, separated by commas. Don't separate with slashes, as this creates a tag which we can't wrangle into our search structure. Feel free to add <strong>Crossover</strong> as a freeform tag, though. <h4>I have another question about how to tag my fic.</h4> In general, if you're not sure how to tag your fic, just go with what makes sense to you and let the tag wranglers worry about how that fits into the Archive structure. You are the expert for what makes sense in your fandom - it's our job to worry about the technical details! 2009-12-19T20:45:27-05:00 10 10 2009-12-19T20:45:27-05:00 <h4>What are comments?</h4> Comments are replies to a work. A link to add a comment and read any existing comments appears at the bottom of all works. <h4>How do I post a comment?</h4> You can use the 'Add comment' link to post a comment on any work. This link opens a form with a text box where you can enter your comment. As well as adding new comments directly to a work, you can reply directly to someone else's comment by following the appropriate link in the comment. This link is labeled <em>Reply</em> by default. Comments on the Archive are threaded, so replies to comments will display immediately below the relevant comment. <h4>How do I identify myself when I comment?</h4> If you're logged in to the Archive when you post a comment, then your comment will be posted under your default pseud. If you'd like to post under another one of your pseuds, just select from the drop-down list. (Read more about <a href="#pseuds">Pseuds</a>.) If you don't have an account on the Archive, or you don't want to log in, then you just need to enter a name and a valid email address to post a comment. Your email address will not be published on the site, but we use it to make sure that you're a human being. If anyone replies to the comment you left, a copy of their comment will be sent to the address you used. <h4>How does comment threading work?</h4> You'll probably recognize comment threading from other sites such as Livejournal and Dreamwidth. Each reply to an entry starts a new thread, which may contain one comment or a group of them. If you reply to other comments, your replies will display directly below them. This means that a large collection of comments will appear as a tree, with several different branches indicating different parts of the conversation. The <em>Thread</em> function on each comment lets you view all the replies starting from that comment. <h4>What are the limits on comments?</h4> The maximum length for a comment is 4300 characters. If you try to enter a longer comment, then it won't be posted and you'll get an error message. You'll need to split the text up into two or more shorter comments. <h4>Can I use HTML in comments?</h4> You can use a limited range of html tags to style your text in comments. The allowed html for comments is: a, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, center, cite, code, del, em, href, i, img, ins, p, pre, q, small, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, u <h4>Can I edit or delete my comment?</h4> When you're logged in to your Archive account, you can delete any comment you left under that account. You can also edit any comment you left, unless someone has replied to it. An Edit and Delete link will automatically display on all comments you have control over. <h4>Can I get comments sent to me by email?</h4> By default, any comments left on your works will be emailed to you. You can turn off comment notification emails in your Preferences. If you leave a comment anywhere in the Archive while you're logged in, then you will receive an email notification any time someone replies to your comment. If you turn off comment notification emails in your Preferences, then replies to your comments will no longer be emailed to you. If you leave a comment while logged out, then replies to your comment will be emailed to you at the email address you provided when you left the comment. <h4>Can I edit or delete a comment made on one of my works?</h4> You cannot edit other people's comments. However, you can delete comments made on your works. When you are logged in, Delete links will automatically display on all comments you have control over. <h4>What is a spam comment? What can I do about spam?</h4> A spam comment is a comment automatically posted by a machine, often containing links to other websites or advertising. The same comment posted many different places where it isn't wanted can also be spam. If you receive a spam comment on one of your works, click the 'Spam' link to report it to us. This will screen the comment from other users. You need to click the 'Delete' link to delete it altogether. 2009-12-19T20:48:57-05:00 11 11 2009-12-19T20:48:57-05:00 <h4>Can I change the fonts the Archive is displayed in?</h4> It is not currently possible to choose a different font for the Archive, but adding more display options is high on our priority list. Please bear with us in the meantime. (If you think you could write a great skin for the Archive, we'd love to hear from you!) <h4>Can I change the Archive interface?</h4> It is not currently possible to choose a different interface for the Archive, but adding extra skins is high on our priority list. Please bear with us in the meantime. (If you think you could write a great skin for the Archive, we'd love to hear from you!) <h4>What are you doing to make the Archive accessible?</h4> Accessibility is a top priority for us, and we've done our best to make things work well for all users. We try to write clear, well-validated code which will respond well to different browser settings and play nicely with assistive technology. That said, we know that there is still a lot to be done, and we definitely intend to do it! We'll be helped in this by the Accessibility Research Centre, Teesside University (UK), who are kindly conducting an accessibility review for us. In the near future we'll be introducing skins for the Archive, which will offer more display options. If you encounter accessibility problems on the site, please let us know via the Support form. To help us understand and reproduce your problem, please be as specific as possible about the problem and your setup (browser settings, any assistive technology that may be relevant). Our philosophy is that the Archive of Our Own is for ALL fans, so we welcome feedback if we're not meeting your needs. 2009-12-19T20:51:49-05:00 12 12 2009-12-19T20:51:49-05:00 <h4>How can I search the Archive?</h4> You'll find the search box at the top right-hand corner of every page. Search automatically searches across all fields, including the full text of works. If your search returns more than 1000 results, you will be asked to enter more specific search terms before any results can be displayed. In future, we plan to refine our search function more so that you can choose to search across specific fields. <h4>How can I filter works on the Archive?</h4> Whenever you view a list of works, you'll be offered options to help you filter those results down to just the ones you want. Just select the options you want in the grey browse filters on the right-hand side of the page, and click filter works. This will find works which include <strong>all</strong> the options you checked. <h4>How can I find works or bookmarks by a particular user?</h4> If you click on a user's name anywhere in the Archive, you'll be taken to their homepage, where you can see their works and profile. You can go to the 'People' page (in the main navigation of the Archive) to see a list of all users. Click on the name you want to see their works and profile. You can use the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page to search for a user's name. <h4>How do I find works or bookmarks for a particular fandom?</h4> If you click on a fandom name anywhere in the Archive, you'll be shown works under that fandom (if there are more than 1000, you'll be asked to add some more search criteria). You can click on the 'Bookmarks' link at the top of the page to see bookmarks for that fandom instead. You can go to the 'Fandoms' page (in the main navigation of the Archive) to see a list of all fandoms which currently have works or bookmarks in the Archive. Click on the fandom you want to see works for that fandom.. You can use the search box at the top right-hand corner of the page to search for a particular fandom. <h4>What do the little boxes next to each work represent? </h4> They indicate the work's rating and category, whether or not it has any warnings, and whether or not it's complete. You can find out the full range of meanings by looking at the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/help/symbols-key.html">Symbols Key</a>. <h4>How can I avoid certain types of fic on the Archive?</h4> All fics on the Archive have lots of metadata, including ratings and warnings (see more about our policies on <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq#ratings_and_warnings">Ratings and Warnings</a> in the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq">TOS FAQ</a>. This means you can find out lots about the fic before you click into it. You will still see summaries for these fics, however. In the future, we'll be introducing more ways to filter works so you see only what you want to see. <h4>How can I avoid seeing warnings or tags for works?</h4> By default, the metadata for works includes warnings and any tags the author has included. We know that some people would prefer not to have this information before they read the fic, so we've introduced an option to hide warnings and/or tags by default. You set this in 'Preferences'. When it's enabled, warnings will be replaced by a link saying 'Show warnings' and tags by a link saying 'Show tags'. You can click on the link if you want to see the hidden information (requires javascript to work). You will always see warnings and tags on your own works, even if you have this option enabled, as we figure you won't have any surprises there! 2009-12-19T20:55:52-05:00 13 13 2009-12-19T20:55:52-05:00 <h4>Can I read multi-chaptered works as one long document?</h4> Yes! This is the option currently enabled by default. If you're viewing chapter by chapter, click on 'View Entire Work' at the top of the work to display all chapters on one page. <h4>Can I read multi-chaptered works chapter-by-chapter?</h4> Yes! Just click on 'View Chapter by Chapter' to enable this option. You'll then get a new set of options to navigate from chapter to chapter. <h4>Can I print from the archive? </h4> We have a stylesheet for printing, so just hit print and it'll take care of the rest for you! 2009-12-19T20:56:51-05:00 14 14 2009-12-19T20:56:51-05:00 <h4>What is a bookmark?</h4> A bookmark is a record of a work you want to remember, similar to bookmarking sites like <a href="http://delicious.com/">Delicious</a>. You can add notes to remind you what you thought about the work, along with your own tags. You can tag works hosted on the Archive of Our Own, and works hosted on other sites. <h4>What things can I bookmark on the Archive?</h4> You can currently bookmark works and series on the Archive. In the future you will also be able to bookmark individual authors. You can also bookmark works hosted outside the Archive. <h4>How do I bookmark a work on the Archive?</h4> When you're logged in, anything which is bookmarkable on the Archive (currently works and series) will display a 'Bookmark' link at the top right-hand corner. Clicking on this link will bring up a bookmark form where you can fill in the details you want. You don't need to include any of the author's metadata (fandom, characters, etc) as this will be grabbed from the work and displayed automatically on your bookmark. <br /> You can choose to bookmark works under different pseuds (maybe to keep all bookmarks for one fandom under one name, for example). Just choose the name you want in the bookmark form. You can add a new pseud under 'Manage Pseuds'. <h4>How do I bookmark a work hosted outside of the Archive?</h4> On 'My Bookmarks' on your user dashboard, you'll see a link called 'Add a new bookmark'. This will take you to the form to add a bookmark for an 'external work'. You must include a fandom tag, and we ask that you add as much other information as possible. <h4>Where can I see my bookmarks?</h4> Click the link for 'My Bookmarks' on 'My Home' to see all the bookmarks you have made. <h4>Where can I see other people's bookmarks?</h4> You can click on 'Bookmarks' in the main navigation of the Archive to see the most recent bookmarks. You can see bookmarks by an individual user or pseud by going to their user page and clicking on 'Bookmarks'. <h4>How do I edit a bookmark?</h4> When you view a bookmark you created, you'll see an 'Edit' link on the bottom right-hand of each bookmark. Just click to return to the form. <h4>How do I manage who can see my bookmarks?</h4> You can choose to make bookmarks private or public. If you'd like to keep a bookmark private, simply tick the box for 'Private bookmark'. <h4>What is the difference between a bookmark and a rec?</h4> You can choose to mark your bookmark as a rec by ticking the 'Rec' box on the bookmark form. This will make the bookmark display with a heart icon, so other people know you recced it, and it will show up when people filter their bookmarks for 'recs' only. <h4>How do I limit my search to recs only?</h4> When you're viewing a list of bookmarks, you'll see a tab at the top of the page marked 'Recs'. Click on this to see only those bookmarks which are also recs. 2009-12-19T20:57:47-05:00 15 15 2009-12-19T20:57:47-05:00 <h4>What is my Reading History?</h4> Reading history is a way of keeping track of what you've read on the Archive. Maybe you read a great fic about tentacles but you forgot to bookmark it - if you look under your reading history, it will show up in the list! It lists all fics you clicked into, in date order. (You can turn the option off if you prefer.) <h4>Where can I view my Reading History?</h4> Under 'My Home', you'll see the option for 'My Reading History' in the left-hand navigation box. Click here to view your reading history. <h4>Who can see my Reading History?</h4> Only you can see your reading history. It is not visible to anyone else on the site, including admins. <h4>How can I turn off my Reading History?</h4> Go to 'Preferences' to turn off your Reading History. Anything you read after that will not be recorded, and your past history will not be displayed. If you turn Reading History back on, your old history will reappear. In future, we'll be adding a way of deleting your reading history without turning it off altogether, but we haven't finished the code for this yet. 2009-12-19T20:59:36-05:00 16 16 2009-12-19T20:59:36-05:00 <h4>What is orphaning?</h4> Orphaning is an alternative to deleting a work that you no longer want to be associated with. It permanently detaches the work from your account and re-attaches it to the specially created orphan_account. Please note that this is <strong>permanent and irreversible</strong>; you are giving up control over the work, including the ability to edit or delete it. Orphaning is a way to remove your connection to your works without taking them away from fandom altogether. We hope this account will be used by people who wish (for whatever reasons) to retire from fandom but are willing to allow their works to remain in the Archive. Works orphaned in this way will be maintained by the Archive to be enjoyed by future fans; existing bookmarks and links will not break. This function means that users can continue to share their contributions to fandom while having their privacy respected. <h4>What information is removed when a work is orphaned?</h4> <ul><li>Your name is removed from the author byline on the work and all its chapters</li> <li>Your name is removed from any comments you have left on the work</li> </ul> <h4>What options are available?</h4> There are a number of orphaning options available. You can choose to: <ul><li>Orphan a single work - from the edit page for the work</li> <li>Orphan all your works - from the 'My Preferences' page</li> <li>Orphan all works posted under a specific pseud - from the 'Manage My Pseuds' page</li> </ul> Once you have decided which work(s) you wish to orphan, you have two options: <ul><li><em>Use the default orphan pseud</em>. The work will be transferred to the orphan_account and the default orphan_account pseud. The byline on the work will read 'orphan_account'.</li> <li><em>Make a copy of my pseud under the orphan account</em>. The work will be transferred to the orphan_account, but a new pseud will be created with the same name as the pseud you used to author the work. As an example: if you authored the work using the pseud 'awesomefangirl', after orphaning the byline will read 'awesomefangirl [orphan_account]'. While the pseud will no longer link back to your account, if you have a very distinctive pseud this option might still allow a reader to identify you as the author.</li> </ul> <h4>Can I orphan a work which I have co-authored with someone else?</h4> You have the choice of either removing yourself as a co-author, or orphaning your part of the work (with the same pseud options as above). Your co-author will not be affected and will remain a co-author of the work. <h4>What happens if I want to orphan a single work in a series?</h4> You can orphan the work normally, and the byline will be changed to reflect the new author name. Please note that the work will <strong>not</strong> be removed from the series - if you want it to be removed, you should do this before orphaning the work. If the work is kept as part of the series, the orphan_account will be listed as one of the authors of the series. 2009-12-19T21:00:31-05:00 17 17 2009-12-19T21:00:31-05:00 <h4>What is a collection?</h4> A collection is a group of works collected together under one heading: for example, all works which have been written for the 'Yuletide' challenge form a collection. <h4>Who can add a work to a collection?</h4> Works can only be added to collections which are open to new submissions. If a collection is open to new submissions, it will say so on the main page for the collection, and 'Open' will appear on the collections blurb (the information listed on the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/collections">main collections page</a>). If a collection is open to submissions, any registered Archive user can submit a work to it. If the collection is moderated, the work will only appear in the collection once it has been approved by a moderator. If the collection is unmoderated, the work will appear in the collection immediately (although the moderators have the power to remove it subsequently if they feel it doesn't belong). <h4>How do I add a work to a collection?</h4> To add a work to a collection, you need to know the name of the collection. In many cases, when you view a collection's main page, you will see at the top something like 'Flufftastic (fluffy_fics)'. In this example, 'fluffy_fics' is the name of the collection, 'Flufftastic' is its display title; it's important to bear in mind that you need to know the <strong>name</strong> when adding a work to a collection. To add a work to a collection when posting, enter the collection's name in the 'Post to collection(s)' field of the 'Post New Work' form. To add the work to more than one collection, enter the names of all the collections you wish to add the work to, separated by a comma and a space, for example: 'fluffy_fics, angst_and_emo'. If the collection is a gift exchange, you can also enter the name of the recipient of your work in the 'Recipient(s)' field. You can add a work which has already been posted to a collection by editing it to add the name of the collection. Alternatively, when viewing the work, there is a link to 'Add To Collection' at the very bottom, next to the bookmark and comments links. <h4>How do I browse within a collection?</h4> When viewing the main page of a collection, the grey box contains links to any works and bookmark in the collection. The navigation at the very top of the page also changes: the tabs for 'fandom', 'works', 'people', 'bookmarks' and so on all refer to the items in the collection and members. If you wish to leave the collection and return to the main Archive, the strip above the main navigation which says "&lt;&lt; Archive of Our Own" will you return you to the main fandoms page. <h4>How do I find the work that has been written for me as part of a gift exchange?</h4> If you participate in a gift exchange and a work is written for you, there are several ways to find it. <ul><li>You should receive an email notification.</li> <li>On your <a href="#myhome">My Home</a> page, you should have a link in the sidebar to 'My Gifts'.</li> <li>If you visit the collection's Works page, there is a search box at the top allowing you to search for works written for you.</li> </ul> <h4>How do I create a collection?</h4> You can create a new collection from your 'My Collections' page, which you'll find under <a href="#myhome">My Home</a>. You will need to supply the following information: <ul><li>The 'Collection Name' - this is what will appear in the collection's url, so only letters, numbers and underscores are allowed.</li> <li>The 'Display Title' - this is what will appear at the top of your collection's page. It can include letters, numbers, underscores and spaces, but no HTML.</li> <li>You will also have to choose what settings should apply to your collection (for further information on this, please see <a href="#collections_settings">What settings are available for collections?</a>). </ul> You can also choose to supply the following optional information: <ul><li>The name of a parent collection (for further information on this, please see the section on <a href="#subcollections">Subcollections and Challenges</a>).</li> <li>An email address - this will appear publically on the collection page to allow the owners/moderators of the collection to be contacted by users.</li> <li>A URL for a custom header image - this should be a jpg, gif or png file, and will appear instead of the default blue collection header on the collection page. It should automatically resize and tile to fit the screen.</li> <li>A brief description of the collection: this will be shown on the main collection page, and also on the page showing all collections, so it should give the user a short, general overview of what the collection is about. The maximum length is 1250 characters.</li> <li>An introduction to the collection: this can be significantly longer (up to 100,000 characters) and will be shown on the collection page.</li> <li>An FAQ for the collection (up to 100,000 characters).</li> <li>Rules for the collection (up to 100,000 characters).</li> </ul> <h4><a name="collections_settings">What settings are available for collections?</a></h4> When creating a collection, there are five available settings: <ul> <li>Is this collection moderated? - By default, collections are unmoderated, meaning that any registered Archive user can add their works to the collection. The moderator of the collection can subsequently removed any works they consider inappropriate. If a collection is moderated, non-members can submit their works to the collection, but they will not appear in the collection until they have been approved by the moderator. Approved members of the collection can submit a work without it having to be approved.</li> <li>Is this collection closed? - By default, collections are open, meaning that new works can be added. If a collection is closed, no one can add new works to it, even the owner/moderator.</li> <li>Is this collection currently unrevealed? - If a collection is set to be unrevealed, all works added to it will be hidden until they are revealed. On the author's dashboard, the work will be shown as a 'Mystery Work' with a link to the collection. To reveal the works in the collection, the moderator can simply edit the collection and change this setting.</li> <li>Is this collection currently anonymous? - If a collection is set to be anonymous, all works added to it will be visible, but will show 'Anonymous' as the author. On the author's dashboard, the work will be shown as a 'Mystery Work' with a link to the collection. To reveal the authors of the works in the collection, the moderator can simply edit the collection and change this setting.</li> <li>Is this collection a gift exchange? - If a collection is set to be a gift exchange, authors can list the name of the recipient of their work when posting it; the recipient's name will also be shown on the work itself. Moderators of the gift exchange can view whether each participant has received a work or not from the collection's 'Manage Items' page.</li> </ul> <h4>What membership levels are available for collections?</h4> You can be the owner, the moderator or a member of a collection. <ul><li>Owner: this is the user who created the collection, though additional people can also be set to be owners. Owners have the power to delete and edit the collection (including revealing works for anonymous/unrevealed challenges), as well as to manage members and works in the collection. <li>Moderator: a moderator has the power to manage members of a collection - add new members and change their membership level. They can also manage the works in a collection, which means they can approve works which have been submitted, and remove works they feel are unsuitable. They do not, however, have the power to edit a collection's settings (including revealing works for anonymous/unrevealed challenges) or to delete a collection.</li> <li>Member: a member of a moderated collection can post works to the collection and have them show up immediately without a moderator having to approve them each time.</li> </ul> Non-members can submit works to a collection, but if the collection is moderated, the works will need to be approved first by a moderator. <h3><a href="#subcollections">Subcollections and Challenges</a></h3> <h4>What is a subcollection?</h4> A subcollection is a collection or a challenge within a collection. For example, Yuletide is an upper-level or parent collection, and each year a new subcollection is added for that year's challenge: Yuletide 2009, Yuletide 2010, etc. This would also be the case for flashfic groups, for instance: 'fluffy_flashfic' could be the parent collection, with a new challenge added every week as a separate subcollection. 2009-12-19T21:03:00-05:00 18 18 2009-12-19T21:03:00-05:00 <h4>What is a Subscription?</h4> A subscription will be a way of tracking particular users, tags or works on the Archive. This functionality is not available yet, our coders are still working on building it. Stay tuned! 2009-12-19T21:04:10-05:00 19 19 2009-12-19T21:04:10-05:00 <h4>Is the Archive available in languages other than English?</h4> Not yet, although it is coming in the future! We are absolutely dedicated to translating the Archive interface (that is, everything from the 'Post new work' button to error messages) into as many languages as possible. We envision a multilingual archive where, say, native Bulgarian speakers feel as at home as native English speakers. Please understand that this will take a while, though: like everything on the archive, the translation tools are being hand-coded with love, and all translators are volunteers dedicating their free time. If you would like to help us make it happen, or have any questions or suggestions, please <a>drop us a note</a>. <h4>Can I post works in languages other than English?</h4> Yes! We welcome fans from all over the world and want you to be able to post works in your own language. To indicate what language your work is in, choose the appropriate language from the drop-down list on the 'Post New Work' form. We've tried to include a broad range of languages, but we couldn't include them all right away. If your language is not in the list, please send us a message via the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">Support and Feedback form</a> and we'll add it on. It will help us if you tell us the local name of the language (e.g. Italiano, Deutsch) and its name in English. We haven't been able to test posting works in every language, so if you encounter any problems, please let us know. <h4>How can I find works in languages other than English on the Archive?</h4> Works in all languages are displayed on the Works and Fandom indexes. If you're looking for works in a specific language, then go to the <a href="http://www.archiveofourown.org/languages">Languages list</a> to see which languages we're currently supporting and how many works are posted in each. Clicking on the name of the language will show you works posted in that language. This is very much a work-in-progress - in the future you'll be able to search more easily, set default preferences, and more. Please bear with us while we build this functionality. <h4>Some characters or language names aren't displaying properly for me what can I do?</h4> The display of different characters depends on the fonts you have installed on your computer. If you're seeing weird little boxes in among the regular characters, or some language names don't display, then you may need to configure your system to support the missing characters. The <a href="http://www.unicode.org/help/display_problems.html">Unicode website</a> offers some advice on how to do this. There is a known bug with Gecko-based (Mozilla, Camino, etc) browsers on Mac OS 10.5. These browsers may have trouble displaying Cyrillic and Devanagari scripts even when the required fonts are installed, though they display correctly in Web pages. For Cyrillic, this problem only occurs if you are not using a Cyrillic language (such as Russian) as your default system language and can be corrected by adding select {<br /> font-family: 'Lucida Grande' !important;<br /> } to a CSS Firefox extension such as Stylish or to your UserContent.css file. We have not currently been able to find a similar resolution for Devanagari scripts; if you know of one, please let us know. In both cases, the scripts display in the drop-down if you use Safari. If you experience difficulties following any of the advice here, please <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/support">submit a support request</a> and we'll do our best to help you. 2009-12-19T21:05:53-05:00 20 20 2009-12-19T21:05:53-05:00 <h4>What browsers is the Archive compatible with?</h4> The Archive is currently optimised for Firefox 3.0 and above. We also support Internet Explorer 7 and above, although we're still optimising for IE7 and you may notice some discrepancies between IE and Firefox. We're doing our best to support a range of other browsers and welcome your feedback on any bugs you encounter, but at present we need to prioritise fixes in Firefox and IE. If you'd like to help us improve support for your browser, consider volunteering! <h4>What else do I need to use the Archive?</h4> Some features of the Archive will not work without javascript enabled. You should still be able to browse, but the 'delete' function currently relies on javascript, and some other features may not function. If you're having difficulties, you should check javascript is enabled. Building fallback options for people with no javascript is a top priority, please bear with us while we work on it. 2009-12-19T21:06:55-05:00 21 21 2009-12-19T21:06:55-05:00 <h4>What HTML can I use on the Archive?</h4> <ul><li><strong>Summary</strong>, <strong>Notes</strong>, <strong>Bookmarks</strong>, <strong>User Profiles</strong> and <strong>Comments</strong>: a, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, center, cite, code, del, em, href, i, img, ins, p, pre, q, small, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, u <strong> <br />Please note:</strong> Images are stripped in index views (where you see a whole list of works) but will still show up on your main story page.</li> <li><strong>Work and chapter text: </strong>a, abbr, abbr, acronym, address, alt, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, cite, cite, class, code, col, colgroup, datetime, dd, del, dfn, div, dl, dt, em, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, height, hr, href, i, img, ins, kbd, li, name, ol, p, pre, q, samp, small, span, src, strike, strong, sub, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, title, tr, tt, u, ul, var, width</li> <li><strong>Pseud descriptions</strong>: a, b, em, href, i, strong </li> </ul> 2009-12-19T21:07:57-05:00 22 22 2009-12-19T21:07:57-05:00 <h4>How do I report a violation of the Archive's Terms of Service?</h4> If you think that another user has violated the Archive's <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos">Terms of Service</a>, please submit an <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/abuse_reports/new">Abuse Report</a>. <h4>Where can I find out about the Archive's Terms of Service?</h4> You'll have been asked to read the TOS when you signed up. If you'd like to revisit them, please see the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos">TOS</a> page. We also provide some extra explanations and answer common questions in the <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq">TOS FAQ</a>. 2009-12-19T21:08:55-05:00 23 23 2009-12-19T21:08:55-05:00